wiggum thread summary wanted

June 11, 2007 6:49 AM

I'm vaguely interested in the Ralph Wiggum thread but at 350+ comments I'm afraid to enter. Please summarize the general drift of it, including excerpts and/or links to any particularly entertaining portions. Thank you.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders to MetaFilter-related at 6:49 AM (4 comments total)

Hahahahhaha. No.
posted by graventy at 6:53 AM on June 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I ran it through Mac OS X's "summarize" service for you:

Even if the writers and everyone involved meant that Ralph was dreaming of being a Viking, doesn't it give you (the non-champion people) any satisfaction out of letting your brain hear it the other way?

Oh well, sometimes Summarize produces hilarious results.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 6:57 AM on June 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: I'm afraid to enter.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:59 AM on June 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Two major positions are argued for: Ralph as literal (if poorly conceived) viking warrior in dream, and Ralph as metaphorical champion-of-dreaming achiever. Passions run high; both sides argue sternly, one from a position of Occam-driven simple-as-correct, the other claiming the need for a more inclusive and nuanced analysis in deference to the subtlety of the writing staff. Tertiary positions pop up, arguing compromises, alternate readings, and explanations of all the previous from a few different angles. Questions of the authenticity of the debate itself arise, and are neither verified nor satisfactorily dismissed. There's a fair amount of cursing, and discussions in more or less blunt terms of the possibility of high-functioning autism as the causal force behind the metaphorical-viking arguments. The next day, someone posts a bizarre summary request to Metatalk, and after offering a token summary, a site administrator suggests that interested parties should really probably just read the thread in question instead of starting a new one here, and then promptly closes this.
posted by cortex at 7:01 AM on June 11, 2007 [70 favorites]