Discussing Muppeteer's Personal Lives

[Fozzie Bear]

Hi, gang.

Well, the ugly head of debate has risen and, in order to hopefully change the tides of flames, I asked permission to copy one of Danny Horn's posts at his Toughpigs.com forums here. It's concise and to the point and really can't be said any better.

Putting your life out on the doorstep is fine, but we should be showing respect to the people who are behind the scenes and under the puppets, and who show up from time to time to read these forums.

Kev

http://forums.delphiforums.com/toughpigs/messages/?msg=8596.1

Hey folks: For a little while, I've been thinking about having a policy on the board that we don't talk about puppeteers' personal lives. In the last week, there's been a few discussions that fall into that category, so I want to establish that as a real policy.

Talking about puppeteers' work, obviously, is totally fair game, like the "Eric > Frank" thread. The work is on public view; it's out there to be appreciated or criticized.

But I think it's important that we respect their privacy around their personal lives. Calling people names, talking about their divorces, sharing gossip about their work style or personality problems -- it's not cool. Most of the stuff that's posted is third-hand anyway; nobody here knows those people. I'm also going to include in that any threads about how hot a puppeteer is, whether s/he's available, etc. Mentioning that somebody is hot is fine, just not a whole discussion about it.

Basically, that kind of talk makes us all look bad. Puppeteers and people who work for MHC/Henson/Sesame come here sometimes, to see what the fans are talking about. If they see us talking about their friends and co-workers -- or even themselves -- then we look like a bunch of crazy stalkers.

So I want to give everybody a heads-up about that. I deleted a couple threads and posts that I thought were crossing that line, and I'm going to try to stay aware of that. I'm open to people's thoughts about it, though, cause this is a new policy that I'm just trying out.

Also, a PS: I'm sure that I've crossed that line myself, so if you're feeling contrary today, don't bother searching through old threads to find the posts that prove that I'm a hypocrite. I'm totally comfortable with my own hypocrisy, and I'm going to be more careful about it myself. So there you go.

Edited to add: I for one shall never threaten to thwack anybody over the head with a rubber chicken again.

Edited to add: PLEASE don't share personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, or screen names on other messaging websites.

 

[MrsPepper]

Forgive me for killing this very well-written thread with a jumble of a post, but I think this is the right place for me to post this.

I'm not sure what spawned this thread exactly, but I agree with it.
Sometimes I think jokes or comments get out of hand, and people forget that it's real people that we're talking about, not just names. Forgive me for pointing fingers, but stuff like Swaehb goes too far sometimes, and I'm not comfortable at all with it. I'm not gonna lie, I post in the Swaehb thread, because I'm a fan! I think he can scat like nobody's business! However, I find that people tend to forget that they are talking about actual people, and I can't help but cringe to think of what Steve Whitmire would say or think when reading the posts or "pictures" that other members have written/posted (most likely that we're a bunch of crazies and should be locked up and kept far, far away from him).

 

[BEAR]

Edited to add: I for one shall never threaten to thwack anybody over the head with a rubber chicken again.

That's okay. I liked it.

 

[Spamela]

Are people actually doing this?

 

[MrsPepper]

Are people actually doing this?

Must be, in order for a moderator to post about it.

 

[Luke]

I for one shall never threaten to thwack anybody over the head with a rubber chicken again.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! What about if Brian Henson actually volunteers for a thwackin? for charity? Surely that's gotta be ok. I'm sure he didn't mind anyway, not after the lawyers got that restraining order and everything.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

No more thwackin's.

Kinda like when I retired "Billy the Psychic Rubber Chicken" and "The Ghost of Billy the Psychic Rubber Chicken."

All gone.

And it wasn't Brian's restraining order...it was one from (1984) Sigourney Weaver because I kept crying at the gates to let me in.

 

[Super Scooter]

Kinda like when I retired "Billy the Psychic Rubber Chicken" and "The Ghost of Billy the Psychic Rubber Chicken."

All gone.

*sigh*

 

[GelflingWaldo]

Thanks for brining this up, Kevin. Recently I've seen a few comments and threads that have rubbed me the wrong way due to the discussion of Muppeteer's personal lives (I won't mention any by name). Danny gave a nice little message at ToughPigs on the subject and I hope that the Muppet Central members also listen to the message and can show the proper respect for others. It's fine to talk about the Muppeteers (even if it is not all gushing praise), but let's try stay away from the inappropriate discussion of these people's personal lives (such as their love life, marriages, sexuality, drug usage, life style, etc). Try to keep the focus on their professional work and activates rather than their private and personal lives; not only do you not know who is reading it, but it is also none of our business.

From the Forum Rules:
"We are very grateful for the opportunity to interact with many Henson employees, past and present, here on the forum. We have the utmost respect for Henson employees and friends. When posting about an individual, please keep in mind the person and/or their family may be reading your message. While it's fine and appropriate to critique their work on a particular Henson production (whether you liked it or not), please be respectful of a performer's personal life at all times. Muppeteers personal lives need to be kept just that, personal."

 

[Fozzie Bear]

*sigh*

Have you finally returned to us?!

Where've you been??