Needs Help: Poes Law

Look, the current picture just... doesn't feel right. It is weirdly cropped, ominous-looking and does not illustrate, one has to look at the captions to make sense of it. I wouldn't even guess that it was a conspiracy-theory flyer of the red scare.

With a concept so applicable nowadays, especially at the Internet, I expected the page pic to be better. Possibly some webcomic strip that discuss the subject? Or, if image-macros aren't considered here a terrible terrible thing to suggest, Fry's "not sure if trolling or just stupid" meme◊*

Meme pics are a no-go, period, unless they're for a page about the meme. The current isn't terrible, but I wouldn't mind to see some other options.

I don't think it's cropped, I think the original's just like that.

And image macros are generally strictly verboten, although the image the words are slapped on top of can work in some cases. I don't think an image of Fry squinting would get the trope across without the caption, though.

I like it.

yeah... that's what I supected

any sugestions? I think a more descriptive pic could work more than the current one, it's a little confusing at first glance

edited 27th Oct '12 10:17:45 PM by ElectricBoogaloo

I'm not sure we could do much better. Hard to find a pic for this one that's not JAFAAC.

I'm kind of of the inclination to say that having no picture would be better than the current one. It relies entirely on the link and the caption to get the point, which means the image is useless.

Maybe a collage of a parody with something serious might do it, but I don't have examples.

^^ Disagree. I think it relies on the caption/link hardly at all. It is difficult to tell if that is real or a parody. The caption spells out that this is the most relevant (to the trope) question, but it is not necessary.

JAFAAC means the subject is an example, but that isn't apparent from this particular image. (That is, you'd have to be familiar with the subject to understand it.) Explaining and illustrating would be ideal, but just illustrating is better than nothing.

edited 12th Nov '12 6:47:05 PM by rodneyAnonymous

It is difficult to tell what it is, period. Are the three big labelled balls supposed to be threatening? Should the little girl representing the public not be staring at them?

One person (or even several people) not getting it doesn't mean it's hard to get.

I don't see a reason to pull it. Even if it's hard to understand, it's possible to understand it, so it doesn't detract from the page.

[shrug]

@ 10: I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be the metal ball on your typical ball-and-chain. Plus, there's a disembodied hand behind the Uninformed Public girl, which looks like it's coming from somebody larger than she is - a mother, I suppose. So I'm guessing the implication is that the artist is saying that mothers are unwittingly enslaving their children to the government by taking their kids to doctors that support these kinds of treatments.

I like the image. I wish to keep it.

I'm not terribly fond of the current picture, but I say Keep Until Better Is Suggested.

As an added bonus, you can't quite tell just by looking at it whether or not it's intentionally referencing Dr Strangelove.

Obvs what this thread needs is more Jack Chick.

I like the first picture (the D&D one).

The first Chick pic works for me.

I think the second one is funnier, but the first Chick Tract is a better illustration of Poe's Law.

That does not seem better than current. Worse, probably: "D&D is Satanic" is a common (and silly) claim... that is easier to identify as real.

Which makes it a perfect example.

The proposal is good. It's intended to be serious, but it is utterly impossible to take the phrase 'intense occult training through D&D' at all seriously, among other quirks of the wording, which makes it seem like it could be self-parodic. But it isn't.

^^ Easily being able to tell it is real does not make it a perfect example. This is "can't tell".

^ ...but that is a good point. It is kind of silly, which throws a hypothetical reader off the trail. I prefer the current image though. Pentagrams are great and everything, but I don't like giving Jack Chick any publicity, even if it's making fun of a tract. Also, that suggestion takes a whole lot of reading, the imagery is not very important.

edited 22nd Nov '12 12:30:26 PM by rodneyAnonymous

The part about it being less imagy and more texty is my main reason for valuing that image lower than the current.