"This is the most fucked-up comic signing story I've ever read"
August 23, 2009 11:05 PM   Subscribe

To clarify the "incident" at my Seattle signing. NSFW! - artist Alex Pardee deals with some crazy shit. (via)
posted by Artw (88 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite


 
Uh, yikes. I have no idea how the hell I would react to something like that.
posted by brundlefly at 11:13 PM on August 23, 2009


Wow
posted by Arbac at 11:15 PM on August 23, 2009


Wow. That's pretty fucked up. Mental illness? Too many days awake on meth? No wonder Pardee was so calm -- it sounds like reality just sort of flew out the window for a few minutes there.
posted by hippybear at 11:15 PM on August 23, 2009 [1 favorite]


The signing table dynamic just keeps getting weirder, although this guy doesn't seem to be some deranged fan of Pardee's work, at least. Matt Fraction spoke about that kind of thing on last week's episode of comics podcast War Rocket Ajax, and about his fear that someday, some artist or writer is going to get knifed right there on a con floor or at a signing.

(See also: Rob Liefeld and the Yellow Hat Guy at Wizard World Chicago, and the bit with the fellow who helped himself to Peter Jackson's water at SDCC.)

Also, gang, the pics in Art's link are NSFW in that they are graphic images of self-injury. If you are not down with that, don't click through.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:18 PM on August 23, 2009


For the second time in three days, I find myself saying "holy fucking shit what in the fucking fuck" on metafilter.

So thanks for that.
posted by Riki tiki at 11:18 PM on August 23, 2009


If I tried to transcribe the sound I made reading that, I think it would look like "Hee-yuugh."
posted by klangklangston at 11:22 PM on August 23, 2009 [2 favorites]


Huh.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:24 PM on August 23, 2009


Yep, shit like that is par for the course at that part of The Ave (University Way NE, Seattle), it's sketchy as shit. During the day it's as safe as ever, but in the night, it's CRAZYTOWN, LALALAND. Decent 24-hour Mexican food across the street, though.

Surprised that his first reaction was "hey gotta get a pic of this from the cameraphone" instead of "OH SHIT RUN".
posted by amuseDetachment at 11:25 PM on August 23, 2009


The bookstore lighting makes the whole scene look very, I don't know I guess i would say "anapestic" or "calm". Like something just seriously fucked up happened but it somehow doesn't look fucked up.
posted by delmoi at 11:30 PM on August 23, 2009 [1 favorite]


Maybe he thought the razor was a crayon and he just wanted to doodle a bit.
posted by allen.spaulding at 11:35 PM on August 23, 2009


The bookstore lighting makes the whole scene look very, I don't know I guess i would say "anapestic"

No way. There's nothing unstressed about that at all. If it's not a spondee, nothing is.
posted by dersins at 11:36 PM on August 23, 2009 [14 favorites]


"You see how it separates?!” Lurch continued. “You see how beautiful it can be?"

MASSIVE OVERSHARE, BRO!
posted by jason's_planet at 11:59 PM on August 23, 2009 [1 favorite]


"Hey Amber, what's wrong? *pause* What's going on? What are you looking at? *pause* Can you send me a link?"

My favorite part was the pubes.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:03 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


The cuts and the blood are no big deal, but the look on Lurch's face is bone chillingly detached from reality. But if it gets him help it he might've saved himself as I would think that guy was capable of almost anything at that point, in terms of casually stepping in front of a bus or using that razor on someone else.

I feel for Pardee's disbelief and what an utter mindfuck it must've been, but I kinda thought he was dick for that last photo with the thumbs up and the blood all over the floor. Hipster irony raises its stupid head in the most ridiculous of ways. I suppose it's forgivable if he was adrenaline tripping with the knowledge of just how close he came to getting his face cut off or any number of "unpredictable" permutations of horror.
posted by Skygazer at 12:15 AM on August 24, 2009 [3 favorites]


I've seen people do ridiculously dumb shit like this.

