People like Jacobs, Pierce and Joyner are not new to the nation-insulting scene: Pat Robertson capped a terrific career as an insulter with his - now iconic - Haiti-made-a-pact-with-the-devil statement. But at least he still requested aid for Haiti! These people don't even pretend to have any semblance of compassion for Japan. After God's Ambulance Chasers do their dirty work for them, they may deign to visit the Land of the Rising Sun and haughtily declare their august presence, ready to receive adulation as "prophets."
Yes, we should send our apologies to Japan along with disaster relief. Just don't look for them in these unholy three.
TamtamPam
The video you're about to see below is one TamtamPam (screen name) who delights in "trolling" YouTube*** This video (as intended) riled a lot of people because: a. they thought the video was for real and hated the insults heaped upon Japan and its disasters and b. they found out it was a ruse to get them to feel that way.
Parody is for the sake of laughter and comic release of tension. It is done with broad strokes to the character or situation. Sheer imitation, no matter how good, however, is not parody and should never think of itself as such. Pam's was a virtuoso performance in that she captured a person we knew could actually be like that: a dippy teenager so filled with righteous glee at the tragedy of others. She was like the offspring of people like Joyner, Jacobs, and Pierce.
Had she properly labeled the video parody or done it in broader strokes (although one cannot see how much broader she could get in imitating such a dip), she might now be getting offers from Hollywood or Saturday Night Live. Her performance, however, backfired because the torrent of "flaming" she unleashed became too much. I don't know whether to applaud her or scold her for the video. I'll let you decide. A rather pertinent observation from one viewer:
If people ignored trolls, the trolls wouldn't get the attention. Without the attention there's no point in being a troll. I've riled people up for fun before and it is indeed fun. Seeing people rage over someone else's opinion, regardless of what it is, is amusing to almost no end. Rather crude to use this event to do it, but it worked; she's queen of the trolls now.
*Under the category of "I'm not making this sh*t up": Hello Kitty was believed to be created by a couple who made a contract with the Devil in order to save their daughter from cancer.
**wikipedia: The main characteristic of Spiritism is its emphasis on the study and investigation of the Spiritist Doctrine in its triple aspects, scientific, philosophical and religious (moral).
*** wikipedia: Troll: an internet term for a person who, through willful action, attempts to disrupt a community or garner attention and controversy through provocative messages
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