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> The waitress told us he drew sketches of the faculty he did not care to eat with. She said they all had long noses. I’m trying to understand this comment. I
by jb1991 2y ago
> The waitress told us he drew sketches of the faculty he did not care to eat with. She said they all had long noses.
I’m trying to understand this comment. I can’t tell if this is somehow a vague hint of an anti-Semitic attitude? It’s a weird thing to say or write in modern times if not.
- lupire 2y agoIt's a reporting of a report of an observation of portrait drawings. Theres no way to know what it means from the text; you'd have to ask the artist.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- jb1991 2y agoThe question is why did the author feel compelled to bring up this bizarre remark about noses twice in the article, it’s rather out of the blue and several of us in this thread found it odd. It’s just a little strange. Curious, is all.
- rpmisms 2y ago"I saw a monkey in this guy's house, which made me think of black people. Therefore, he was racist". Assigning your own biases to other people is a great way to lose friends and influence nobody.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- jb1991 2y agoRidiculous accusation. And note several others in thread had a similar curiosity about the remark.
- pimlottc 2y agoI wondered too. It may simply indicate that the portraits were (intentionally) unflattering.
- Someone 2y ago> I can’t tell if this is somehow a vague hint of an anti-Semitic attitude? Doesn’t seem likely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_A._Michelson#Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_A._Michelson#Life: “Michelson was born in Strelno, Posen, Kingdom of Prussia (modern-day Strzelno, Poland), to Jewish parents […] His family was non-religious, and Michelson himself was a lifelong agnostic”
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- saagarjha 2y agoConsidering he was Jewish it seems unlikely?
- jb1991 2y agoYou have to admit, it’s a strange comment though.
- bulbosaur123 2y agoIt's fine. Stop seeing race, ethnicity everywhere. Just be more chill and not get triggered by everything, we don't have to police language. People should be able to say whatever they want
- eyelidlessness 2y agoOn the other hand, OP asked a question and you seem to be the one policing language in response.
- jb1991 2y agoI was not triggered, merely curious. It caught my eye. Several other people in this thread also noticed it as a bit strange. Doesn’t mean any of us were “triggered” by it.
- tom_ 2y agoAdd me to the list of people wondering about it too. An odd throwaway line, something of a non sequitur, some information we didn't really need to know - and yet, it was included. (And the noses referred to again later.) But without further elaboration. Clearly we are supposed to take something from this - but what? And I also considered the anti-semitism angle. It's not like the hook-nosed hand-wringing cartoon Jew isn't an extremely well-known anti-semitic stereotype, and it's not like the idea that somebody might be anti-semitic is hugely surprising. I don't think this thought is exactly some ridiculous flight of fancy! Turns out Michelson was a Jew though. Well, maybe that was just his art style then! But now I'm even more confused about the inclusion of this information. It is a strange comment.
- Etheryte 2y agoIn many cultures this signifies being a fool, e.g. think Pinocchio. Similar connotations exist for a wide variety of exaggerated proportions you might see in caricatures. So in this context it seems he didn't think highly of the faculty members at an intellectual level.
- calmbonsai 2y agoI forget the name of the specific art style, but "exagerated noses" is a known caricature motif. You can see this vividly depicted in the opening sequence of the BBC's "Yes Minister" TV series from the '80s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDEMthILzpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDEMthILzpA
- emmelaich 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Scarfe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Scarfe also did drawings for Pink Floyd's The Wall.
- calmbonsai 2y agoAwesome! Thank you for the proper cite.
- xandrius 2y agoJumping to that conclusion does require a very honed skill of looking for outrage. I'd be curious to know what they mean but until then I'd just take it as a pun and move on.