Invariably it's rooted in pretty severe mental illness.

I've also seen people do shit like this in an extremely conscious, planned, non-detached and risk-reduced way at stuff like piercing and body mod shows, but in hindsight I'm kind of starting to think that most of those were rooted in mental illness too.
posted by loquacious at 1:00 AM on August 24, 2009 [3 favorites]


Also, hipster cartoonist who draws "a weird worm with wings and a boner or something" gets walloped in the face with the excessive weirdness of reality. Most people can't handle how weird reality really is.

Which is probably why I'm starting to really appreciate a good patch of nice, quiet normal. Good and boring, like dry toast. No fucked up drunk punk kids off their meds breaking open safety razors to arm themselves against enemies unseen, no banshee screaming about robotic bugs under their skin while standing in three doors down in the neighbors driveway at 4 in the morning, no incantations for Baphomet. Dry toast. Boring.
posted by loquacious at 1:09 AM on August 24, 2009 [19 favorites]


Lots of mentally ill people walk the streets of Seattle. With the violence in U District I'm surprised Mr. Pardee didn't get hurt. He's quite fortunate.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:10 AM on August 24, 2009


Guy missed a trick there. "Can you sign this.... WITH MY OWN BLOOD!"

Oh and yeah for mental health care / drug rehab in the USA
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:15 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Wow. Just. That was really shocking.
posted by The Monkey at 2:46 AM on August 24, 2009


You used to be cool, loquacious, duuuuuuude.
posted by orthogonality at 3:27 AM on August 24, 2009


Oh and yeah, hipster comic guy is a bit too much for the lulz...
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:35 AM on August 24, 2009


For what it’s worth, I am not sharing this with you to glorify it, although, in a time of shock, that’s exactly what I did, out of confusion. I am simply telling what happened as there has already been a lot of speculation. This was a sad incident, and I in no way wish for something like this to happen at any of my future shows, or at any one’s shows. I hope the dude gets the help and the attention that he was looking for. And in reality, behind my “laugh-it-off” defensive shell, this whole thing scared the fuck out of me.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:36 AM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


The hipster artist dude enjoyed that waaaaaay too much. Asshole.
posted by jbickers at 4:07 AM on August 24, 2009


What. The. Frak.

Mind you, I can't help picturing this as the teaser segment of an episode of House MD. Post-titles, we get to see the Differential Diagnosis, with a whiteboard listing several symptoms, most prominent of which is SELF-DISEMBOWELMENT.

At least there the final diagnosis would probably be something more interesting and treatable than the kind of problem this poor chap probably has in real life.
posted by Major Clanger at 4:24 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Um, two things:

1. What is a hipster? Is this our catch-all term for under-30s we don't like?

2. How do we know Lurch was mentally ill? Granted, cutting yourself for someone to show them how "beautiful" it looks is pretty screwed up, but mental illness isn't the only explanation for this behavior. I've seen people cut themselves for demonstration under the influence of hallucinogens, for example, or just in a "check it out isn't this rad?" sorta way.

We don't know what Lurch's deal is, and it seems Pardee is getting kind of a harsh reception for this essay. Random scary weirdness steps into your life - and some stranger walking up to me, cutting himself and telling me to look at how beautiful it is would probably traumatize me - and sometimes you emotionally defend yourself by laughing it off. No, it's not the most mature way to deal with it, but this didn't happen to me, so I have no idea how I'd react.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:32 AM on August 24, 2009 [7 favorites]


That picture of him at the bottom - giving a big thumbs up next to the pool of blood - what the fuck is that?

He said they cleaned everything up, so obviously it was shortly after the incident. Did he, like, turn to someone and say, "Hey, snap my photo while I pose next to the blood pool."

Something about that bugs me. A lot.
posted by kbanas at 4:45 AM on August 24, 2009 [8 favorites]


I've never felt queasy before when looking at blood but I definitely feel queasy right now.

I guess it's my own damn fault for looking at the link, though I would have appreciated some info on what the NSFW element was.
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 4:52 AM on August 24, 2009


I backed out at the description of "Lurch" cutting himself. No need to see the photos. Guh.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:56 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Yeah, the most annoying thing about this is his bullshit "I don't want to glorify this" disclaimer, right after posing thumbs up by a pool of blood. And posting the photo online for all to see.

You can't have it both ways, dude.
posted by the bricabrac man at 5:11 AM on August 24, 2009 [9 favorites]


What is a hipster? A hipster is the "embodiment of postmodernism as a spent force, revealing what happens when pastiche and irony exhaust themselves as aesthetics."1
posted by aught at 5:34 AM on August 24, 2009 [15 favorites]


Sadly there are more than a minuscule amount of people in the world who will see this as inspiration to inflict their own brand of crazy on their fellow humans audience. So, on the failboat with you, ya thoughtless exploiter.

I've seen friends of friends who did this, and the effects it has; I have no sympathy for the pics that glorify the act. Good story or not it needed some editing or some self-control by the author.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:05 AM on August 24, 2009


Thanks, aught. Hipster always seemed like one of those all-over-the-place words, or that I was missing something. I felt dumb asking what it meant until now.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:10 AM on August 24, 2009


"You see how it separates?!” Lurch continued. “You see how beautiful it can be?"

"Sir, the Alan Moore room is down the hall."
posted by rokusan at 6:12 AM on August 24, 2009 [23 favorites]


Quite frankly, I think I'd prefer to watch some stranger slash themselves with razor blades than watch people I like and respect make fools of themselves by declaiming yet again their contempt for hipsters.
posted by Ritchie at 6:15 AM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


This asshat totally deserves whatever scorn he gets in this thread. I'm not buying his "I was really scared" line if he's following it up with blood-spattered mugging. He's got more than a little unbalanced thought in his head himself.

The man with the razor is OBVIOUSLY not well, no two ways about it. This fool should be ashamed of himself for taking ludicrous pictures of the event and joking about it. Any caring human being would have been the first person to ask for immediate help.

What a goddamned asinine thing to do.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:18 AM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


i'm squeamish. terribly. i missed half of fight club and a zillion other movies because every time someone would throw a punch, i'd throw my hands over my eyes. and you absolutely canNOT go on the audible cues like 'thud!' 'smack!' 'ow!'ending, so there's much peeking between the fingers to see if the coast is clear. so i'm a sissy when it comes to blood & violence. but this didn't faze me at all. at least the pics didn't. so i don't understand the nsfw or the 'aahhhh, ICK! comments.'

it honestly sounds to me like a drugged up fan with a misguided sense of pardee's ethos. unsettling, yes; a bit on the extreme side, definitely; isolated asshole behavior, probably not. i hope the tall guy with a mohawk & a huge gash across his stomach gets help. detox would be a good start, probably.
posted by msconduct at 6:22 AM on August 24, 2009


Marisa: I should admit I was being a little facetious using an academic definition for the uber-cool label - though now that I think of it that critical theory-ish definition is probably as good as anything else, and reading that whole wikipedia article at least gives one a general idea of the context of the term being thrown around.

Personally I just think of hipsters as people who are self-consciously trying to be cooler than they really are, no matter what their age or historical period: you can find it being applied to white jazz aficionados with berets and goatees bragging about hanging out in black clubs in the 1950s; or tattooed guys in trendy coffee places with soul patches, visible tattoos, eyebrow piercings, and smooth-shaved heads to hide their balding, in the 2000s; take yer pick, or not.

