“He’s a Steve” – The Onion gets hip to the furry jive
by Patch O'Furr
I’m crying at this breaking news from The Onion.
There’s something funny about how they wrote it.
Check this out:
Dogpatch Press
Fluff Pieces Every Week
Tag: satire
March 27, 2019
Sorry To Bother You: this dystopian comedy is off the hook.
by Patch O'Furr
Announcement: Until March 31, vote for the Ursa Major Awards to support the best works of furry fandom!
RING RING. Did you ever get a scam caller who needs money immediately? One time I answered one of those and played along with a “dumb voice” (it was method acting) while I pretended to walk to Wal-Mart to send them a wire transfer. My friend played store noises in the background, and announced “Sir, you can’t be here without pants!” The caller persisted until I pretended to get lost and fall in a duck pond and couldn’t stop laughing at the quacking noises. Of course the dumb prank only tied up time (and maybe reduced scams), but now let me tell you about movies that are very worth the time. They’re wake-up calls that deliver truths about society while being artful and entertaining too.
I just saw the movie "Sorry To Bother You".
— Deo (@DeoTasDevil) July 29, 2018
I can't remember the last time a film had me this gutted. I'm wrecked.
"Sorry To Bother You" is powerful and you should see it. Don't look it up, no spoilers, just go experience it.
Hey @BootsRiley! Just wanted to give you a thank you for making probably one of the most overlooked films that needed to be seen. It does 'bother' me that it wasn't nominated for any Oscars, but you did a very good job impressing me nonetheless.
Hope your next film is great. 🙂
— Scarfy🧣 (@ScarfyConly) January 22, 2019
VIDEO Q&A with director Boots Riley below. SPOILER WARNING – watch the movie before reading!
Sorry To Bother You (2018) is the debut movie by Boots Riley, a satire set in a worker strike among telemarketers. The story device that gets it going is code switching with different voices. The main character is a black guy (Cassius Green) who uses an absurdly ethereal “white voice” – when the actor Lakeith Stanfield opens his mouth, the voice of David Cross comes out. The trick makes him super successful at telemarketing. It gets him out of poverty that sucks down everyone around him, but sets him up to pay a horrible cost.
At first you think it’s a story about underpaid workers fighting for respect. Then it aims higher at capitalist dehumanization. Then it goes over the top with a hallucinatory sci-fi reveal that transforms the characters. The screenwriting is eccentrically formula-defying. Hollywood likes to play safe with big budgets and crank out polished turds, but this movie takes chances with a modest budget for a gloriously gutsy indie production with a message.
It looks like an odd choice to cover on a furry site, so why’s it here? The answer is in the reveal we’ll get to.
I saw Sorry To Bother You with Fruitvale Station (2013) at a small library screening for this program– RESISTANCE, RESILIENCE, & ANTICIPATION: a fresh look at the Black Arts Movement in Oakland. It was more than an ordinary show, it was a special community happening, so let’s look at how the movies connect. (It’s also the second Dogpatch Press story from the same neighborhood after the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland.)
September 27, 2018
MAD Magazine and the “Lighter” (?) Side of Furries – guest post by Joe Strike
by Patch O'Furr
Here’s news from Joe Strike – you may have seen his recent piece for Flayrah about “stealth fur.” Joe’s Furry Nation book got a lot of love here. He seems to have a sequel in the works (not sure how much I’m supposed to say, but there may be a chapter from a certain dog’s paw!) Joe saw an article making fun of furs in MAD magazine, and sent this piece. With so much going on in the news, I think it’s a bit refreshing to get gentle joking. Honestly, I want outsiders to just laugh a little while we can be like this… (- Patch)
From graphic designer Chris Piascik (I don’t think he’s a furry… yet. The outfit got us right though.)
MAD Magazine and the “Lighter” (?) Side of Furries
By Joe Strike
June 8, 2017
Furry Nights movie review – a crowd pleaser for lovers of campy indie horror.
by Patch O'Furr
Do you love trash like I do? In the 1970’s, exploitation movies became a thing where trash and sleaze were loveable qualities. They had fun doing stuff the mainstream wouldn’t do. Along with the bad, came good access for audiences that Hollywood didn’t represent, like minorities and subcultures. Now “Fursploitation” is creeping into popular awareness. I characterize it that way if it portrays “furries” with off-the-rack, poorly fitting mascot costumes and orgy jokes. That stuff may not play well with furries, but it can. They’ll probably dislike it if it has low effort at research, or feels carelessly opportunistic or mean, but it helps to be indie and share inside references to laugh together. A success would be CollegeHumor’s “Furry Force”, which the fandom took with good humor.
Furry Nights is an indie horror movie directed by J. Zachary. It premiered in late 2016 with a theater show in Atlanta. I heard from several very happy furry watchers who attended. Then Zachary asked me to tell you about it.
