The Ugly Homophobic Truth About the Rickroll

I have to say

I came across the Beaker "Never Gonna Give You UP" video just the other day and got a great giggle because there actually seems to be a little resemblance between Beaker and Astley.

As for this:

"Uh, it isn't that he looks so gay, Uncle Fritz. It is because, uh, his voice doesn't fit the way he looks."

"Gay?"

Silence.

The reason I always thought seeing Astley sing the song was hysterical is exactly because his voice doesn't fit the way he looks.  He has this big deep booming voice that one doesn't expect from such a lanky (and pale) guy.  This has nothing to do with him being gay or not or, perhaps, someone else's assumption that being so lanky/physically slight/fair = weak = gay.  It has nothing to do with understanding of what it is to be macho or to be a man, or whether Astley fits that mold.  It's the same reaction many people get when they see some scrawny white girl belting out a tune that you had assumed was sung by a black gospel singer; a big voice from a teeny body is just as jarring as a squeaky voice coming from a big guy (think Mike Tyson).

Maybe your nephews silence was because his explanation should have been taken at face value and by interjecting the gay question you inadvertently created something completely different.

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by: ol cranky @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 18:27:12 PM CDT

My perception was correct

My nephew is a very bright kid. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he searched for an explanation that wouldn't insult me.

Sadly, I can be fairly certain that his first reation to seeing Rick Astley was "What a fag!"

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 18:41:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What's more

the red hair and the pasty skin color don't help--he's just a funny looking guy, sort of like Carrot Top, but with better hair--and then that voice! Neither does the fact that 90% of his songs sound exactly alike. I mean, can you tell the difference between "Together Forever" and "Never Gonna Give You Up"? I can, given enough time, but not in a snap.

However, the "Family Guy" connection makes sense. It's not one I'd heard before, but my students--college freshpeople and sophomores mostly--are really into that show, and so if that happened, I'm sure that's where they picked it up from. I would only say in their defense that their generation is a hell of a lot more gay-friendly than mine was overall.

Incertus

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by: Incertus(Brian) @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 19:21:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Never heard of this

but it caught my eye because my best friend is a DROOLING Rick Astley fan! Also David Lee Roth and Dan Fogelburg...

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by: Louise @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 18:34:48 PM CDT

Uh... huh...

I became aware of the RickRolling phenomenon a couple of months ago and to be honest I never really thought of it as homophobic (though I wasn't aware of the Family Guy connection.) I find the "Never going to give you up" amusing for the same reason I'm amused by Starship's "We Built this City on Rock and Roll" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" in that they're cheerful, hopelessly dated little time capsules of a bygone musical era. Something that's expedited by Ashley's dancing and period specific clothing.

That said I do hope the Bananarama roll catches on simply because I find so many music videos from my youth to now be hilarious.

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by: PaulS @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 18:39:15 PM CDT

Hatred of teenagers

"When my nephew showed me the video of Rick Astley singing Never gonna Give You Up on YouTube, he laughed out loud uncontrolably."

I have to admit that I wouldn't know how to handle that situation. I don't know why, but there is something about male teenagers, especially when they're laughing in that particular condescending manner, that makes me so extremely aggressively hate them, I can't quite place it; but if my son started laughing like that, I would probably beat him to a pulp, fully knowing that it's not the moral thing to do, but I wouldn't be able to control myself.

It's not that I was bullied as a teenager or anything, back then I didn't care. I really don't know where this intense dislike comes from - I don't mind adults making stupid jokes, and wasn't even that personally offended at Jay Leno's "gayest face" thing, for example; but when a male teenager does it, I somehow feel totally different about it.

Good thing I don't have kids, I guess.

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by: Bumba from Wakumba @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 18:41:11 PM CDT

I have to love them, too.

Unfortunately, once you've held them in your arms as little kids you just can't hate them for too long. You feel like pulling your hair out. But, you also know it is a phase they're likely to grow out of -- with the right guidance.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 19:27:54 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Done!

http://breaktheterror.wordpres...

http://breakthterror.blogspot.com

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by: breaktheterror @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 19:35:11 PM CDT

Ooooookay,

It never ceases to amaze me the things kids think are entertaining, etc.

Before reading your post Fritz, if I'd ever been "Rickrolled", I'd have probably thought it was just a bad link or would have been wondering what the point was.  Actually, the video did make me snicker a little; not for the reason your nephew found it funny, but because of the poor lip syncing.

