First off, a bit of background

December 5, 2004 1:38 PM

"Excuse me, but we can credit sources however we choose." Some of you might have seen the pictures of Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke which have been popping out all over. One of the sources was Film Rotation, who presented the 'story' in this post. The following day they included a follow up discussing other sites which have been covering the story including Cinema Blend adding that it was "sadly with no source credit - seems to be a pattern with them as of late." The Blend people didn't take too kindly to the criticism and this 'discussion' occured. It's captivating, but all too familiar.
posted by feelinglistless (28 comments total)

That pissing match was a lot longer than it was interesting.
posted by cortex at 1:47 PM on December 5, 2004

That pissing match was a lot longer than it was interesting.

I agree.
posted by mediamelt at 2:38 PM on December 5, 2004

I thought I'd be more impressed by Jessica Simpsons legs. I was wrong.
posted by asbates2 at 2:50 PM on December 5, 2004

[this is boring]
posted by grouse at 3:14 PM on December 5, 2004

One thing that I did notice -- the pissing match participants *appeared* to be using their real names (Matt Norris, Josh Tyler, etc.), leading me to theorize on the social structure of Internet communities in general. Specifically, those who use their real names -- celebrities, writers, webmasters, and so on -- seem to have more status than the anonymous nicknames used by the masses.
posted by meh at 3:30 PM on December 5, 2004

Sure, it's a pissing match. But look what it's about. The point I was trying to rather inelegantly make at the end of the fpp is how a single flip remark about something not so important is given personal weight and import by the reactions of those involved. It's interesting to note how often that kind of thing has been happening throughout the media for a while now.
posted by feelinglistless at 3:36 PM on December 5, 2004

I submitted this FPP with a much funnier headline.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:48 PM on December 5, 2004

I'm confused. Something boring happened, and boring people got angry at each other, and then something else happened? Is this that same chick who freaked out on SNL when she got caught (not) lip synching? I thought we all fired her.
posted by Outlawyr at 3:54 PM on December 5, 2004

no, that was her punk rock alternative chick underground iconoclast riot grrl sister with street cred, ashlee.
posted by glenwood at 4:51 PM on December 5, 2004

> riot grrl sister with street cred

Also coming to a big screen near you. I'm sick with anticipation.
posted by deshead at 4:54 PM on December 5, 2004

Is this that same chick who freaked out on SNL when she got caught (not) lip synching? I thought we all fired her.

No, it's her hotter sister. Apropos, though, the SNL in question was on last night, and they left her onstage meltdown in the show, but took out her "apology" afterward.
posted by mkultra at 4:57 PM on December 5, 2004

I think Ashlee is hotter than the other, orange, rectangular-faced one.
posted by interrobang at 5:19 PM on December 5, 2004

I still don't understand why we're supposed to pay any attention to either one of them.
posted by Mars Saxman at 5:26 PM on December 5, 2004

Because lots of money has been put into making them famous, and if we don't pay attention to them, we're at fault for not buying what we're supposed to buy?
posted by interrobang at 5:31 PM on December 5, 2004

Who are these people and why should I care about any of this? Seriously.
posted by Adam Greenfield at 8:12 PM on December 5, 2004

I think Ashlee is hotter than the other, orange, rectangular-faced one

I thought the Simpsons were all yellow.
posted by mwhybark at 8:15 PM on December 5, 2004

My apology (literally). In another small-world coincidence, I am a long-time MeFi reader, as well as the one of the participants of the "pissing match" in question. I've been in the room the whole time. I'm surprised you observant commenters didn't notice my contribution to the discussion (2nd from the top) and put two and two together. And no, I don't know feelinglistless.
posted by mediamelt at 9:18 PM on December 5, 2004

Here are the pictures in question.

source: "Brian", via CheapAssGamer via Film Rotation
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:13 PM on December 5, 2004

(Thought they would be more interesting than the discussion in question.)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:13 PM on December 5, 2004

I don't know MediaMelt either, other than from his work on FilmRot.
posted by feelinglistless at 11:30 PM on December 5, 2004

I've been in the room the whole time.

