I want to add a Real Life example, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia's statement about the mismatch theory of affirmative action during the oral argument for Fisher v. University of Texas. He was trying to say that students admitted via affirmative action have a tendency to struggle in schools that outmatch their ability, and would do a lot better in school at "slower-track institutions".
This was quote-mined by Mother Jones, a liberal news site, as "Blacks belong in slower institutions".
So, knowing that the Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgment applies here, is this an appropriate example?
Hide / Show RepliesToo controversial, I'd say.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanI'm going to remove the A Voice For Men and Aca Demy example. It doesn't cite any sources and doesn't give any actual examples of quote mining. It's basically just an Author Tract that says "they're wrong, other side is right". Objections?
Lots of the Real Life examples seem to me to be pretty arguable. A lot of them boil down to "one political figure quoted another in a damaging way, the other one (and his/her fans) say the quote was taken out of context"—which is what a politician says 90% of the time they make a gaffe. (The other 10%, they do a full grovel and apology—though even then, that's usually after they try the "out of context" approach.)
Per the Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgement, I'm inclined to remove most of the ones involving current or recent public figures, and just note that the charge of Quote Mine is very often made. Any objections?
Hide / Show RepliesAnd, hearing no objections... I'll leave the George Zimmerman one (since NBC apologized for it), though I'll trim it down. But I'll pull out most of the other contemporary ones, and replace them with a note that candidates routinely charge their opponents with doing this.
"Suppose Bob, a famous critic, said that Tropers: The Movie "had the potential to be a great work of art,... in different hands, but the lead actor is a coke fiend and the director was Uwe Boll""
What's with the ",..." in the "original" quote? It just looks like something might have been removed from there, too. I'm going to remove that to avoid confusion, but I thought I'd mention this in case it has some deep purpose I just don't get that's more important than avoiding confusion (and maintaining grammar).
Edited by VVK Hide / Show RepliesIt could have been more praise, or a suggestion of possible themes. If it "had the potential to be a great work of art, (deeply exploring the conflict between who we are and who we present ourselves to be), in different hands, but the lead actor is a coke fiend and the director was Uwe Boll" then it's a valid quotation and not a quote-mine to put in the ellipses.
However, it is true that it would cause confusion that could be avoided with elimination.
Inspired by an anti-censorship website, would this be a better quote for this page?
"Congress shall make ... law ... prohibiting ... the freedom of speech ... of the press ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Because of how the first Amendment is used to inspire the freedom of ideas and speech, blatantly twisting it to prohibit that is a true example of the trope.
Hide / Show RepliesI think the current page quote is prettymuch the best on the site and shouldn't be changed.
That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.- A version appears in That '70s Show, when Laurie is asking Eric to borrow her his car, and Kelso hears it as she was coming onto him. Example:
Eric: Aren't you a little cold?Laurie: No, in fact I'm hot.(later)Eric: Okay, but I need a favor.Laurie: For you? I don't think so.(Kelso hears:)Laurie: I'm hot for you.
It was actually even worse than that (if you believe that can be done), but I can't remember how it actually went. I'd look it up on Youtube, but I don't know what to search for. =/
she her hers hOI!!! i'm tempe
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Rename:, started by RhymeBeat on Oct 19th 2010 at 4:31:06 AM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman