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Stephen Black wrote: Speaking of censorship, would you close down the following site? http://www.bonsaikitten.com/ -Stephen Seems they've already been kicked off a few sites. I have to admit that I belong to the group that didn't find it funny, and of course Stephen obviously didn't either. Guess our senses of humor have been stunted. Here's the scoop (after reading the info at this foolish site, I hesitate to use that word) from the Urban Legends webpage: Beth Benoit Bonsai Kitten Claim: A web site advocates techniques for creating 'bonsai kittens.' Status: False. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001] Someone sent me the following link that is just horrible. Can you please see what can be done about such gross cruelty? http://www.bonsaikitten.com Origins: Another example that nothing is so absurd but that some people won't believe it if it doesn't have a huge "THIS IS A JOKE!" banner slapped across it (and sometimes even that's not enough). "Bonsai Kitten" is a humor site that purports to be "dedicated to preserving the long lost [Oriental] art of body modification in housepets" (by raising them inside jars so that they remain small even when mature and their bodies will take on the contours of the vessel used). Plenty of people who don't get the joke (or who get it but don't find it funny) have complained, so first MIT gave "Bonsai Kitten" the boot, then a commercial ISP kicked them off as well (after initially responding to protests by defending the "Bonsai Kitten" operator's right to free speech). "Bonsai Kitten" can still be viewed at various mirror sites. Despite the dark humor of "Bonsai Kitten," it provides a perfect example of how easily people let outrage overwhelm their critical faculties, sending them up in arms over nothing more than a comical idea, a page or two of phony "instructions," and a few pictures of cats in jars (obviously taken in such a way as to not harm the cats). The horrified reaction to "Bonsai Kitten" comes from several groups: * Those who simply don't get the joke and think someone is seriously advocating cats be raised to maturity inside of glass jars in order to achieve the same shaping and contouring effects exhibited by bonsai trees. (These are mostly the same people who forward the satirical Harry Potter article all over the Internet as proof of the ghastly influence popular books can have on children these days.) * Those who understand "Bonsai Kitten" is a joke, but whose senses of humor have become so stunted and self-important that they can't tolerate any joking about certain topics, no matter how broad and satirical it may be. (This group now includes The Humane Society of the United States.) Some topics (such as animal suffering) don't naturally lend themselves to humor, but that doesn't mean they absolutely can't be the basis of humor when the gags are broad and obvious and the target of the humor is the audience itself. Children stricken with serious illnesses are nothing to laugh at, but the parody missive about Billy the Burlap Boy is nonetheless funny (and relevant) because it satirizes not the sick children themselves, but the reactions of people who blindly forward (often fictional) pleas to help them. In short, those who find the obvious humor of "Bonsai Kitten" offensive are precisely the type of people "Bonsai Kitten" is lampooning. (Notorious media prankster Joey Skaggs drew similar reactions with his infamous "dog soup" hoax.) * Those who suffer from OPC ("other people's children") syndrome and are terribly concerned that the "Bonsai Kitten" site will encourage "other people's children" to stuff kittens into jars. (Why "other people" don't bear the responsibility of teaching their children how to treat animals appropriately apparently isn't a factor to be considered.) Given the alleged potential for harm that the "Bonsai Kitten" site poses, PuppyFarm.com should also be shut down before kiddies take inspiration from it and start grinding up their puppies for food, and all copies of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" should be removed from the web before impressionable youngsters take its satire seriously and start eating each other. * Those who maintain that cats were obviously subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment in order to produce pictures which (in the words of the Humane Society) "depict live kittens being jammed into glass containers." It is indeed difficult to view a picture such as the one below and not be moved by the little cat's horrifying expression of the terrible pain and suffering it is enduring: The Humane Society proclaims that they share our "concern and frustration over the content of sites that promote animal suffering or otherwise glorify the exploitation of animals." Our concern is that they expend their efforts on ameliorating real animal suffering and exploitation, not fretting over satirical web sites that exist because some ISPs have the temerity to allow (in their words) "as much free speech as possible within the boundaries of the law." Additional information: Happiness is a Rectilinear Kitten (cruel.com) |
Title: Bonsai kittensjoke
