Metafilter Enemies List? March 4, 2013 2:44 PM   Subscribe

A lot of the comments in today's Amanda Palmer post (and a couple of recent Phil Collins-related posts) got me to wondering just who else is a polarizing public figure on The Blue?
posted by KingEdRa to MetaFilter-Related at 2:44 PM (180 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

Hitler
posted by wheelieman at 2:45 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


Cortex
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 2:48 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


I mean Lady Gaga. One of those music people.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 2:48 PM on March 4, 2013 [6 favorites]


Let me clarify: Who else is a polarizing public figure whose actions/behavior we tend to make a mountain out of a molehill on The Blue?
posted by KingEdRa at 2:49 PM on March 4, 2013


Anyone with a pulse. We seem to agree on zombies for the most part.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:49 PM on March 4, 2013 [29 favorites]


Cortex is the Hitler of Metafilter, in a good way
posted by wheelieman at 2:49 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


Ah, before I noticed the title and the tags, I thought this question might have actually been in good faith, but the clarification (plus the title and tags) have made it obvious it's not.
posted by kmz at 2:50 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Magneto!
posted by griphus at 2:51 PM on March 4, 2013 [4 favorites]


@kmz: I was trying to soften the blow/editorialize (a little) with the title and the tags but I am actually interested in genuine answers to the question. I'll back away from the thread now.
posted by KingEdRa at 2:56 PM on March 4, 2013


Scott Adams.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:56 PM on March 4, 2013


Steve Jobs

../\..
DUCKS!
posted by Blasdelb at 2:56 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


(If this is a serious question) Lena Dunham.

(If this is not such a serious question) Joe Biden. Which, I've been informed, is also the answer to most questions in contemporary American life.

Like 'em both.
posted by Wordshore at 2:58 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


Lena Dunham.
posted by brain_drain at 2:58 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


DUCKS!

Never knew ducks were controversial on the MeFi.

But now that I think about it, I really do hate them.

Fucking ducks.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:59 PM on March 4, 2013 [11 favorites]


Mitt Romney. Some people think he is an annoying idiot. Others think he is an evil fuck.
posted by entropicamericana at 2:59 PM on March 4, 2013 [5 favorites]


dammit Wordshore, I'm the voice of a generation
posted by brain_drain at 2:59 PM on March 4, 2013


"Scott Adams."

On the contrary, I think we can all agree that we are unworthy of Scott Adams' certified genius I.Q.
posted by Blasdelb at 3:00 PM on March 4, 2013 [12 favorites]


(Cory) Doctorow is at least as divisive as Palmer. I'm sure the mods groan and put on a new pot of coffee when a Doctorow post is made.
posted by bonehead at 3:01 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


We seem to agree on zombies for the most part.

Undead Americans, please.
posted by yoink at 3:02 PM on March 4, 2013 [4 favorites]


Serious answers:

Bret Easton Ellis
Tao Lin
posted by griphus at 3:03 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


Whoa whoa whoa. There are people that like Phil Collins?
posted by DU at 3:04 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Newman.
posted by Wordshore at 3:05 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Glenn Beck, Ayn Rand, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, The Pope and other individuals within the Catholic Church's hierarchy, Benjamin Netanyahu, Fred Phelps, Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Tao Lin, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade, Richard Dawkins, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh.
posted by zarq at 3:06 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


WE DIDN'T START THE FLAMEWAR
posted by griphus at 3:07 PM on March 4, 2013 [13 favorites]


Obama.

Hell, as jessamyn says the real answer is virtually everyone. You could save a billion lives and people will criticize you for doing it in the wrong fashion.
posted by Justinian at 3:08 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


There are people that like Phil Collins?

What's not to like?

sorry
posted by scody at 3:09 PM on March 4, 2013


griphus: "WE DIDN'T START THE FLAMEWAR"

IT'S BEEN DONE
posted by zarq at 3:09 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, any other republican, etc.

Ayn Rand.
posted by double block and bleed at 3:10 PM on March 4, 2013


Dammit, now we'll never get another one!
posted by griphus at 3:11 PM on March 4, 2013


"Whoa whoa whoa. There are people that like Phil Collins?"

Explained in song form
posted by Blasdelb at 3:11 PM on March 4, 2013


Undead Americans, please.

