Thank Grog It’s Firday!
So…at some point a fella’s gotta say, “enough is enough!”
I have reached that point.
This may come as a complete shock to many, but the fact is, I toil over these Filler posts, to try to stay entertaining, interesting, and somewhat topical. But, lately, it seems that there is a new kind of hypocritical “cancel Patric culture” happening. Holding me to a different standard to which the same harbingers of criticism ignore, in the very game/series in which they are participating.
The words ambiguous, contradictory, and hypocritical spring to mind, along with golf.
I know…I know…it seems like a weird mix of ideas. But, let me explain…
OK. Maybe I am projecting.
But, this event, which is LOADED with quasi-sexual undertones, and outright boorish male behavior (in the name of comedy, mind you), gets a pass…while pinheads want to call me out for calling cartoon characters “Hotties.” Mind you…this is in regards to a post that was overtly calling out TSTO/EA/Gracie for a horrendously tone-deaf character like “Libido,” who is a shackled child, and runs rampant through the mind of a pre-pubescent main character. Chained? Imprisoned? Sexualized child? COME ON!!!!!
And me, calling a group of completely sexualized adult characters, “hotties” is being misogynistic???? SERIOUSLY????
So… the game…which this blog is supposed to be about, can have a character like Mordecai, with catch phrases IN THE GAME, like
“Hey Baby! Well, let me put my tongue down your mug!!! But, I think you’re hot,” GETS A PASS????
am·big·u·ous. – adjective
(of language) open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning.
“ambiguous phrases”
unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has not been made.
Sorry. Didn’t work. Because I READ the dialogue…and found this entire event to be contradictory, sexist, mostly creepy, and silly. What I tried to do, was to lighten it up a bit. But, that was good for being called out for simplifying the thoughts of women, as they pertain to romance novels, and what get’s their motor running.
Me. The father of Five Daughters. Happily married to a very strong, independent, professional woman. I think I have learned a tad bit about women. I respect them…even though they are a constant source of amusement and contradictory befuddlement.
And please. Save your comments about that last line. You people are nuts.
I work hard (as in editing and re-editing posts to keep them as “neutral” as I can) staying away from politics, religion, etc. for the most part. But, HOLYFREAKINSHIRT…Have you actually looked outside lately?? Do you read the news? Do you follow current events? It’s almost impossible not to have some sort of opinion…ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SHOW AND GAME DIALOGUE ARE LOADED WITH INNUENDO!!!!
THIS IS FROM OUR GAME DIALOGUE…Spoken from in front of a strip club!!!!
So yes. When I am doing my 25th revision on a Filler Post (not exagerating…as most go through at least that many to keep everyone happy), I admit to feelings of being shackled, neutered, and partially gagged (although Alissa gives me some latitude). It’s not a great feeling. Especially when I’m writing about a STUPID, SILLY, GAME!!!
So…yep. After almost 8 years of writing about a game, that is based on a cartoon show, that are both very, very long in the tooth by any standards, I’m kinda burned out. 8 Years!!!
And, what is worse, is that the more we here at Addicts try to keep things in a “Bliss-Ninny Bubble,” the show, and the game, both seem to be torturing us, by being anything BUT subtle about things that are offensive.
Last Week’s Simpson’s Episode is a perfect example.
S32-E13- Wad Goals – Bart becomes a successful caddie, but Marge worries it is ruining his character.
Wad Goals? OK. So, no ambiguity in that title. Nope. Not a bit.
This episode trounces it all… Capitalism, Golf, Sex and Religion. 24 minutes of slashing and burning, with huge, broad strokes.
Ahh….Golf!
Let’s start with the fact that I play golf. Not nearly as much as I would like (because I have to spend time dealing with moronic comments on this blog), but I do belong to a Country Club. Kinda.
I “belong,” because I do the marketing and communications for the club in trade for a membership. I have made it clear that if I didn’t have the trade, I would resign immediately. Not in my budget. Not even close. But, more to the point of the episode, it is not really a “hoity toity” club, full of 1%ers. It is a mid-level club, with a great course. We do NOT have caddies. We do not play for more than quarters when we compete amongst one another. And for the most part, the club is family oriented, with the majority of our members being young families, looking for safe, social outlets, along with a ton of retired pensioners who are filling their time with camaraderie and friendship.
But, that isn’t the way golf is portrayed in The Simpsons. In this episode, Bart learns that by “sucking up to the rich guys” (Dr. Hibbert, Mr. Burns, Chalmers and a handful of others) he can make a ton of money (a WAD of money to be specific). The family thinks this is great…at first. Until Marge overhears Bart sucking up, and is worried about his character. Ugh. It’s always character with Marge. LOL!
Here are some choice lines and scenes.
Attacks on Capitalism…if it has to do with “elitist country club members.” (Bear in mind, this is from very rich, 1%er writers who make “mega-bank” off of the show).
“The Best Money is Peeled off of a Wad!”
“Everybody got together and decided that all the money should belong to a few dozen families and their favorite suck ups.”
OK then.
When Marge decides that the best way to teach Bart a lesson, is to attack the country club, and get their tax exemptions revoked, she starts an online campaign to get the townspeople to vote against the club. She uses “Pester.org” to start an online petition to shut down the Springfield Junipers Wealthy…
Marge is then is shocked when she gets a MILLION signatures in a short time. Lisa then points out, that the reason she got so many signatures, is that she called it, “Stop Coddling the SWJs!” and that SWJ also stands for “Social Justice Warriors.” Those who want to stop the SWJ, seem to also support some “less than progressive views.” 
It looks like Marge’s tactics are going to work…but then Bart, talking to the Club President Bildorf, has this exchange…
President Bildorf: Why are Charities and Churches the only ones who don’t have to pay taxes. It’s Preposterous!
Bart: Yeah man…this place is better than any church! Everyone wants to come here on Sunday. People are always shouting out the Lord’s name…and instead of wafers and wine, you get club sandwiches and scotch in a plastic cup!
President Bildorf: You’ve just given me the greatest idea since whales embroidered on khakis!
And so…the Country Club Becomes a CHURCH.
Thinking he will finally get to caddy for Bilford, (who tips $100 a round), he gets a lesson on inequity, when he tells Bart that his work is done, and that he will NEVER become one of the 1%ers, no matter how hard he tries.
Bilford tells Bart, “There’s no path for getting to where I am…once a suck up always a suck up.”
But then…in the final scene…Religion and Elitism is brought down by the revelation that the church has morphed…and arrests are made!
Wiggum: Like every new religion, sooner or later it turns into a sex cult!
As credits roll…Ralph becomes the gopher from an homage to “Caddyshack,” the greatest “anti-country club” movie ever made.
Politics. Religion. Sex. Elitism. From the writers of the show that our “Silly Little Game” is based upon.
And, I am pilloried for calling cartoon characters with big boobs, hotties?????
The world needs less ambiguity and hypocrisy. And a lot more time spent in the outdoors…away from computer screens and social media.
I’m going to go golf…and think about my future with TSTO, The Simpsons, and how I want to spend my “life currency” in my retirement years.
Maybe 8 years is more than enough…