To be honest, this whole phenomenon doesn't bother me half as much as the fact that teenagers have somehow got the message that's it's okay, and even cool, to "diss the fags" and to run around calling your friends, enemies, siblings, etc. a "fag" whether they're gay or not.

When exactly did this become so fashionable?  Did it start with kids love of Rap/Hip Hop?

Answers anyone?

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by: Jon Michaels @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 20:36:56 PM CDT

Why blame hip-hop?

Yes, some hip-hop/rap songs and artists are homophobic, but it didn't START with that, and there are lots of artists with political and romantic focii who never say anything about or against homosexuality (which of course then you could claim hetero privilege, but that's no different than 99% of other mainstream musical genres).

I'm 30, so my adolescence was in the late 80s to early 90s, before gangsta rap, back when hip-hop that made it into my mostly white grade school was mostly Kid N Play and DJ JAzzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. R&B was Whitney Houston and Boys 2 Men. NWA was just starting out and not mainstream.

And yeah, my white male classmates thought it great fun to call each other "fag" and laugh, and they targeted every other male they decided wasn't "normal" enough for them and called them "fag" and meant it maliciously.

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by: lyonside @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 21:14:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No Blame

I'm not blaming anything Lyonside, I'm just trying to understand.  I'd always heard Rap/Hip Hop was full of sexism, homophobia, etc. and I've observed a lot of kids are into it.  Basically, I was grabbing at straws.

Anyway, thanks for the explanation!

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by: Jon Michaels @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 22:08:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sorry but hip-hop gets blamed...

for everything, Which usually means the people blaming hip-hop haven't heard enough of it to know the range of the genre. "Fag" as a word did not come out of the black community, or the American musical traditions,black and white, that led to the rise of R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and rap. The last time I looked up the entymology of "fag" as an insult for homosexuals, especially men, I believe it was a centuries-old insult/threat that evoked execution by fire/poker, which is reflected in the modern British slang use of "fag" to mean a lit cigarette.

Teenagers are testing authority, testing boundaries, and testing the rules they grew up with (proper English, manners, etc.). That doesn't excuse bad behavior and actions, but it shows how easy it can be to turn a word that adults may have whispered around them or only said when they thought the kids weren't listening, into a word used out loud every day to peers, for the shock value of the adults and the feeling of getting away with something. Even better if it has a sexual connotation, even if that gets lost over time.

I mean, "that sucks" has become common, if coarse and informal, language, acceptable on network TV, etc. and noone is caring much anymore about the object of that sentence, which shows the phrase's sexual and either misogynistic, homophobic, or "passive as a negative" roots (depending on one's perspective). Heck, I never put it together until I read Steven King's "IT" and read the full phrase in print.

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by: lyonside @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 17:17:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

A Phelps clan protest got Rickrolled

A couple of days ago, I guess it was April Fools Day, I first found out about Rickrolling. I can't remember what blog it was on. It was in reference to some young man taking a boombox and standing with the Phelps people. I couldn't figure out what the point was at the time, but now it makes sense.

The fact that he was doing this as a statement against the anti-gay Westboro Baptists makes me doubt the homophobic motive of the Rickrollers -- at least on a widespread scale. Sometimes ideas, even fads, transcend their origins.

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by: peacearena @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 23:16:10 PM CDT

Google it

"The fact that he was doing this as a statement against the anti-gay Westboro Baptists makes me doubt the homophobic motive of the Rickrollers -- at least on a widespread scale."

The homophobia is pretty widespread. Just do a Google search and you'll find thousands of anti-gay statements -- mostly about poor Rick Astley.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 23:26:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

LOL WUT?

I saw this post and it was so wrong that I just had to register and point it out.

Rick Astley isn't funny because of how he looks.  He isn't funny because of how his voice doesn't match his face.  He's funny because someone randomly decided that he was.  That's how 4chan works.

As an example, someone posted what purported to be a porn clip on YouTube.  It had two girls going at each other.  Went on for about six minutes, then just as one was taking her top off, it goes into the song.  It's like a less horrible version of Goatse links.

Other examples of this kind of funny are Cover Cat (an out of focus cat used to cover up the interesting parts of images), Blockatiel (a cockatiel used for the same purpose), Longcat, &c.  More recently, someone found a way to switch around animations and skeletons on Super Smash Brothers while keeping the character's original skin.  This has resulted in a number of new recurring characters such as Longchuadorf (Gannondorf's moves and skeleton in Pikachu's skin) and Nightmare Peach (Princess Peach's skin with Sonic's moves).  These are funny because they are so weird.