She crawled out of her grave behind the bridge
He lays her down, she moans
"Gee my death is a funny thing, am I still too young?"
He kissed her then and there
She bit his neck, ate his flesh
He died in minutes , it took her nowhere
Heaven knows, she'd have taken anything, but

She's an Undead American.
posted by The Whelk at 3:13 PM on March 4, 2013 [8 favorites]


That asshole, you know which one.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:14 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


DU: "Whoa whoa whoa. There are people that like Phil Collins?"

To be fair, the pickin's were pretty slim in the 80s
posted by double block and bleed at 3:16 PM on March 4, 2013


Who do we like may be easier:

DFW
Steve Jobs
NDT

There has got to be a couple more.

People we used to like but forgot about:

Lady Gaga
posted by Ad hominem at 3:19 PM on March 4, 2013


double block and bleed: To be fair, the pickin's were pretty slim in the 80s"

OO OO, I have another one to add to the list!
posted by Blasdelb at 3:19 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


I know there is a small, vocal minority that loves to hate on Eric Bauman for some strange reason.
posted by KokuRyu at 3:20 PM on March 4, 2013


Robert Peary and Roald Amundsen.

Sorry. Terrible pun, yes. I'll get my coat.
posted by Wordshore at 3:20 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


I thought who we do like was just NDT and Mr. Rogers. I'm not a huge Steve Jobs fan and I suspect I'm not alone.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 3:20 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Oh and also we like muppets or at least we should.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 3:21 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


For the obverse of this thread, if I may be so gauche as to link to my own post: Who are the patron saints of MetaFilter?
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:22 PM on March 4, 2013


For the obverse of this thread, if I may be so gauche as to link to my own post: Who are the patron saints of MetaFilter

How things change,

Amanda Palmer seems to be one of those people that gets mentioned a lot and it is assumed that everyone knows who she is and loves her unconditionally. Ditto her hubby/fiance Neil Gaiman.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:25 PM on March 4, 2013


Tim Rogers (not the musician)
David Brooks
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 3:26 PM on March 4, 2013


Richard Dawkins used to be a lot more polarizing until we all sort of collectively realized he is an entitled self-satisfied misogynistic prick working to turn the otherwise wonderfully self-reflective practice of atheism into an entitled self-satisfied misogynistic prick club.
posted by Blasdelb at 3:32 PM on March 4, 2013 [27 favorites]


"Oh and also we like muppets or at least we should."

Yes indeed
posted by Blasdelb at 3:36 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Don't ask Blasdelb to coffee at a skeptic's meeting.
posted by Tanizaki at 3:36 PM on March 4, 2013

We seem to agree on zombies for the most part.
Undead Americans, please.
This is the euphemism treadmill in full spin. Soon it will be "vitality-challenged Americans", and then "differently-animated Americans". Well I'm not standing for it! In my book, a lich is a lich, and I'm not having any of that political correctness telling me otherwise.
posted by Jehan at 3:37 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


eyeballkid: "Fucking ducks."

Yeah, but you hate everyone.
posted by Phire at 3:37 PM on March 4, 2013


Every MeFite who does this.
posted by Wordshore at 3:38 PM on March 4, 2013


This is the euphemism treadmill in full spin. Soon it will be "vitality-challenged Americans", and then "differently-animated Americans". Well I'm not standing for it! In my book, a lich is a lich, and I'm not having any of that political correctness telling me otherwise.

Have you seen Ugly Americans? That's half the show.

Speaking of animated sitcoms, Seth McFarlane.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 3:38 PM on March 4, 2013


Hipsters of any kind. So, basically, anyone.
posted by josher71 at 3:40 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


Tao Lin

I feel completely out of the loop because I have no idea who this is or why we hate them.
posted by nooneyouknow at 3:41 PM on March 4, 2013


See the comment above yours.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 3:42 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


People who make Inception-like links in an half-assed attempt to break MetaFilter.
posted by Wordshore at 3:43 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


He self-posted.
posted by The Whelk at 3:43 PM on March 4, 2013

Have you seen Ugly Americans? That's half the show.
No, I've never seen it. But it sounds like it is infringing my copyright, so I'll be sending a cease and desist letter to Comedy Central right away.
posted by Jehan at 3:45 PM on March 4, 2013


That's okay it was cancelled two years ago so that has allready happened.