This has a seeing-parents-have-sex ring to it. Just struck me as funny. Not intended as any sort of implication.

I'm surprised you observant commenters didn't notice my contribution to the discussion (2nd from the top) and put two and two together.

Well, you contribution didn't really offer much of a reason to do the math. Now, had it been something like "I agree, and it was my urine", then, well, maybe...

(Granted, your nick being all the same as over there and etc and so on is probably the obvious things to which you're alluding, but, hey -- who reads handles anymore? The substance, as it were, of the exchange was the meat.)
posted by cortex at 6:34 AM on December 6, 2004

I still don't understand why we're supposed to pay any attention to either one of them.

Tits. Ass.

Which is fine and dandy, except for the fact that you can't hear T&A, so it dosen't make me want to buy their records. Which is good for my eardrums and mental health.
posted by jonmc at 6:51 AM on December 6, 2004

All this post did was make me not want to go anywhere near FilmRot ever again. Not so much because of the pissing contest itself, but due to the caliber of the comments by readers following it, particularly Part 3. I need a shower after reading that.
posted by jennaratrix at 8:51 AM on December 6, 2004

Ugliness tends to bread more ugliness, jennaratrix. I am to blame for the comment caliber, not the readers.
posted by mediamelt at 9:40 AM on December 6, 2004

mediamelt:
Can I just say that I really enjoy both your site and Cimema Blend. Yours in particular is the place I get a hell of a lot of my film news lately making Empire magazine an infuriating read every month because we've already been there. What struck me about this whole thing was that everything you write online can generally be seen by everyone else, but more importantly that the someone else has a right to reply.

You made that comment in the spirit of being a commentator, and a media commentator at that. I've seen similar things written by larger news sites about each other and I'm sure they don't email each other first for a comment. Which is also the reason I posted it here -- because as I said before it's odd how these things can blow up into something else in a matter of days. I'm sorry though if I compounded matters by putting them under the microscope. I forget how much traffic Mefi gets nowadays and I'd hate to that the fpp reflects poorly on the excellent content of the site.
posted by feelinglistless at 11:52 AM on December 6, 2004

No harm done feelinglistless. My mistake began small, they reacted badly (in fact, I was shocked they reacted at all - especially since I made the comment out of sincere innocence - wasn't meant as an attack), and I had the chance several times to be the bigger man. It wasn't until I started reading _some_ of the various comments left on my site, as well as comments via e-mail that I realized what I had done: taken an innocent comment and allowed it to be given a gravity it did not deserve, nor was it intended for. Unfortunately, my site and CB's site will suffer in the short run, because of both of our stubbornness and inability to leave a simple mistake, a simple mistake. Whether we will suffer in the long run, I doubt it. Those that read FilmRot regularly, read it because they like what I write about enough to come back. Not because I was linked extensively (and not just by this site) in relation to a stupid incident.

Those that don't bother to come back, so be it. They probably wouldn't be interested in what I'm interested in writing about anyway (as I gather, many in this thread aren't).

I find it interesting to note that most of the "regular" readers that commented on my "part 3" article could either a) give two craps either way, b) chastised us for being petty idiots, c) tried to change the subject, or d) told us to get back to the business of discussing movies. They've taught me more than they will ever know.

Also note that an apology was made for making my comment before emailing CB. I should have. However, if they had gotten back to me with an unsatisfactory answer, I'd have posted the comment anyway - even knowing what I do now.
posted by mediamelt at 1:19 PM on December 6, 2004

they left her onstage meltdown in the show, but took out her "apology" afterward.

Strange. The apology/excuse was there when I watched it. Was the whole ending removed from your feed or just the apology?
posted by Monk at 1:29 PM on December 6, 2004

I forget how much traffic Mefi gets nowadays...

What a fpp on MeFi DOES these days, traffic-wise: unique referrals hit 3276 from here by midnight last night, 308 of which came via the pl. Like my site, a lot more surfers lurk here, than comment.
posted by mediamelt at 1:35 PM on December 6, 2004