Is whatever you say a trope? Is it always the case that when you say something which in most circumstances is perfectly innocent, others are entitled to assume you meant something else, indeed that that something else is deliberately offensive? It now seems you are not now entitled to be the arbiter of your own thoughts but must submit to the judgement of others who specialise in policing these matters. Watchful people (quite possibly fanatics) abound who trawl incessantly for evidence of subtle prejudice, which they see as endemic as the yet postulated but undetected dark matter which forms part of the glue of reality. So it is that when students from Christ Church, Oxford, competing on University Challenge, displayed their mascot, an octopus, they were attacked for adopting an anti-Semitic trope. (This story appeared in Metro on the MSN clickbait feed, 21/11/23) Apparently this was deeply offensive to some viewers who—natch—launched into an attack on the BBC for allowing such an outrage to be broadcast. It is only partially comforting to know that other viewers came to the support of the BBC, pointing out that in all probability that the sight of one of the students dressing in Muslim garb added to the crime of the ‘trope.’ Now any expression of solidarity with the Palestinians can be cited as a trope by the fanatics, and the fanatics’ sense of their own legitimacy is naturally increased by government ministers keen to make their mark with a selectorate who share their hatred of the ‘other.’ To Hell with the lot of them I say. (n.b. since I don’t believe in Hell, I am using the word here in a tropey sort of way. Letting the fanatics live with their idiotic beliefs must be hell enough.)
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