( it also infringed on my High School Greatest Novel Ever idea until I realized there was an entire genre called urban fantasy doing that for me. )
posted by The Whelk at 3:47 PM on March 4, 2013


Wow, I totally misinterpreted this. I assumed "on the Blue" meant "Mefi's Own", like Mefi's own Amanda Palmer, and so thought that Phil Collins must have opened up an account.
posted by Flunkie at 3:52 PM on March 4, 2013


The Penny Arcade dudes, specifically Mike Krahulik.
posted by Sebmojo at 4:00 PM on March 4, 2013


I have lnever seen or heard Cory Doctorow's name outside of Mefi, so I'm alway slightly bewildered and amazed whenever there's a huge flame-y post about him. FPPs about him read to me slightly like FPPs about EVE: highly vicious warfare taking place in a reality I'm not a part of.
posted by Bookhouse at 4:03 PM on March 4, 2013 [6 favorites]


That whole Amanda Palmer thing...does this mean I'm allowed to buy the slipcase collected edition of Sandman now or not? Or do I need to pay through the nose for the Absolutes? Or the annotated hardcover versions (without annotations, it seems)? Or, god, do I have to wait for all the omnibii to be released? Or can I get none of them? Please help me.
posted by turgid dahlia 2 at 4:09 PM on March 4, 2013


Who do we like may be easier:

DFW
Steve Jobs


Well, I can take 'em or leave 'em. You know who I like though? David Mitchell. But which one? Ha ha ha!
posted by turgid dahlia 2 at 4:10 PM on March 4, 2013 [4 favorites]


The Absolute edition is recolored (maybe the others as well, but def. that one.)
posted by griphus at 4:11 PM on March 4, 2013


pretty much any old white guy.
posted by HuronBob at 4:17 PM on March 4, 2013


Cortex is the Hitler of Metafilter, in a good way

So is this damning with faint praise or Godwin's Law spelled sideways?
posted by BillW at 4:17 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Who is NDT?
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:20 PM on March 4, 2013


Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
posted by That's Numberwang! at 4:21 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Also, I am not so much a fan of either Dallas-Fort Worth or David Foster Wallace. I would in fact say I was shruggo on both but I know shruggo:moist ::cortex:Hitler here.
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:23 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Beautifully eponysterical---Neil deGrasse Tyson IS Numberwang!
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:23 PM on March 4, 2013 [9 favorites]


Everyone likes NPH right? Right?!
posted by The Whelk at 4:24 PM on March 4, 2013 [4 favorites]


Now I want to produce a panel show where David Mitchell and Brian Cox interview David Mitchell and Brian Cox. Or vice versa, I'm easy.
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:31 PM on March 4, 2013 [8 favorites]


Now I want to produce a panel show where David Mitchell and Brian Cox interview David Mitchell and Brian Cox. Or vice versa, I'm easy.

Can Warren Ellis and Warren Ellis get into a fight with Tim Rogers and Tim Rogers and Nick Cave and the artist Nick Cave?
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 4:34 PM on March 4, 2013 [8 favorites]


Nobody'd better say anything negative about Mister Rogers, or Metafilter will get out the torches and pitchforks.
posted by Elly Vortex at 4:34 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Reading some negative things in newsfeeds today about Mother Theresa...
posted by Wordshore at 4:39 PM on March 4, 2013


Reading some negative things in newsfeeds today about Mother Theresa...

Another possible MeFi enemy, the great Christopher Hitchens, demolished her a decade ago.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 4:42 PM on March 4, 2013


Hell, as jessamyn says the real answer is virtually everyone. You could save a billion lives and people will criticize you for doing it in the wrong fashion.

Oh, right-- Norman Borlaug.
posted by jamjam at 4:55 PM on March 4, 2013 [4 favorites]


Bill Gates too.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 4:55 PM on March 4, 2013


Andrew Sullivan.
posted by LarryC at 4:58 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


Malcolm Gladwell.

Paul Krugman.

Stephen Ambrose.

Ward Churchill.

Black Confederates.
posted by LarryC at 5:00 PM on March 4, 2013


Terrence Deary isn't being overwhelmed with invitations to librarian dinner parties...
posted by Wordshore at 5:05 PM on March 4, 2013


Terrence Deary isn't being overwhelmed with invitations to librarian dinner parties...

