Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT Nov 8 - Nov 13th (4651-4655)

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BenRG:
Aurelia in panel 3 today is speaking for Jeph, I think.

I think that the strip has missed the boat about some AIs having a kink of dressing up as humans, having human 'alternate selves' and the like. Most current AIs seem to be more than halfway human anyway. No, I still think that it might be interesting if there is a human subculture about pretending to be AIs, right down to body-suits that boarder on being actual exoskeletons..

oddtail:
@Gyrre: I am personally fond of the term "furvert" for a person interested in furry stuff for sexual reasons, but most furries I've known think the term is cringey, because adding fur- to words by furries is overplayed ("fursecution", LOL). I disagree (at least in the case of "furvert"), I think it's natural for words to be created when the need for them arises. And "furvert" is succint, pretty clearly understood *and* I personally think it's cute in a funny way.

@Tova:


--- Quote from: Tova on 09 Nov 2021, 22:37 ---As silly as that "Level of Furry" chart may be, it does explain the failure of Cats the film. I don't think anyone could handle the cognitive dissonance of hating on furries and enjoying that film.

--- End quote ---

You could call "Cats" a failure based on its level of furry, you could also talk about Uncanny Valley. Besides, furries didn't like the film at all (unless they did it "ironically"), from what I understand. I'm sure there ARE furries out there who enjoyed the film legitimately, but the general consensus seems to have been "kill it with fire". And coming from furries, who are sometimes into plenty weird/cringey stuff, that's saying something.

And I've seen the argument that any furry would've made "Cats" in a way that would've been much more aesthetically sensible and visually appealing, both to furries and non-furries. Given that the bar isn't exactly super-high, I agree.

Tova:
Just to be clear, I haven't seen the film myself at all.

I don't think too many people have actually.


--- Quote from: oddtail on 10 Nov 2021, 01:59 ---You could call "Cats" a failure based on its level of furry, you could also talk about Uncanny Valley.

--- End quote ---

Many people have talked about that. I can't outright reject it, but honestly, I don't see it and I don't buy it.

If you're just saying it's a bad film, then I can accept that easily enough. But it won't be the first film that was merely bad but got a weirdly intense visceral reaction that (at least in my mind) calls for more of an explanation than merely "it was a bad film." I'm sure an example or two will come to you.

I dunno if furries not liking it is saying anything in particular. You seem to be implying that furries would like anything covered in fur, which ... well is a little disrespectful, maybe. If it was a bad film, it was a bad film. Nothing complicated about that.

oddtail:

--- Quote from: Tova on 10 Nov 2021, 02:08 ---If it was a bad film, it was a bad film. Nothing complicated about that.

--- End quote ---

It was a bad film, for many reasons (it was bad as a musical compared to the original, it made bizarre changes to the original story, shallow as it was, and so on).

I was referring specifically to the way  the characters were created/animated. For aesthetic reasons, the movie was deeply weird, and went deep into the Uncanny Valley.

I said that furries specifically didn't like it because many people seem to think "oh God, those monstrosities on-screen. This must be every furry's dream", while I argue that the movie doesn't appeal to furries because it deeply misunderstands what works about anthropomorphic animals as characters. Furries like that kind of stuff, and this movie did it horrifically badly, so furries might arguably like the movie LESS than your average Joe. So it slightly annoys me that "Cats" is labelled as a furry movie, while I think nobody dislikes the movie AS much as most furries.

As to "furries would like anything with fur" and it being condescending - I love furries and the furry fandom. I do. But I don't think our reputation for being cringe AF came out of nowhere. Tastes of furries vary wildly, as do the tastes of any group. But there is plenty of art out there that's bizarre, extreme or just plain bad that gets a pass from large numbers in the fandom. I do legitimately consider "this movie was too bad for even furries to get horny, for the most part" to be a valid point. Furries are into some weird stuff (including the original "Cats" musical, which I personally think is delightful, but from what I understand many musical theatre connoisseurs in general consider just plain bad, for various reasons, despite its fairly broad appeal). "Cats" the film seems to have been just too much.

YMMV. Being a furry (and pretty proudly a weirdo about it) and having met more than a few furries, I don't consider it insulting to say that furries can get plenty weird, in a way that would make most people uncomfortable. It's not a value judgment (even if it's mixed in with some wry amusement). It's how I perceive those more... esoteric interests of the fandom.

If you think saying "furries will like anything" with the implication "anything bad" is unfair to furries, I can rephrase it as - furries enjoy some pretty weird flavours in their entertainment diet. Flavours that are an acquired taste at best. "Cats" (the film) proved a bit too spicy for most of us.

Tova:
Thanks for the clarification on the reasons furries may not have liked the film, and may have disliked people's assumptions. That all seems pretty believable.

Still, I think that the reasons people like or dislike things are many and varied, and that deciding the film must be bad because furries didn't like it is ... okay, not condescending, but certainly a little simplistic.

Anyway, I'm happy to accept that the film is bad. I've never been interested in seeing the film. Nor the musical it's based on.

As for the uncanny valley argument, I'm still not buying it, and while I do have more thoughts on the topic, because this is not the first time the topic's been raised, and this is a bit of a derailment already, I won't pursue it further.

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