As for the rest of the thread, I agree that the stupid thumbs-up pose next to the blood spatter transformed the artist from a wtf victim of a weirdo to a cynical jackass.
posted by aught at 6:33 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: You see how beautiful it can be?
posted by rusty at 6:42 AM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


I tell you what. If the shit ever hits the fan in my life, I want a couple of MeFites right there with you. They always know how to react perfectly in any given situation, are always 100% confident they'll get things right, solve the problem, take control, without demeaning or embarrassing anyone, stepping out of line or enjoying something deemed popular by a majority. That's the crack team I want watching my back...
posted by benzo8 at 6:51 AM on August 24, 2009 [20 favorites]


For the second time in three days, I find myself saying "holy fucking shit what in the fucking fuck" on metafilter.

I seriously want to 2nd this sentiment. It really probably needs more "fuck".

I've seen people cut themselves for demonstration under the influence of hallucinogens, for example, or just in a "check it out isn't this rad?" sorta way.

There's such a thing as drug-induced psychosis. Sometimes it even persists after of the effects of the drugs. And addiction is, in itself, a form of mental illness. That may be projecting a bit more onto this guy or the people you mention than is there, but there it is.
posted by This Guy at 6:54 AM on August 24, 2009


Gah, crap like this is what makes me skip out on the whole "art scene" these days. There's just too many people who want to be the center of attention and too deranged to realize they're going about it in the wrong way. I make my share of creepy/weird art and to be truthful, as much as I love exploring that part of my psyche and other people's reaction to it, some of the outside cases it attracted were just too much... "I'm glad you like my sculpture, ma'am, but could you please stop showing off your clit piercing in front of it?" "Sir, I am very impressed with your contortions and glass eating, but could you mind adjusting your breech cloth a bit, my mom's here tonight..."

As far as the ironic detachment of the thumbs-up photo, some days it's hard to react to the weirdness some art works/artists seem to attract, and I've totally been shell-shocked enough to do the same thing, of course I've managed to look ironically detached when having a crusty punk stripper hanging on to my shoulders and another twining between my legs, so maybe it's that some of us just don't photograph that well...
posted by 1f2frfbf at 7:02 AM on August 24, 2009 [3 favorites]


I would have passed smooth the fuck out, and probably hit my head on the table on the way down, adding to the sanguinarity of the scene. It was harder reading the textual description than looking at the pictures, for some reason -- I guess the internets have inured me to ghastly imagery. Thanks a lot, goatse guy!
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:10 AM on August 24, 2009


"Lurch"? This is some Bush-league nicknaming right here.
posted by fightorflight at 7:15 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Whose first thought when someone steps up and begins showing off their self-cutting techniques is, "Gosh, I should take this phone in my hand and use it to take photos"? I find it hard to believe calling 911 and/or stepping out of the Hep-C spray zone were so far down the list.
posted by notashroom at 7:17 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


For starters, Pardee DOES say that he started the encounter thinking this guy was some sort of mindfuck street performer doing a trick. That is likely why he doesn't react right away. I know I would not know exactly where to draw the line between being confronted by something which appeared to be a man cutting himself open for no apparent reason in front of me in a bookstore and realizing that he was ACTUALLY cutting himself open.

As far as the picture goes, Pardee is not smiling. I can see the pain and confusion in his eyes immediately when I look at the photo. The thumbs-up gesture is out of place, but understandable. What other gesture do you make standing over a pool of blood that resulted from a whack-job taking a razor blade to his own stomach? He looks like he's in shock, but is going through that ever-familiar "photos or it didn't happen" documentation procedure we all demand in this digital age.

Does "hipster" really apply when you're talking about someone who actually IS cool? I mean, the guy draws for a living and has people lining up in bookstores to talk to him about it. That's a far cry from the usual hipster description bandied about here on MeFi, where the word has moved into full-on pejorative standing. I'd be much happier if it weren't the catch-all for "people we disagree with", but that's probably just me. I hate when people use labels as lazy shorthand.
posted by hippybear at 7:27 AM on August 24, 2009 [5 favorites]


This whole spectacle is sad on so many levels.
posted by iamkimiam at 7:30 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Did he intend to die? When he sliced his belly, did he think his guts would spill out seppuku-style? When that didn't happen, did he fall back on the wrist slice as plan B?