Which is a shame, since I've been planning an FPP on the songs in the Horrible Histories TV series for a long time, and I suppose I'll need to wait a few months longer.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:07 PM on March 4, 2013


Robert Peary and Raold Amundsen.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:19 PM on March 4, 2013


Why do I always get Cory Doctorow mixed up with Douglas Coupland?

Might be because I've never actually read anything by Cory Doctorow. What's good to start with?
posted by flabdablet at 5:22 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm not sure Doctorow is divisive so much as the secret password to throw MeFi into INSANITY MODE.
posted by Artw at 5:35 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Kottke, whoever that is.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:37 PM on March 4, 2013


>eyeballkid: "Fucking ducks."

Yeah, but you hate everyone.


Sounds like eyeballkid likes ducks... a little too much.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:45 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


Thomas Edison.
posted by LarryC at 5:58 PM on March 4, 2013


Your mother.
posted by spitbull at 5:59 PM on March 4, 2013


BoingBoing a figure?
posted by cjorgensen at 6:01 PM on March 4, 2013


Your favorite band.
posted by TedW at 6:12 PM on March 4, 2013


Black Confederates

It's hard to work up a lot of hatred for 40 - 60 free men of color who likely thought enlisting as soldiers would lessen the chances of them (or their families) bring forced into slavery. There's so many other people to hate for so much better reason.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:12 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


Justinian: Hell, as jessamyn says the real answer is virtually everyone. You could save a billion lives and people will criticize you for doing it in the wrong fashion.

jamjam: Oh, right-- Norman Borlaug.


Damn you, jamjam. (The thread in question.)
posted by Scientist at 6:15 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Kevin Smith.
posted by Artw at 6:19 PM on March 4, 2013


Holden, the lovable little scamp from Givewell, didn't go over so well here. He wasn't polarizing, but he was a terribly fascinating trainwreck of bad conduct for a couple days, so I'm sure he's on The List.
posted by heyho at 6:19 PM on March 4, 2013


a lich is a lich

Unless it's a demi-lich.
posted by Artw at 6:21 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


I will tell you tomorrow morning around 9am.

Or about an hour after I read the news at 8am.
posted by lampshade at 6:32 PM on March 4, 2013


95 comments and no one mentioned Bono? Man MeFi, you're slipping.
posted by eyeballkid at 6:32 PM on March 4, 2013


Orson Scott Card?
Harlan Ellison?
posted by drezdn at 7:02 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


I dunno, mostly everyone likes Harlan Elison more the more awful or weird he gets. At most he gets Dave Sim style headshaking.
posted by Artw at 7:28 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


I like Phil Collins. What? Abacab! GREAT ALBUM. And I'm not saying that in an ironic American Psycho way, I'm saying it because Abacab really is a great album.
posted by escabeche at 7:28 PM on March 4, 2013


eyeballkid: "Fucking ducks."

No, no, it's geese that we hate. And turkeys, when they're being evil.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:39 PM on March 4, 2013


I dunno, mostly everyone likes Harlan Elison more the more awful or weird he gets. At most he gets Dave Sim style headshaking.

Unlike OSC and Dave Sim, Harlan Elison is more curmudgeonly than offensive to the point where he's been affectionately parodied in both Scooby Doo and the Hardy Boys.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 7:44 PM on March 4, 2013


The view on Orson Scott Card here on metafilter is not mixed. It's almost universally negative. About the best anyone says is that while they still like Ender's Game, OSC himself is a bigoted asshole.
posted by Justinian at 8:14 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


wheelieman: Cortex is the Hitler of Metafilter, in a good way

The moment you compare someone or something to Cortex or what Cortex has done, you win the argument?
posted by tzikeh at 8:39 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Vecna.
posted by homunculus at 8:50 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


Vecna is a goddamn litter-bug.
posted by Artw at 8:57 PM on March 4, 2013 [3 favorites]


Hitchens, who apparently deserved either canonization or cancer.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:04 PM on March 4, 2013


Vecna
posted by The Whelk at 9:08 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Andrew Sullivan.

What an asshole. And nowhere near as good a drummer as Phil Collins, no matter what they can do with CG in Cadbury ads.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:20 PM on March 4, 2013


Teresa Nielsen Hayden. Whom I met last fall, and whose response when I introduced myself as a Metafilter mod was "Oh good, at least someone there doesn't hate me!" in tones of genuine relief. Which did not make me think better of the people who talk shit about her every time her name is mentioned.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:23 PM on March 4, 2013 [4 favorites]


Wait people don't like her? But ...but ..slush killer......

