c'mon down--you're the next contestant!

May 20, 2005 4:46 PM

It's time to play "Friend or Foe" --from RawStoryQ. We’ve covered over the lettering on five newsphotos. We’ll give you four possible answers (2 friend, 2 foe). Look at the photo and then click on the link below the photo that matches what you think we’ve hidden in the picture. Really hard, and there's a lesson in there somewhere, too.
posted by amberglow (26 comments total)

What's the lesson? I tried to figure if a lady had some grey hair was she gay-friendly or not? The smiley ones are always fundys?

0/4.
posted by docpops at 4:58 PM on May 20, 2005

Actually I had the militant looking black woman pegged as a homophobe.
posted by docpops at 4:59 PM on May 20, 2005

I didn't like that. What's the point? It's all so random and I think everyone already knows that sometimes fat people can also have views in tune with modern living! Or not!
posted by fire&wings at 5:02 PM on May 20, 2005

I think the randomness is the point? You never know who's a friend and who's a foe?

I got 2 out of 5, but one was a lucky guess.
posted by amberglow at 5:05 PM on May 20, 2005

I am assuming that we are supposed to come away from this mumbling something along the lines of " Boy, those gay-bashers sure look like good people."

I guess the lesson is this - "we should call someone our foe based upon their opinion of a single issue."
posted by bradth27 at 5:07 PM on May 20, 2005

Cap'n, the gaydar is down! She's gonna blow!

0/4
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies at 5:11 PM on May 20, 2005

On second thought, I think the lesson is this -

"People who disagree with me suck."

Deep, dude, deep. I think I'll go stare at the carpet.
posted by bradth27 at 5:12 PM on May 20, 2005

I think the lesson is that this RawStoryQ site needs to rein in their ads a bit. Yeesh.
posted by gurple at 5:22 PM on May 20, 2005

Well, I got the first two right, blew the rest.

I think this is a way to play with your own prejudices... what do you THINK 'that kind of person' would be doing or saying in that circumstance.

I tend to think that the actual correct answers aren't terribly important. It's a way to see your own stereotypes. We all know intellectually that gray haired smiling ladies can be feminists or creationists, Bible-thumpers or devout Buddhists.... but on a nonverbal level, most of us probably aren't expecting Buddhists.

Good post, amber.
posted by Malor at 5:22 PM on May 20, 2005

0 for 5.

I guess the lesson is this - "we should call someone our foe based upon their opinion of a single issue."

Yup. If you are pro-choice and pro gay marriage (like me) then yes, demonstrators who have the opposite viewpoint are your enemies; at the very least politically.
posted by Edible Energy at 5:42 PM on May 20, 2005

This is why demonstrators carry signs and yell slogans.
posted by smackfu at 5:50 PM on May 20, 2005

"My mom and dad went to San Francisco, and all I got was this lousy bucket of santorum."
posted by bradth27 at 6:01 PM on May 20, 2005

Oh man is that black guy in the day-glo jacket gay. Easy.

Bucket, why haven't you put that in the Kristofferson thread yet? Not good enough for you?
posted by fungible at 6:29 PM on May 20, 2005

"we should call someone our foe based upon their opinion of a single issue."

Yeah, I so wish this wasn't true, but as a gay man, I can be open and friendly with someone holding a sign saying "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" in so much as a black person can be friendly with some in a white hood.
posted by PissOnYourParade at 7:00 PM on May 20, 2005

I think the lesson for me is that I need one of those Little Giant ladder systems. I mean, 23 ladders in one! How can I go wrong?!
posted by graventy at 7:55 PM on May 20, 2005

I guess I'm learning not to trust anyone, especially those who look different from me.
posted by joelf at 8:00 PM on May 20, 2005

Actually I had the militant looking black woman pegged as a homophobe.

The guy next to her had a pin on with a rainbow... kind of spoiled it.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:00 PM on May 20, 2005

I dug it because it challenged assumptions I could make from only limited visual data. Oh, and I sucked too. Good post, amber!
posted by moonbird at 8:40 PM on May 20, 2005

3/5, and I should have gotten the others too. I mean, overweight loser-looking people aren't going to be identifying with the establishment, right? Pucker-faced old people and facelifted 50 year old women totally scream establishment. You can just see it in their faces, can't you? The fluorescent jacket and tight jeans was a dead giveaway, too.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 8:54 PM on May 20, 2005

My comment is...

A. I don't think any of those people are my friends or foes.
B. My gaydar is unstoppable!
C. People sure are weird sometimes.
D. I'm making up a blank white sign, suitable for any protest situation.
posted by sfenders at 9:16 PM on May 20, 2005

Malor : "I tend to think that the actual correct answers aren't terribly important. It's a way to see your own stereotypes."

That can't be right, though. I know I stereotype: I'm human, I'm far from perfect. However, for questions 1 to 4, my answer was "I have absolutely no idea", and for 5 it was "This guy can't be straight". Which means...I have almost no stereotypes, but the few that I have are really accurate?
posted by Bugbread at 9:42 PM on May 20, 2005

I guess I'm learning not to trust anyone, especially those who look different from me.

WTF? I don't see how that was being communicated at all. Are you turning this into a race issue?

I think the message was simple and clear: The enemy is all around you, at all times. Those who may seem most trusting - taken at face value - may actually be vicious hate-mongers and help establish a xenophobic, gay-hating government machine.

And people say I'm trusting. I'm just taking down names.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:28 PM on May 20, 2005

4 outta 5, and I got the side that the fat people were on (I just thought that they looked like Minnesotans).
So... The lesson? My snap judgements are infallible!
posted by klangklangston at 7:27 AM on May 21, 2005

random people judging. nice.
I love the fact that you can be wrong by guessing the wrong slogan on a sign, even if their 'friend' or 'foe' status was right. This should be a 2-option test, timed.
oh, and since this doesn't seem possibly fun, what was the point?
posted by Busithoth at 11:43 AM on May 21, 2005

Was I the only one reading the options and saying "How the fuck should I know?"
posted by furtive at 8:26 PM on May 21, 2005

furtive : " Was I the only one reading the options and saying 'How the fuck should I know?'"

Nope. The only one I had even the faintest idea about was picture number 5. The rest of them? No idea whatsoever.
posted by Bugbread at 9:03 PM on May 21, 2005