Honestly, that's what I see here. It's a man who had heard a bit about suicide-by-blade in the popular culture, but was thankfully uninformed enough to do it correctly.
posted by rlk at 7:36 AM on August 24, 2009


Does "hipster" really apply when you're talking about someone who actually IS cool? I mean, the guy draws for a living and has people lining up in bookstores to talk to him about it. That's a far cry from the usual hipster description bandied about here on MeFi, where the word has moved into full-on pejorative standing.

Interesting. To me, that word simply describes a look, which was how I was using it. But I guess it's become much more loaded than that.
posted by jbickers at 7:37 AM on August 24, 2009


Why did I click the link? Why?
posted by FunkyHelix at 7:49 AM on August 24, 2009


From looking at the artist's work on that myspace link, I can see why a deranged mind with a mohawk would think he would be a willing and appreciate audience.
posted by JeNeSaisQuoi at 8:14 AM on August 24, 2009


Hopefully, after doing this, the guy who cut himself is now in a position to get the help he apparently needs.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck wondering what would've happened if this guy had done this at a Warren Ellis signing.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:25 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


"You see how it separates?!” Lurch continued. “You see how beautiful it can be?"

It's as if he's seen it before.

Francis Dollarhyde
posted by wobh at 8:25 AM on August 24, 2009


The pics of the blood on the floor strongly reminds me of my time working in a group home with developmentally disabled children with behavioral disorders; one kid liked to pick his nose until it bled, and I found him on one Christmas morn standing in the kitchen, watching with fascination while his nose dripped blood onto the floor. God bless us, ev'ry one!
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:28 AM on August 24, 2009


Something about this is just really, really disturbing. Perhaps it's the (nearly) unmediated contact with terrible, disturbed reality. I probably would have puked as soon as the guy's stomach fat started separating. There's few things that really gross me out, but self-mutilation is one of them. Gives me the willies just thinking about it.
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:37 AM on August 24, 2009


So, I think Alex Pardee is a bit of a jerk. Here's a guy who clearly needs some help (mental and physical). He's sliced himself up, and Alex does the following:
1. "Mentioned to Lurch that he should leave"
2. Took several photos.
3. Had friends "escort Lurch out of the building"
4. Jokes "Well, It’s not the WIERDEST date I’ve been on."
5. Has everything cleaned up and continues like nothing happened.
6. Blogged about it, complete with the photos (did he get "Lurch's" permission?) and unfounded speculation/slander that Lurch has Hepatitis C/AIDS.

What an unsympathetic jerk. Would it have killed him to call 911 to get this guy some help? I know it's not nearly as fun to blog about, and he wouldn't get nearly as many page hits, but wouldn't it have been the decent thing to do?
posted by Houstonian at 8:42 AM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


Houstonian, I think the people "escorting him out of the building" weren't friends, they were building security, who were probably handling the calling-of-911 part.

As for the jokes: sometimes twisted jokes is how people cope with crazy shit. In New York City, there was an election that was scheduled on 9/11, which got postponed when things got crazy; when I called my parents that morning to tell them I was okay, my father and I spent a good couple minutes joking about how "hey, maybe the guy who was behind in the polls staged this." I found myself cracking a lot of twisted jokes over the next couple days as well.

Sometimes making twisted jokes is our way of whistling past the graveyard, because if we don't find something to laugh at about it, we'll scream.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:56 AM on August 24, 2009


Again, he thought it was some kind of magic trick or stunt when it was first starting. After that, most of his reaction was probably crowd control and shock. Would hysteria have been more appropriate? Should that have been the end of the event, right there? "Sorry folks, you all have to leave now. Some nutjob cut himself so everything is over."
posted by hippybear at 8:58 AM on August 24, 2009


It's a man who had heard a bit about suicide-by-blade in the popular culture, but was thankfully uninformed enough to do it correctly.