Chances are your nephew didn't know what to say because he doesn't know why it's funny really.  It just shows up on this site and someone says it's funny, so it is.

Search Google for "LOL WUT".  There's an image of a pear with teeth.  When you understand why that is funny, you will understand why Rick Astley is funny.

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by: Regek @ Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 23:28:43 PM CDT

Family Guy

"Rickrolling started in 2003 when the Rick Astley song Never Gonna Give You Up was introduced on an episode of the Fox cartoon show Family Guy with the line "And now here's a song by a gay guy.""

Totally wrong -- the Family Guy episode in question aired over a month after Rickrolling started (in April 2007); given the production times for the show, its usage in the episode was totally coincidental.

For an accurate history of rickrolling, I refer you here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R...

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by: BobLoblaw426 @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 00:07:50 AM CDT

Oops!

That was a typo. 2003 was a loooong time ago. I meant to type 2007.

In my research, I can't find any Rickrolls on blogs that predate the Family Guy episode. It appears it started with the "Here's a song by a gay guy" posts. I don't think is could be a coincidence.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 01:25:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

In spite of my embarrassing typo...

I swear I proofread!

"Totally wrong -- the Family Guy episode in question aired over a month after Rickrolling started (in April 2007)"

The original Rick Roll YouTube entry was created on May 28, 2007.

The Family Guy episode aired on May 20, 2007.

Here's the blog post that I think started it all:

Stewies Playground: Brian Griffin vs. Rick Astley

http://stewiesplayground.com/2...

"OH MAN! I remember this song from back in the day; one of my friends actually went and saw Rick at the local mall, she was that obssessed with him. That was before we knew about the ghey."

So, am I totally wrong? No. I don't think so.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 01:46:18 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

There is no homophobic truth to rick rolling

It is a complete non sequitur, and that's exactly why it's funny.  Like all of the other really popular internet memes, the reason that it's widespread and humorous is because it's silly, out-of-place, weird, goofy, etc.  

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by: zortnac @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 00:56:54 AM CDT

And homophobic

I don't like being the butt of a gay joke. Do you?

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 01:26:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I have to disagree

...with the basic premise that rick rolling is popular because it's homophobic.  I spend a lot of time on message boards (far too much in fact), and I've seen people use the meme as a joke over and over.  Even on boards where there's a lot of immaturity and even homophobia, and there are gay jokes slung left and right, rick rolling isn't one of those jokes.

Again, I think it's funny because it's a total non sequitur and because it's from another time.  Seth McFarlane putting a homophobic twist to it on the episode of Family Guy is unfortunate, but ultimately inconsequential.  Rick rolling is, itself, pure internet-meme-style humor: it's complete silliness.

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by: zortnac @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:37:37 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Rick Astley

Good lord. I have to admit I got 'rick-rolled' myself last week. I don't remember who linked to it, but I was impressed that someone else remembered Rick Astley, who is funny because he is/was a geeky looking guy from the north of England (where I'm also from) with an out-sized voice. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane and then forget all about it.

Today, my 13-year old son downloaded the song from Itunes. I don't know why, but I presume he was also 'rick-rolled'. The funny thing is, though, that he actually LIKES the song for what it is. My son also likes James Brown, Kool and the Gang, and Pilot (oh oh oh it's magic), so he is a bit of a throwback anyway, so I didn't think it was all that odd.

Now I learn that we have both been bamboozled by homophobes!

To be honest, I can't get worked up about this. At all. But to each his own.

Fritz, are you the former lead singer from The Mutants??

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by: John Seal @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 00:58:10 AM CDT

No, I am not the fabulous Fritz Fox

(I've never done acid.)

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:49:04 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Great

Let's fight inanity with more inanity.  No wonder our culture's in the toilet.

Kids calling each other fag is nothing new.  It was going on when I was their age thirty years ago.  Pulling the kids up, as Fritz did with his nephew, on what consequences their words have is a good thing as teens are still learning emotional intelligence and the vocabulary that goes with it.

I love it when I go out for a smoke and tell my American friends that I'm going out to suck on a fag.  The look on their faces is priceless and brings the message home with humour.

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by: Brian @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 01:25:33 AM CDT

Unfortunately Brian

Many times when we try to educate kids here in US that words like "fag", "dyke", etc. hurt and what their consequences might be, we're accused by the Christofascist community of "promoting the homosexual agenda" or "indoctrinating children".

