On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:26:46 -0800, Michael Sylvester wrote: [snip] >Mike Palij-I do not have your post but your statement that taking a >photo of myself and Santa Claus together could be,although it does not >have to be, construed as racist.
As you say, it does not have to be. Indeed, the obvious joke is an old one: Has anyone seen Clark Kent and Superman together? Has anyone seen Bruce Wayne and Batman together? This obvious point (i.e., a person and his alter ego cannot be shown in public unless one of them in an impersonator) generalizes to take two known persons and ask has anyone seen them together, implying that they are the same person. Hence, the statement "Has anyone seen Michael Sylvester and Santa Claus together?" Implies that Michael Sylvester and Santa Claus are the same person. As I said, Santa Claus is a cultural icon that reflects goodwill, cheerfulness, and being a benefactor of good children which would mean that I was associating these qualities with Michael Sylvester. Yes, I know this is hard for most people to accept but, as the cosmopolitan dude on Tips, perhaps my humor is more "sophisticated" than it needs to be (or some people need a humor transplant). Then again, if one want to makes attributions of a particular sort, well, any excuse to make such an attribution, no matter how convoluted or tortured the reasoning, would be welcome. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
