Letters Nov 28, 2012 at 4:00 am

Comments

1
I think the folks at Portland Mercury are a little butthurt over Portlandia. Most likely because the show parodies the exact type of people the Merc employs and champions=Self-important hipster d-bags. But they also clown on Pearl yuppies, hippies, foodies, etc. The show is pretty funny because it holds a mirror to quirky Portland. What's the big deal? Too close for comfort? If you can't laugh at yourself...
2
re: Portlandia.

It's funny because it's true. If it's not funny, it's you.
3
No, it's not funny because Fred Armisen is in it, and Lorne Michaels is involved. Carrie is the only thing good about it. To say nothing of the role that show willingly plays in the further commodification, and resulting gentrification, of Portland.
4
I was uncredited! Gasp! I'm hurt.
5
I *so* wanted to believe in Bigfoot as a kid...and hobbits...but never had any desire to believe in ghosts or gods, though, thank ghost.
6
@cryaboutit and BokChoy:
Congratulations, those comments are so original I've only read them about a hundred times before, in damn near every discussion of the show I've ever stumbled across. Good job trying to make a show you like immune to any criticism or ridicule. You find it funny, so if someone else doesn't, there must be something wrong with them, right? Jesus, that's as annoying as any Portlandia character. What makes you think you know the real deep-down reasons someone you don't know doesn't like a show? Your presumptuousness is seriously irritating, particularly cryaboutit's pathetic need to buy into some artificial "type of people" category upon which to base a judgmental superiority to a huge spectrum of people and things that the Merc covers. I hope I can be as awesome as you someday.
Not everything that "holds a mirror" does so with good ideas, writing, sense of comic timing, etc. And something is funny just because it's true? How is that supposed to work? "Sh*t My Dad Says" may be true, but I'm pretty sure it's not funny.
7
annatta, I am not sure what Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels have done merit your disdain; to say "the role that show willingly plays in the further commodification, and resulting gentrification, of Portland." is a ridiculous overstatement. If anything, Mayor Sam Adams skilled marketing of Portland, Oregon across the nation and his urban renewal programs are more to blame for the ills that you cite.

geyser, your comment is punctuation to my earlier comment. Thank you.
8
"Punctuation"? Okay. I guess my criticism of your original obtuse, rhyming—fortune-cookie-like in its simplicity yet revealing nothing—will stand.
9
Cryaboutit, you have a point but it has been made before and the people you reference will never cop to it. Also, I generally don't find the show funny and I am pretty sure I do not fit any of the stereotypes parodied.
10
Fair enough, guys. The only reason I felt compelled to leave a somewhat harsh comment was after having read Carrie's letter, the Merc responds with:

"CONGRATULATIONS TO CARRIE for publicly admitting that we're right about why Portlandia isn't funny. That must have been a very difficult and brave thing to do."

Seems to me there's some underlying insecurity issues there. But then you've heard that all before *wink, wink*
11
@ geyser - "fortune-cookie-like"?!?? Wow!........ Just wow.
12
BokChoy: Jeez. I'm not sure where you got the idea that I said Portlandia was solely responsible for gentrification. A more attentive reading would have revealed that I claimed it played a "role" in the commodification of Portland, which I believe to be -a- cause of gentrification. Did Sam play a major role? Yes? So did local corporations and our tourism officials. And others.

And don't go looking for complicated explanations for my feelings about Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels. I merely find them annoying and unfunny
13
BokChoy: Thanks back at you for all the punctuation and another dull non-response. "Just wow."?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! OH MY GOD, just... O...M....G....."Wow"? What? Are you kidding me?!!? [falls out of chair; writhes in contortions on floor; co-worker helpfully puts wallet in geyser's mouth to prevent tongue-swallowing]

Helpful note to anyone tallying those all-important like/dislike votes for this comment: simply add both numbers together and that's the real number of coveted "likes" because this comment is "true" so anyone who dislikes it is outing their own "issues," which only adds to this comment's merit. Just like Portlandia, yay!
14
@ geyser's co-worker -

If a person is having an epileptic seizure:

- try to remove any objects on which the person could hurt themselves cushion their head with something soft if they have collapsed to the ground

- NEVER put anything in the person's mouth during an attack; don't hold them down

- after the seizure has stopped, put them into the recovery position and check that their breathing is returning to normal

- stay with the person until they regain consciousness, then try to calm them if necessary

- if the fit lasts for more than 5 minutes, an ambulance should be called immediately

- if their breathing sounds difficult after the seizure has stopped, an ambulance should be called immediately

- if they are injured, or they have another seizure without recovering fully from the first seizure, an ambulance should be called immediately.

- let boss know that geyser is wasting valuable work time and resources.
15
@cryabout it...again you are correct in your assertion, but no one on the staff or most of these "posters" are not going to admit it because it hits to close to home . Which does not make them bad people per se. Also "gentrification" is not unique to Portland and was around long before this show, just as white yuppies/"hipsters" were moving to Portland en masse before it came out.
16
THIS IS STILL LAST WEEK'S LETTER COLUMN WTF

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