Remember kids: Across for Attention, Down for Death.
posted by rusty at 9:00 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


This happened on the Ave.? Color me unsurprised.
posted by P.o.B. at 9:01 AM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Would it have killed him to call 911 to get this guy some help?

RTFA before passing judgment, would you?

As the police and ambulance showed up and dressed Lurch in a Hazmat suit and handcuffs,
posted by mediareport at 9:15 AM on August 24, 2009


Seriously, what's with all the "How DARE he make light of this horrible situation he was unexpectedly thrust into the middle of? The lack of decorum is simply ghastly." I think we need a cleanup on aisle 84402 to take care of all the popped monocles.
posted by FatherDagon at 9:21 AM on August 24, 2009 [11 favorites]


See also: Rob Liefeld and the Yellow Hat Guy at Wizard World Chicago

Wow. I'd like to think that in ten years Yellow Hat Guy will look back on that incident with a sense of shame, but from the photos it looks as if he's already plenty old enough to know what a dick move that was. And then to blog about it, complete with poorly-shot video clips and breathless, self-aggrandizing prose? I think he may have just opted out of human society with that one.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:22 AM on August 24, 2009


Benzo8: I tell you what. If the shit ever hits the fan in my life, I want a couple of MeFites right there with you. They always know how to react perfectly in any given situation, are always 100% confident they'll get things right, solve the problem, take control, without demeaning or embarrassing anyone, stepping out of line or enjoying something deemed popular by a majority. That's the crack team I want watching my back...

I understand what your saying, it's wrong for folks to pontificate and judge of a thing they don't fully understand, but you're missing the bigger point. Pardee should have the sensitivity to cleave that asshat photo off his blog, or title it: This is me scared out of my skull and traumatized, posing like a dumbass by a pool of floor or This is me running to get into a photograph with a drugged-out psycho who is slashing his stomach creating instant content and attention for my career - Cha- Ching. It runs counter to what he wrote and makes him seem like an opportunistic narcissistic asshole. It's Web 2.0 at its absolute worst. I can't wait for uncreative people to stop pulling this hipster* shit and going back to be bourgeois.

*A morally and creatively bankrupt fashion statement and narcissism movement that spans across the generations Y, and their older siblings in Generation X. It seeks to portray itself as hyper-ironic and post-compassionate and deadly cool. It is the superficial manifestation of a transgressive art movement that wants nothing to do with it. Du--uude.
posted by Skygazer at 9:40 AM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


Meanwhile, I'm stuck wondering what would've happened if this guy had done this at a Warren Ellis signing.

If his writing output to date is anything to go by, I assume that Ellis would write Lurch into his next five comics as a chain-smoking psycho-/socio-pathic misanthrope with a penchant for expository speechifying and quoting trendy internet memes.

But I kid the Warren Ellis...
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:41 AM on August 24, 2009


Wow. I'd like to think that in ten years Yellow Hat Guy will look back on that incident with a sense of shame, but from the photos it looks as if he's already plenty old enough to know what a dick move that was.

I doubt it. Guys like that live in small small worlds populated by to few people and are not exposed quite enough to harsh realities that tend to even out that sort of behavior.
posted by P.o.B. at 9:48 AM on August 24, 2009


Oh come on, I've never stood and watched while someone sliced open their belly before, but I've been in some gruesome situations and yeah, a lot of the time the first or second reaction is to laugh or joke. And to play it off later like you weren't scared shitless a few minutes after the incident. It has nothing to do with being "hipster" and everything to do with having a human brain. It doesn't happen like in movies, where everything slows down and the camera focus zooms in dramatically (except perhaps in later recollections). There's no time to process what's happening, no time to construct an "appropriate" response.