I am living in a fantasy bubble universe apparently.
posted by The Whelk at 9:26 PM on March 4, 2013


I'd just like to chip in and say that I don't get the appeal of zombies. The only zombie movie I like is Shaun of the Dead, and that's just because it's a damn well-made movie. The Zombie Survival Guide was a perfect instance of somebody taking something that wasn't that funny to begin with and making it worse.

Wanted to smash that sacred cow before it became canon. Midnight troll, out.
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:30 PM on March 4, 2013 [4 favorites]


Oh and I like not only Ender's Game but also Xenocide.
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:31 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Rory Marinich: "I'd just like to chip in and say that I don't get the appeal of zombies. The only zombie movie I like is Shaun of the Dead, and that's just because it's a damn well-made movie. The Zombie Survival Guide was a perfect instance of somebody taking something that wasn't that funny to begin with and making it worse."

That makes two of us. I think I'd like zombies as a once-in-a-while horror treat, but instead they seem to be absolutely everywhere. I mean, I think I understand why they're so popular, since they combine body horror, the uncanny valley, fear of death, and infectious disease all into one, but the media about them always seems to go off into crazy apocalyptic end-time stuff which goes just a bit too far off the rails, and which seems to dovetail a little too neatly with the worldview of crazy racist survivalist folks.
posted by barnacles at 9:37 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Sandra Tsing Loh
posted by TungstenChef at 9:38 PM on March 4, 2013 [2 favorites]


Cockneys Versus Zombies is a film worthy of having zombies. And it starred Metafilter favourite Richard Briers.

Now, if you don't mind, I have a post to whip up about mayoral elections in small town in Mississippi, but I'm having trouble getting the right level of tone-deafness that will allow everyone to get their outrage on while still getting it not pulled down.

Because I want to be #1 on the MeFi Enemies List. I'm just that evil).
posted by Mezentian at 9:49 PM on March 4, 2013


(No, I'm not going to post anything about Marco McMillian. I don't think I could do a good job).
posted by Mezentian at 9:50 PM on March 4, 2013


The Whelk: "Wait people don't like her? But ...but ..slush killer......"

She may be a wonderful person IRL, and she may be a great professional editor. However, her mod practices are not beloved by many MeFites.

So, yeah, just basically anyone from BoingBoing. Cory and TNH have been mentioned, but Mark Frauenfelder has gotten some crap, I think, and Xeni Jardin most definitely has.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:51 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


I was just thinking the other day of how wrong Auden was with the lines,

Time that with this strange excuse
Pardoned Kipling and his views
And will pardon Paul Claudel,
Pardons him for writing well

because, no.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:53 PM on March 4, 2013


Re:Zombies.

I like the Newsflesh series cause it does the thing I wanted for the while, the 30 years later, with a society fixated on contamination and security and quartientine to the point of never leaving the house and zombies are just a background theme everyone grew up with is is bored by.

Also cause they're pretty funny.
posted by The Whelk at 9:54 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Zombies are pretty much generic videogame enemies with basic AI, and since videogames are a major driver of pop culture they've kinda infected everything else.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 9:55 PM on March 4, 2013


Mea culpa. I said zombie. I mean Partially Diseased Syndrome sufferer.

In the Flesh: review, trailer).
posted by Mezentian at 9:59 PM on March 4, 2013


Kipling stays, for Kim can sell.
No one remembers Paul Claudel.

posted by Rustic Etruscan at 10:22 PM on March 4, 2013


Hitchens, who apparently deserved either canonization or cancer.
...and got both.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:12 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]


Scott Adams.
posted by jenfullmoon


I don't think anyone who was around when Mr. Adams made his little contribution to the site is in much disagreement about the fellow's character.

Dawkins generally causes a good old ding-dong whenever he's mentioned in a thread that doesn't get deleted. I'd like to say that Randall Munroe is polarising too but I have to admit it seems to be just me who doesn't get either his humour or the extent to which he is admired.
posted by Decani at 12:27 AM on March 5, 2013


Might be because I've never actually read anything by Cory Doctorow. What's good to start with?

