[The Saucepan Man]

I'm surprised with the conclusion that I came to when I gave some serious thought to this issue, as there have been many times when I have found myself irritated when clicking on a Middle-earth Mirth post only to be disappointed by the content (particularly in the days before I got Broadband, when pages took ages to download). So, when I first read this thread, my immediate reaction was unhesitatingly to agree with the sentiments expressed.

However, when I considered further, it occurred to me that, while some of what I read may not tickle my fancy, it is clearly (from the reactions expressed) highly amusing to others. As The Barrow-Wight said:

Humor is also often a affected by several factors: age, gender, education level, and location. These four things greatly influence our ideas of what is funny.

So, it seems to me that what some people might think of as:

A stupid act, remark, or idea

may well seem to others to be

amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd.

Sure, there is stuff in the Mirth forum that I find wholly unfunny. But I am sure that I have posted stuff myself which I have thought to be incredibly amusing but which has left others cold. It is a diverse world, and so people have incredibly diverse tastes and opinions, in humour as well as in other matters. Generally, I learn not to click on the threads that I know will not be my cup of comedy tea.

That is not to say that there are not points made here that are worth raising. It will always be important, particularly on a site such as this, to ensure (as far as we are able, given that English is not the first language of many here) that our posts are grammatically correct and free from typographical errors. And of course, gibberish posts and ones which have nothing substantive to say are pointless and annoying. Equally, overly crude posts on a forum such as this are to be avoided (although personally, I find the odd bit of slightly risqué humour rather amusing). But it seems to me that these are in the minority, particularly with the advent of the Reputation system which has done much to eliminate posts simply commenting on how funny a previous post was.

Really, I am just concerned not to apply some kind of quantative value to the humour posted in Middle-earth Mirth based upon that which we personally regard as funny or amusing. By all means condemn "waste of time" posts (ie those without anything to say) but it is, I think, healthy and worthwhile to have all kinds of humour represented in the forum, whether I personally find it amusing, indifferent or downright unfunny.

Now I never thought I'd end up saying that, but it is after all a funny old world.

Mind you, I do think that the Monty Python-based Tolkien parodies have reached the end of their shelf life.