I don't know why he posted the photo of him with the pool of blood, though. Maybe that's an example of post-modern irony. But the rest of his reaction is perfectly understandable to me.
posted by muddgirl at 10:12 AM on August 24, 2009 [3 favorites]


As someone who has done guest relations work for English-language anime voice actors—not the most famous of people, but then again they also get mobbed by fans, stalked, and harrassed at signings like "real" celebrities do—there's a mindset they get into where they know that at the signing, it's their job to entertain the people who came to see them and it's the venue's job to handle the nutsos and call whatever level of real security needs to be called.

IOW, Pardee's reaction at the event jibes with everything my memory has told me what what someone should do if they find themselves the target of that kind of attention.
posted by TrishaLynn at 12:38 PM on August 24, 2009


Interestingly, I can't find anything in the local media, searching by the names of the attacker, artist, or 'venue'. We are a one newspaper town now though. It would not surprise me if this attack wasn't big enough news to get any coverage in this town, in that part of town.

It seems like we've had a wave a pcp related weirdness as of late...
posted by nomisxid at 12:42 PM on August 24, 2009


Did this recent Anon question on AskMe come to mind for anyone else? I hope poor Anon doesn't see this post.
posted by carrienation at 12:45 PM on August 24, 2009


As someone who has done guest relations work for English-language anime voice actors—not the most famous of people, but then again they also get mobbed by fans, stalked, and harrassed at signings like "real" celebrities do—there's a mindset they get into where they know that at the signing, it's their job to entertain the people who came to see them and it's the venue's job to handle the nutsos and call whatever level of real security needs to be called.

Yes. Seiyu fans can get very, um, intense.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 12:47 PM on August 24, 2009


Yes. Seiyu fans can get very, um, intense.

....Suddenly I'm thinking that Stephen King actually may have toned things down when he wrote Misery.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:48 PM on August 24, 2009


I nearly posted this yesterday, but I had a second had connection to Pardee so I didn't (he's doing some of the work for the kids next picture, "sucker punch")

Part of this guy is somewhat desensitized to blood and strangeness... look at the work he does...

I thought he handled it fairly well...there was a dangerous situation, he stayed calm, he stayed focused, he didn't incite this guy to the next level. Why did he take the pictures, who knows, he would have to answer that....

And, I cut him some slack for the thumbs up pose... it might be "look at me, I'm still alive!"....
posted by HuronBob at 12:50 PM on August 24, 2009


Why did he take the pictures, who knows, he would have to answer that....

Because he thought Lurch was performing some bizarre Chris Angel magic trick.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 12:55 PM on August 24, 2009


Wow. That was fucked-up.

Can't say as I'd have handled it any differently. Showing surprise and shock would probably be a big mistake. Treating casually and indifferently might save one's own life. "Yah, that's cool. I'm going to back away very slowly now. Thanks for sharing."
posted by five fresh fish at 1:29 PM on August 24, 2009


Meanwhile, I'm stuck wondering what would've happened if this guy had done this at a Warren Ellis signing.

– Don't get your fokkin blood in my Red Bull!
posted by monocultured at 2:01 PM on August 24, 2009


Having said that, I've pulled out my camera in mental self defence on numerous occasions. I can understand the impulse with publishing the pics online and think I'd do the same; As long as the text isn't too flippant I don't have trouble with it. Ethical or not, you cut yourself in front of me I'm putting you on the blog.
posted by monocultured at 2:21 PM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


This is a great story well told. People like this are out there and they are real (in seattle). Clearly Lurch thought that someone who does weird scary bloody art work would appreciate his idiotic and gross craziness. The line between sinking and drowning has never been closer than at this particular moment (if this particular moment was 1986).