Well, he guest stars in this cartoon about MOOCs and education...
posted by Wordshore at 1:12 AM on March 5, 2013


I like the Newsflesh series And then it got weird. Really weird. Even in a post-zombie world.
posted by CrystalDave at 1:23 AM on March 5, 2013


Violet Blue ? i didn't even know who she was until a Mefi thread positively frothed with negative feelings towards her and her work.
posted by Faintdreams at 1:39 AM on March 5, 2013


Henry Rollins.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 2:53 AM on March 5, 2013


Heinlein.
posted by gingerest at 2:57 AM on March 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


Stephen Fry.
posted by humph at 3:58 AM on March 5, 2013


Peter Jackson, maybe? Tolkien threads always seem on the verge of destabilizing into "The movies ruined everything!" "No, they didn't!"
posted by Chrysostom at 6:14 AM on March 5, 2013


Ricky Gervais.
posted by h00py at 6:26 AM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Well, threads about The Hobbit. Lord of the Rings was awful to begin with.
posted by Artw at 6:27 AM on March 5, 2013


Bruce Sterling, at least whenever he is doing his Well thing.
posted by Artw at 6:27 AM on March 5, 2013


What's-his-name, that stupid guy--

Oh yeah, Thomas Friedman.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:47 AM on March 5, 2013


Nice try, Artw, but you're not getting me to start that discussion here.

I thought FOTR was pretty good, actually, it did a nice job of fleshing out Boromir. The less said about TTT, the better.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:09 AM on March 5, 2013


Matt Taibbi.
posted by peeedro at 7:20 AM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Advertising. Thankfully, 'obligatory' Bill Hicks links which are almost always irrelevant to the topic at hand vanish quickly these days.
posted by mippy at 7:20 AM on March 5, 2013 [4 favorites]


> I was just thinking the other day of how wrong Auden was

Actually, Auden was right, but obviously lots of moralists disagreed with him then and continue to do so now.
posted by languagehat at 7:51 AM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


You take that back Artw...wait are we talking about the books or the movies?
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 8:14 AM on March 5, 2013


Lady Edith.
posted by drezdn at 8:58 AM on March 5, 2013


I guess we can add Auden to the list.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:20 AM on March 5, 2013


Chuck Klosterman.
posted by drezdn at 10:37 AM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Not a person, but this AskMe reminded me that diamonds can be controversial, on multiple levels.
posted by TedW at 10:44 AM on March 5, 2013


languagehat, do you really read Paul Claudel? I find him impenetrable, and as far as I know his unpopularity in the French canon has nothing to do with his racism, misogyny, and fascism and everything to do with his horribly orotund writing. Paul Claudel's poetry, to me, is like Victor Hugo's poetry gargling with Racine, and as a dramatist he would have been better served by rocks falling and everyone dying.

He was right about Kipling, though maybe not in the way he expected.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:01 AM on March 5, 2013


I love Auden to bits, but as a poet, not a psychic or trend spotter.

Auden himself excised those lines for the 1966 collected poems, so he may have seen which way the trends were going.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:03 AM on March 5, 2013


> languagehat, do you really read Paul Claudel?

I don't actually give a damn about Paul Claudel; what I meant was that Auden was right that artistic worth trumps moral failures.

> Auden himself excised those lines for the 1966 collected poems

Auden was a horrible editor of his own work. Christ, I hate it when authors change their minds about their earlier work and rewrite or delete it. Just write a new poem, and leave the past alone.
posted by languagehat at 12:47 PM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Rory Marinich: "Oh and I like not only Ender's Game but also Xenocide."

The artist ≠ his or her art. One can appreciate the latter while loathing the former. On the other hand, knowing his views I'll never buy any of his books ever again. I'll get them from the library, by torrent or simply not bother.
posted by zarq at 1:12 PM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]




Polarizing public figure: from the early comments in, Hugo Chavez.
posted by Wordshore at 2:17 PM on March 5, 2013 [3 favorites]


Ah! My point was that Auden was terribly wrong about Paul Claudel being a good writer, and about earning a place in the canon, not about the other. I was thinking of that because I like Harlan Ellison's work, even though I have no time for him as a person.

Fever mind is a not very comprehensible mind.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:44 PM on March 5, 2013


Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy talks about being on everyone's enemies list and why we should stop hating.

But being a hater is so much fun!!!
posted by josher71 at 3:59 PM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Cortex is the Hitler of Metafilter, in a good way.

