User:EMC/VTM

From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The current article on Virginia Tech Massacre is yet another matter of upset in the Uncyclopedia community. The page was first created by Zombiebaron on April 16th, the day of the tragedy, and was immediately protected to prevent editing for some time. The issue over protecting the page was somewhat controversial and required discussion. I was (along with Ljlego, at first) an advocate of protecting the page. I politely stated:


After a forum discussion, it was decided that the page should be unprotected. I immediately began working on a version of the article. The original idea was mine, but Ljlego and Mhaille proved to be fantastic collaborators and helped me expand on the idea. The article received a score of 45 in its Pee Review:

The Thinker on Pee Review

It was subsequently nominated on the VFH by Mhaille on July 11th. It was shot down by a vote of 10-7. Votes against were justified with the feeling that it was "too soon" to satirize this tragedy, or that it was distasteful due to the subject matter.

Modusoperandi on the 1st VFH nomination

It was renominated again six months after the tragedy by Kip the Dip where it failed again with a score of 14-11.


Kip the Dip on the matter

The primary editors of the page, Ljlego, and myself, as well as others in the community who supported the featuring of the article, have made arguments that the article was written in good faith, and in a way that was meant to satirize things other than the victims.

We take the risk on Uncyclopedia of having and embracing possibly offensive material, and we've defended ourselves from censors and offended readers plenty of times in the past. Yes, we're a website dedicated to satire, and I'm aware that we do have limits on what is acceptable content, but this article was written in what I believe is an appropriately respectful angle. We still have the banner at the bottom of the page asking for donations to the victims' families, and I, as aforementioned, was a strong advocate of protecting the page.

This is an emotional and sensitive issue, but since when can we not find humor in tragedy? I'm very empathetic to the families of the victims, which is why I, Ljlego, and Mhaille wrote this out of respect and edited it in what we believed was a careful and sincere manner to the victims, their families, and Cho himself. The tragedy itself saddens me deeply, but I stand from the point of observational humor that there is a side of lightheartedness behind every tragedy. I respect the viewpoints of those who dislike the article, but do not appreciate the assumption that I or any other editors to this page are callous individuals or that the article is meant to be offensive or bases itself on "shock humor".


Ljlego on the 2nd VFH nomination

It finally made its way to featuring after being nominated again by Syndrome with a score of 14.5 on October 10th of 2008.

I, as the author, am unapologetic for anyone's interpretation of this article as "offensive". There is a very gray area (with varying shades of gray) that separates what is acceptable and what is not, and it has been made clear that there are many individuals on both sides of that line to varying degrees here at Uncyclopedia over the Virginia Tech Massacre article. Regardless of users' stance on whether or not the article ought to have been featured or written, and regardless of anyone's interpretation of the article, whether they find it offensive, funny, stupid, or brilliant, Uncyclopedia sends its condolences to all this tragedy has affected.

— Gordon Willard Allport

EMC [TALK]