Finally, as usual, HIPSTERS ROOL GEEKS DROOL GO TEAM HIPSTER
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:07 PM on August 24, 2009


Heh. Real life Ellis has bad knees and wears slippers. He probably needs a blanket over his lap to keep himself warm. If something like this happened at one of his signings he'd probably keel over dead from a heart attack.
posted by Artw at 4:37 PM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


I don't know why people are angry at the artist. Anyone who's been in an accident knows it takes a surprising about of time for the brain to switch into crisis mode. We don't relinquish normal easily.
posted by chairface at 4:41 PM on August 24, 2009


I should think this happens to Jhonen Vasquez every other week or so.

Poor, bloodied bastard. I wish I would ever know what it was inside him. Meth is, of course, my primary guess.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:00 PM on August 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


Having thought s'more about this, the only concession I'd make to those who think taking and/or posting the pics was wrong is that I'd maybe crop Lurches face. Would keep the thumbs up pic though.
posted by monocultured at 5:29 PM on August 24, 2009


And, I cut him some slack for the thumbs up pose... it might be "look at me, I'm still alive!"....

I think he's trying to kinda blow it off. Like, "Wooooo! HA! Metal!!!!!!" The cool-off and mild freak-out probably came later that night, trying to sleep after a few comfort beers/shots. As Blazecock Pileon observed, the artist was lucky not to be hurt himself -- and while that may not have been what was going through his mind while the guy was self-mutilating, I'm sure it occurred to him not long after that this guy could just as easily have turned the blade on him.

Not only are things like this very different in movies than they are in real life, but the people who enjoy watching/creating horror are often* the ones who are least happy to encounter it in reality. That's not a judgment: I include myself in that. I think we like to see this stuff dramatized because it helps us to mitigate thoughts and fears that disturb us, and also to create a distance between our happy, quiet melba toast lives, and shit like this, which belongs properly on screen and page. We know that distance isn't real -- that horrible shit happens all the time -- but it helps to kinda isolate it in a work of art. For me, I once long ago held the clamp while a friend was getting her navel pierced, and I still remember seeing the sticker go through her belly and into the cork, and how I kinda went all lightheaded for a second. It was weird to watch -- remotely sexy, but also kind of horrifying -- and more than that, I kept wondering what would happen if my hand slipped, or a sudden earthquake spilled me over, or, you know, anything happened at all that caused me to move the clamp while the piercing was in progress. Seriously, I was like Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow. I mean, she was fine; I was not fine. And I've seen Ichi the Killer like twenty times. Real life is different, and I'm sure this artist already knew that -- but if he didn't before, he sure knows it today.

*Ummmmmm...often, but not always. I've known a number of horror fans who were also medical professionals. There is no way IN HELL I could do those jobs.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:48 PM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


...but the people who enjoy watching/creating horror are often* the ones who are least happy to encounter it in reality.

Conversely, those most happy to encounter horror are often "Hello Kitty!" store employees, or the producers of the yearly Puppy Bowl.
posted by FatherDagon at 9:19 PM on August 24, 2009 [2 favorites]


My money is on PCP.
posted by neuron at 9:26 PM on August 24, 2009


Huh, I waited until I got home to look at the link since it said NSFW. But that's not nearly as gross as some of the things I've actually seen at work.
posted by little e at 10:26 PM on August 24, 2009


"... They always know how to react perfectly in any given situation, are always 100% confident they'll get things right, solve the problem, take control, without demeaning or embarrassing anyone, stepping out of line or enjoying something deemed popular by a majority. That's the crack team I want watching my back..."
posted by benzo8 at 9:51 AM on August 24

You've been cutting your MetaTalk time again, haven't you?
posted by paulsc at 12:36 AM on August 25, 2009


Conversely, those most happy to encounter horror are often "Hello Kitty!" store employees, or the producers of the yearly Puppy Bowl.

Truth. Dhamer walked in a chocolate factory. Doesn't get much more gleeful and cheery than "I work in a chocolate factory".
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:55 AM on August 25, 2009


Where does this put clowns?
posted by Artw at 6:37 AM on August 25, 2009


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