More like the Sheldon Cooper, from the evidence.
posted by y2karl at 5:10 PM on March 5, 2013


Jesse Thorn.
posted by ignignokt at 7:04 PM on March 5, 2013


Don't you mean mefi's own Jesse Thorn?

I really like him, actually.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:47 PM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


I have no doubt he's not a bad guy! I just find his work...polarizing.
posted by ignignokt at 8:20 PM on March 5, 2013


Bill Gates
posted by Artw at 7:10 AM on March 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy talks about being on everyone's enemies list and why we should stop hating.

First sentence of this post will be hi-larious to anyone who's listened to the last mefi podcast. Promise.
posted by clavicle at 10:22 AM on March 6, 2013


^^^ He speaks the truth.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:27 AM on March 6, 2013


Terry Gross

Phish

Slate
posted by alphanerd at 12:26 PM on March 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Enemy that makes the blue froth and howl? That comic guy. What the heck was his name? Oh yeah, comic sans.
posted by jfuller at 3:05 PM on March 6, 2013


jfuller, you made me think of the roller derby name I will never use (seeing as I need wrist braces to peel an orange): Hell Vetica.
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:01 PM on March 6, 2013 [3 favorites]


Dan Savage.

He and Orson Scott Card are interesting figures because I think a lot of us really loved them at one point in our lives but increasingly got worried about how bad they are at issues we care about: OSC with his increasingly insane bigotry, Savage with his low-level misogyny and transphobia. So they're not only divisive among the userbase, but divisive inside the minds of the users themselves as individuals.
posted by NoraReed at 4:20 PM on March 6, 2013


Terry Gross? Sure, she can be annoying and I would never suggest that she was BFF material—but the enemies list? Geez, seems a bit harsh.

How 'bout just banning her from the cool kids table during lunch?
posted by she's not there at 4:43 PM on March 6, 2013


AUDENS ESSAY CO.
Not a cabal.
posted by clavdivs at 6:38 AM on March 7, 2013


"Savage with his low-level misogyny and transphobia."

See also his aggressive fat-shaming and bi-phobia
posted by Blasdelb at 8:29 AM on March 7, 2013


PLUS his cheerleading the Iraq War and his blaming Prop 8 on Those Homophobic Black Folks.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:38 AM on March 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


And his intolerance for asexuals.
posted by dogwalker at 6:45 PM on March 7, 2013


And many mentions in threads where none of these axes are ground.
posted by Artw at 7:09 PM on March 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Also he writes about a bunch of other random political shit sometimes because he knows people will listen to him and, damn, it's like Hollywood actors who have opinions on stuff they know jack shit about, except as an editor of a newspaper he really should know better.
posted by NoraReed at 7:19 PM on March 7, 2013


man this guy got a lot of goodwill for "Santorum" didn't he
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:25 PM on March 7, 2013


Ralph Nader

Cher

Madonna
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:11 AM on March 8, 2013


Savage with his low-level misogyny and transphobia. So they're not only divisive among the userbase, but divisive inside the minds of the users themselves as individuals.

Must.. try.. and.. resist... Ah, fuckit!

DTMFA!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:23 AM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's important to note that Phil Collins is not the gorilla in the Cadbury ad.
posted by tommasz at 12:46 PM on March 8, 2013


Also he writes about a bunch of other random political shit sometimes because he knows people will listen to him and, damn, it's like Hollywood actors who have opinions on stuff they know jack shit about, except as an editor of a newspaper he really should know better.

When someone floated the idea of taking down the columns on the corner of Pike and Boren, so's they could develop that little viewpoint, he was all hot for it. He manages to be on the pro-developer side on almost every land use issue.
posted by y2karl at 10:14 AM on March 14, 2013


Never would have thought that Rob Portman would be controversial here, but I'm glad he has given us good reason to make fools of ourselves.
posted by Blasdelb at 2:27 PM on March 15, 2013


Never would have thought that Rob Portman would be controversial here

I literally can not tell if you are serious about this.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:47 PM on March 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


Maybe in the sense that everyone would dislike him unanimously?
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 3:01 PM on March 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


Sorry, I meant uncontroversial in the less intuitive unanimous disliking sense that Rustic Etruscan just mentioned.
posted by Blasdelb at 3:45 PM on March 15, 2013


Buzz Bissinger
posted by josher71 at 10:32 AM on March 26, 2013


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