Furry Nights is now available on iTunes. Here’s the synopsis from the official website:
“What begins as a carefree weekend amongst a group of camping teens soon takes a strange turn when the gang discovers they are not alone in the forest. FURRIES have rooted camp just across the nearby lake. Not worried about the “party animals,” the kids sleep soundly that night, only to be woken by a real life horror — A BEAR! One of the teens shoots and kills the grizzly monster, but quickly realizes the tragic truth — HE HAS SHOT A FURRY . . . Now, the maniacal furries will stop at nothing to make them pay . . .
CAN THE TEENS SURVIVE THE REVENGE OF THE FURRIES?!”
@KaiWulf said: “Indy film, very campy. We had a good laugh.” And here’s another happy watcher.
March 20, 2017
2 Uncool – a furry celebrity’s disgrace is a test of fandom tolerance.
by Patch O'Furr
Remember when Seinfeld was one of the biggest TV shows, and co-star Michael Richards derailed his career with a racist meltdown on stage? It happened at a comedy show, but it wasn’t part of the act. He apologized, and news said “It is actually one of the most honest apologies that a celebrity has ever given for bad behavior.”
It’s rare to see a career implode like that. Now let’s look at a furry happening that’s not so drastic, but more of a slow burn. A prominent performer in the fandom is being examined for poorly representing it, and found unworthy of support by its premiere convention. Bad behavior has been in plain view for years with no apologies. It took this long to accumulate wider attention. Many members say it’s long overdue, and some find it discouraging that it took so long.
“2 The Ranting Gryphon” has a problem.
His George Carlin-styled comedy has earned 24,000 follows on Youtube and audiences of 1000+ at Anthrocon. I’ve seen and laughed at his show there. But they declined to host him this year. His fans are very upset (almost as if he’s a tenured “house comedian of fandom”?) 2 himself appears to be the info source, claiming to be a victim of invalid attacks by over-offended “SJW’s”. There’s only a vague official statement citing declining attendance, so pointing blame is untrustworthy. A con can pick whoever they want, and they just chose not to pick him; friends and fame aren’t supposed to overrule quality or board decisions for approval. (Free speech doesn’t apply because it’s not between citizen and government – the host is a private organization. He isn’t “banned” and can attend the con. )
December 15, 2015
The Cat, by Pat Gray – Book Review By Fred Patten.
by Patch O'Furr
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
“Here is another of my reviews that was published ten years ago, edited in a manner that I didn’t like. This is my original review, so it’s a bit different from the printed version.”
The Cat, by Pat Gray.
Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, UK, Dedalus Ltd., March 1997, trade paperback £6.99 (124 pages).
U.S. edition: Hopewell, NJ, The Ecco Press, November 1998, hardcover $19.00 (124 + 1 pages).
“A dark comedy with universal appeal, The Cat is the Animal Farm of the post-communist 1990s,” says the American dust-jacket blurb, while a Scottish review of the original British edition says that, “Gray’s reworking of the Animal Farm concept brings in a post-Thatcherite twist.” Animal Farm may live forever, but is The Cat really a modernization of Animal Farm for Britain of the 1990s?
“Chez Maupassant” is the typical British suburban home of the Professor and Mrs. Professor, their pet the Cat, and the presumably unnoticed Rat and Mouse. All live very comfortably, since the Professor is a gluttonous slob who leaves rich food everywhere.
“The cheesecake seemed to glow, luminous and fantastic, as the Professor skillfully slid it off its plate and cradled it in his large hand to prevent it breaking apart as his mouth closed in upon it. A look of childish pleasure crossed the Professor’s face, then a look of guilt, then he rammed the entire cheesecake into his mouth and began to eat.” (pg. 11)
The pampered Cat, the brash Rat, and the peevishly ineffectual Mouse (the latter two living under the house or within its walls) are best friends. Unfortunately, the Professor dies of a coronary three pages into the story (though leaving the fridge open). The animals are mildly distressed, but see no reason to fear a change in their lavish lifestyle — until Mrs. Professor moves to Brighton, leaving the Cat behind. Read the rest of this entry »
May 24, 2014
Talking animals topic betrays culture-blind critics
by Patch O'Furr
Frontiers in Psychology research study illustrates realistic and anthropomorphic animals
Last year, a Flayrah news article drew outsiders who had never encountered Furries.
One wrote: “You all need therapy!”
I answered: “This IS our therapy, silly!”
Friends at Flayrah just reminded me about it. Dronon posted:
Chair of the Canadian Education Committee thinks that talking animals in children’s books are detrimental to education. …Aw darnit, scratch that – It’s a fake, satirical article. Well done!
Fred answered:
Some believe that the report of the Chinese banning “Alice in Wonderland” in 1931 because “talking animals are false” is an urban legend. Nobody can find such a law as having been passed.
Rakuen Growlithe added:
Dronon, there’s actually a bit of truth underlying the satire.
The topic led me to find that, although it may be satirized… yes, it has some truth. Read the rest of this entry »