Friday, December 03, 2004
My discomfort at the gay pig. As any casual reader of this blog would guess, I like puns, especially when they're in poor taste. I was particularly chuffed today when Andy said he laughed for two minutes straight over the "Pat's Poo Spray" headline. But I was quite discomforted by a headline from this week's mag, which was about an unfortunate gay pig.
You see, a Bulgarian farmer had bought a prizewinning boar for breeding purposes, but discovered it would only socialise with other male pigs. It wasn't interested in females. No other farmers would buy the pig once they realised this. The owner was quite angry, and tried to sue the seller of the pig, even taking photographs to prove its 'homosexuality'. As for the pig, it was swiftly converted into sausages. If only a handy spider had been around to write "fabulous" or "tzuzj" in a web.
I think you can also tell that this story was ripe for pun headlines involving hide the sausage, pork, etc. In the end I suggested something relatively witty: "The Other White Meat", but Duncan, being British, didn't know what this meant. The final headline was suggested by the only openly gay person in our office: "Gay Pig Minced in Abbatoir".
Now, am I being silly and reactionary in being uncomfortable with this headline? Nobody else at work had a problem with it. Or perhaps I'm just perplexed that this one gets through when all my extremely poor-taste headlines get knocked back.
You see, a Bulgarian farmer had bought a prizewinning boar for breeding purposes, but discovered it would only socialise with other male pigs. It wasn't interested in females. No other farmers would buy the pig once they realised this. The owner was quite angry, and tried to sue the seller of the pig, even taking photographs to prove its 'homosexuality'. As for the pig, it was swiftly converted into sausages. If only a handy spider had been around to write "fabulous" or "tzuzj" in a web.
I think you can also tell that this story was ripe for pun headlines involving hide the sausage, pork, etc. In the end I suggested something relatively witty: "The Other White Meat", but Duncan, being British, didn't know what this meant. The final headline was suggested by the only openly gay person in our office: "Gay Pig Minced in Abbatoir".
Now, am I being silly and reactionary in being uncomfortable with this headline? Nobody else at work had a problem with it. Or perhaps I'm just perplexed that this one gets through when all my extremely poor-taste headlines get knocked back.
