Comments on: I just want to belong.

I just want to belong.

Robot Johnny — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 12:51:06 -0800

People are strange when you're a stranger.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 12:57:52 -0800

Uh... uh... huh.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 12:59:10 -0800

Let me be the first to admit that I don't understand this post.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:00:56 -0800

While the first to admit, you are, in fact, the second to not understand it. Well, I understand the post, just not the linked page.

By: Jupiter Jones

Jupiter Jones — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:04:29 -0800

The concept of the page is stranger than the contents. People posing as part of a group activity. Uh... so?

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:06:42 -0800

I get what the page is going for. The first picture doesn't quite fit in, but the rest provided a slight nod, hardly a revelation. Bad implementation of a pretty boring idea. I did, however, like the old lady who didn't raise the correct finger to flip off the camera.

By: Bravocharlie

Bravocharlie — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:06:59 -0800

Well, I'm gonna fave this.

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:08:18 -0800

I was going to add it as a favorite, until I found myself in one of the photos.

By: sharpener

sharpener — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:09:31 -0800

Yeah, that was worth it just to see a pic of the Bay City Rollers.

By: newfers

newfers — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:10:09 -0800

Somebody thought this was interesting? I, um, don't get it, not even in the least. Sorry! No soup for you.

By: arcticwoman

arcticwoman — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:16:16 -0800

Other people's group photos, like other people's dreams, are not interesting unless you are in them.

By: altolinguistic

altolinguistic — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:19:26 -0800

strangeleftydoublethink - really? I bet you're a bear....

By: piratebowling

piratebowling — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:22:13 -0800

Any bit of explanation would have been helpful. As it stands right now, my brain feels like it's dying a bit.

By: Bravocharlie

Bravocharlie — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:23:35 -0800

Oh, I was gonna say it was strangeleftydoublethink in the first one, but then I thought there'd been oregon pines in the back.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:25:03 -0800

I don't know. I enjoyed this collection. It was the perfect amount of strangeness to counteract having to come to work the day after Thanksgiving (with a turkey hangover).

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:31:56 -0800

Is there something I'm missing, or could any photo of people anywhere go onto this page?

By: kimota

kimota — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:41:19 -0800

I bet photo #3 has the highest number of mefi members. Am I right, strangeleftydoublethink?

By: evilelvis

evilelvis — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:52:43 -0800

faces are ugly when you're alone

By: found missing

found missing — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:55:52 -0800

I'd be happy to explain. You see, humans are highly interactive with other members of their species. They are often spotted and even photographed in groups. Groupings of humans are the theme of the photographs on the linked site. The first photo is an ungrouped human, raising the inevitable and age-old question: WTF?

By: porpoise

porpoise — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:58:04 -0800

women seem wicked when you're unwanted

By: knave

knave — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:58:15 -0800

Reminds me of Rock and Roll Confidential's Hall of Douchebags. Also... kawaii!

By: sfenders

sfenders — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:59:12 -0800

The first picture doesn't quite fit in, ... and the last one, and some of the ones in between. Yes, I'd say that counts as bizarre.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:04:08 -0800

A cursory inspection reveals cosplayers, transvestites, '80s rockers and Wookiees. ::bursts into song:: These are a few of my favorite things!

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:08:45 -0800

Very moving collection. I shed a tear.

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:10:17 -0800

This is an awesome post.

By: namespan

namespan — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:11:59 -0800

The point seems to be highlight conformity of dress/grooming/appearance/ornamentation in groups of people. To be honest, I did find the illustrations to be a bit striking. They're probably just selected for effect, but it does make me wonder.... am I just filtering this out because (a) the conventions of my own group are blend into "ordinary" so well for me that I don't recognize them and/or (b) the diversity of (unconnected) people that I see outside of that context makes me perceive much more diversity amongst groups than there is?

By: hank_14

hank_14 — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:14:36 -0800

"Stranger always rhymes with danger."

By: turducken

turducken — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:36:17 -0800

Excellent post. Four stars, and you're on to the next round.

By: dhammond

dhammond — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:39:00 -0800

Don't forget those guys.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:51:42 -0800

I agree. This post proves people are strange.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:53:54 -0800

Good post...! Condolences to those that didn't get it.

By: peewinkle

peewinkle — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:54:15 -0800

Nice!

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:09:51 -0800

Ummm MetaFilter meet-up pics belong in MeTa, kay?

By: quin

quin — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:15:31 -0800

My read of the post is that you can tell a lot about a group of people by looking at the similarities between it's individual members. Though while that theory seems sound when applied to most of the photos here, there are a few that seem to violate that convention. To put it another way; I haven't a clue.

By: bob sarabia

bob sarabia — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:20:54 -0800

Don't forget those guys. Holy. Shit.

By: jfuller

jfuller — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:32:23 -0800

Well? Anyone? Oh all right, streets are uneven when you're down.

By: Kickstart70

Kickstart70 — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:33:12 -0800

Google search for "group photo".

