Aussiecon 4 Masquerade - Who to Blame

[dalekboy]

Some of you will have heard about the kerfuffle at the Aussiecon 4 Masquerade. Without going into the details as to why things blew up the way they did after the event (that's something for another post), I just wanted to talk about who was to blame for it.

The person to blame is me. No one else, just me.

I'd like to make that 100% clear.

I'm big on people taking responsibility for their actions, and while Nick is the person who delivered the line one member of our audience seemed to find so very offensive, the reason the anecdote was told was me. In an unscripted moment (we had run out of material quite some time before), I essentially grabbed a gun, loaded it, cocked it, then tossed it to my friend, and it went off in his hands. The amount of control he had over the situation at the time was minimal.

That an individual found the line hurtful is unfortunate, was certainly never intended, and I am sorry that it has caused him pain. However, his choices over how to present what happened, who to demand apologies from, and who he was upset at I have found rather perplexing, hence this post to clear up who should be attacked over the incident.

So, to make it absolutely crystal clear to anyone - Rose and Perry weren't to blame and neither was the Aussiecon 4 ConCom, the hundreds of audience members for laughing at the time, or Nick.

The blame is mine and I'm quite prepared to wear it.

I should also point out that Nick doesn't want me taking the blame, but I am insisting, and have told him to refer anyone hassling him about this issue to me. I will not stand idly by and see him blamed for my mistake. Especially when it's by people who weren't there and are basing all their opinions on hearsay.

I would ask that anyone you see discussing the situation also gets pointed to this post.

Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

What first attracted my interest was people visibly unable to distinguish between an account of what happened (still subjective, but at least attempting to describe things said and other actual events) and the personal interpretations of what happened that appeared in the Twitter posts that were at the bottom of this thrash. I looked at the Twitter and said to myself "That sounds awful, but what was actually said?" And I started asking that in the LJ discussion, and nobody knew (it turns out, I believe, that they were drawing all their info at first from the Twitter posts). And nobody seemed to care that they didn't know any detail. Which got me both annoyed and curious. So I've followed moderately closely. I'm still puzzled on how other people deal with this stuff.

[kayshapero]

Similar, usenet (rec.arts.sf.fandom). The Who, When, Where and Why as described by the author of this LJ sounds like it's probably accurate. Someone made a joke, someone else found it tasteless, thus the world goes. I am curious as to what they actually said - anybody out there a)know, and b)care to PM me if they fear to be seen quoting the Dread Words aloud?

What, with all the years you've hung out about the net you can still be surprised by the Speed of Kerfluffle? :)

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I'm certainly not surprised at the speed, no!

The thing that feels like a new phenomenon (I've only been noticing it in the last 5 years, roughly) is people being openly unconcerned about the actual facts of the case. People always used to have to at least pretend to care about the truth, or they'd be laughed off the floor.

[kayshapero]

Yeah, that is a bit unnerving. What else are they treating that cavalierly?

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Some of this gets kind of touchy, I think. If you want, email me (I'm easy to find; and I think the usual LJ address forwards correctly).

[kayshapero]

Oh, sorry - that was meant as a slightly snarky rhetorical question. :) And so we depart the subject - I shall now go and look at your blog I think. (Whoops - no, it's after midnight. Make that toorrow. I go sleep now.)