By: knave

knave — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:42:54 -0800

Don't forget those guys. Haha... great! I searched for that photo but I came up short.

By: jfuller

jfuller — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:46:16 -0800

Anyway, the post is absolutely BOTW just for the bunch of Japanese honeys in maid suits.

By: ericost

ericost — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 16:02:54 -0800

Hey knave! I'm in the hall of douchebags! I'm the douchebag on the left, sucking in my gut.

By: limon

limon — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 16:45:07 -0800

stripped of context, the pictures draw our attention to the purely formal commonality expressed in their arrangement, and in so doing expose the formal aspect of social behavior, which is typically sublimated by familiarity and meaning. the effect is uncanny and absurd (and of course, funny) -- in the same way that repeating a word over and over empties it of its meaning and focuses our attention on the artifice of sound itself. furthermore, by virtue of posing and the medium of photography, in many of these pictures, the viewer is positioned as the other, against which the group defines itself -- in other words, lacking a context, it is my gaze, as voyeur / stranger, which makes the group possible, and, dialectically, it is the gaze of the group which engenders self-consciousness in me. consequently, these pictures are loaded with tension, if not outright hostility. the pictures could have been more carefully selected, though.

By: jtajta

jtajta — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:07:41 -0800

Okay Limon, no way you can be serious, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and high-fiving your comment. I also love this post. Yes, I know people like to take group photos, that's nothing new, and this collection doesn't seem particularly special, but that's the very charm. It's fascinating and mesmerizing in its banality, and I'll have forgotten all about it in five minutes: the perfect MeFi post!

By: squidfartz

squidfartz — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:28:25 -0800

At first, I thought the post was crap... then, I looked at the photos closely and realized that there really is a message inside somewhere about people and the feeling of belonging. Nice post.

By: taosbat

taosbat — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:53:28 -0800

How did they get that picture from my auntie Beehive's rehearsal? I'll never live it down, will I? Nor shall she...left-at-the-altar old-maid who can't keep her horrid pictures off the intert00bes...thankless old bitch!1!

By: Vamier

Vamier — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 18:32:52 -0800

It's humans acting like humans do. Which can be odd at times. Interesting. :P I won't be coming back to it, but I didn't mind seeing it the once. :)

By: Zendogg

Zendogg — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 18:53:04 -0800

Bears--->Wookiees: Funny. Wookiees--->Asian maids: Jarring.

By: danb

danb — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 19:14:42 -0800

Wookiees--->Asian maids: Improvement.

By: Jilder

Jilder — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 19:16:53 -0800

limon: I see that arts degree is working hard for you.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:06:47 -0800

This was the best post in many, many days. Thanks.

By: iconjack

iconjack — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:31:02 -0800

Reading the comments to this post I'm reminded of the scene from Smoke where Harvey Keitel is showing William Hurt his photos, one snapshot taken each day at the same NY street corner at the same time of the morning. The Hurt character protests that he doesn't "get it" though he can tell Keitel thinks there's something profound in these photos. Keitel insists that Hurt should keep looking, really look, and he will see.

By: leftcoastbob

leftcoastbob — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:53:05 -0800

It kind of creeped me out. Not the picture, but my reaction to them. I felt almost like a voyeur. There's no way I could have quit scrolling down to look at the next picture...

By: melixxa600

melixxa600 — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 22:45:31 -0800

MetaFilter: Wookiees--->Asian maids.

By: alltomorrowsparties

alltomorrowsparties — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 23:43:37 -0800

This link from the top of the page was ummmm, interesting.

By: stray

stray — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 00:27:46 -0800

I once had an idea of collecting all the people that I think look similar and taking their photos and catagorizing them. At first I thought this was going to be like that. Then it got wwwwweird. The sorority girls with psycho boy in the background had me giggling like a nut, though.

By: Bravocharlie

Bravocharlie — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 02:16:05 -0800

Yes, alltomorrowsparties, I was thrilled about that too. Made me realize that sometimes group shots of weird people are less disconcerting than single shots. 'Specially when you just know the pictures were taken with self-timer. The most lonely form of self-release!

By: cytherea

cytherea — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 11:39:16 -0800

part 1 part 2 damn you to hell, disabled img tag.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 14:39:34 -0800

It's not a tumor!

By: KingoftheWhales

KingoftheWhales — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 19:13:13 -0800

My favorite was the one a little more than halfway down of a group of girls taking a picture with an (at least) half naked man leaping into them.

By: SmileyChewtrain

SmileyChewtrain — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:53:19 -0800

This image (about 2/3rds) of the way down the page is a link to this very metafilter post. Anyone else notice that? A bunch of the pictures are links.

By: SmileyChewtrain

SmileyChewtrain — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:56:28 -0800

Some of the links seem to be the blogs or pages the image was taken from. I don't quite understand the MetaFilter one, though I've often imagined every single person on MetaFilter to look like a drunken underage spikey-haired fratboy.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:28:07 -0800