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by: Jon Michaels @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 04:04:34 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sorry Fritz

As someone from Ireland, I've known about awful Rick Astley for years, ever since his horrible, short-lived career in the 80's. He's just a mediocre one-hit wonder. There has never, ever been even the slightest implication that he is or was gay; he's not camp; his voice is incongruously deep and he's pale and skinny like guys were in the 80s. But not gay. You nephew is just applying the word gay to something silly and a bit crap; as teen have done for some time now. It's annoying for gay adults, painful for gay kids but it's nothing specifically to do with this video.  

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by: steerpike66 @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 01:26:39 AM CDT

I loved/love Rick Ashley

I bought all his CDs.  I wish I had been Rickrolled.  I hoped he was gay but never knew for sure.  I agree with the poster who said it is probably a non sequitur.  I think I saw it on the Family Guy and laughed because of the song and remembered it for what it was, of course, I'm gay so.

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by: BB @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 06:29:26 AM CDT

Redheaded Rick

I always thought he was hot in a laid back way and wanted to lay him back since what they say about redheads is true (in my experience, anyway).

Watching the video again it reminded me (in the shots where he's in front of those arches) of the Mick Jagger/David Bowie video--was it Dancing in the Streets?

Speaking of which, anyone remember Shalamar's Dancing in the Sheets from the soundtrack of Footloose?  I have that on my iPod for the gym.  Good song to get, uh, motivated by.

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 07:40:48 AM CDT

Lev, what do they say about redheads?

If it's size, I'd have to agree.  That said, he does look a bit Bowie-ish from that video.  I hadn't thought of that before but yeah, he really does!
I'm also going to have to agree with Blood from Machines that Rick Rolling is dumb.  I find it lame, but being old, I'm sure that people Fritz' nephew's age find me lame too.  As for being homophobic, I don't know if it is or if it isn't.  Maybe some people joke about it that way, others don't.  Speaking of gay-seeming videos from the 80's that could have been chosen, I would think that if they were going for that they would have picked something from Adam Ant, especially this one, except that it could be a little too "fuck you" for a bigot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
(Sorry, but 20 odd years later I still luv Adam!)

My America includes LGBT families.

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by: Mena @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 18:14:26 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oh great

now I'm gonna have THAT in my head all night! :) Haven't heard that in years...

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by: Louise @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 19:33:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Singing Budgie

Bananarama's way too pleasant to "roll" back...how about Kylie Minogue instead? Equally annoying as Astley and gay as all get out. "I Should Be So Lucky" is about the worst you can get.

God, she's annoying.

Curses! My million dollar ideas foiled again: "God Bless Your Brand!" http://www.christvertising.com/

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by: TJ McFisty @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 08:22:09 AM CDT

Kylie's fans are viciously loyal!

Don't wanna mess with Kylie -- especially after her battle with breast cancer. Her fans are hardcore and loyal.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:47:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oh, I know...

but those that despise her truly despise her with burning suns of white hot hate. Haaaaaaaaaaaate. ;D

Curses! My million dollar ideas foiled again: "God Bless Your Brand!" http://www.christvertising.com/

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by: TJ McFisty @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 12:07:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

How about 'I eat Cannibals' by Total Coelo? nt

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by: peacearena @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 11:07:24 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

There ya go!

Hot pot, cook it up, never ever gonna stop

Yum, yum, gee it's fun, banging on a different drum

Healthy recipe, what you got is good for me

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 11:33:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Another suggestion

Natasha Bedingfield. I Wanna Have Your Babies. Oh, the horror, the horror...

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by: John Seal @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 12:09:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm afraid I must disagree

that this is homophobic in nature.

My first exposure to it was just this past week, and from my nephews as well.

The joke to them was spoofing me with a link, to a "song from your generation, you know, disco". They were unaware of any gay connotations, and I didn't make any myself at the time.

In fact, we did comment about the difference of Rick's appearance to his voice, but again, not from a gay viewpoint. The guy looked boyish, preternaturally so, and he has this voice, that of a much older man, that didn't seem to fit his boyish appearance.

To them (and to me), the funny part was the music. It immediately set me to mind of the SNL bit with Chris Kattan and Will Ferrel, where they play the two smarmy guys hitting on women at a disco. Hell, they even made a movie about it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cMb...

More hysterical to me was that a fellow rickrolled Rev. Phelps and his gang.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eNN...

This was the first "gay" context I saw to the song. I thought that they were just the kind of people to be offended by the song.

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by: Kosh @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 10:31:34 AM CDT

Bananaramaroll

I'm on board.  I'll be doing a post about the "homosexual agenda" or something similar soon.  ;-)

"If a bullet should go through my head let that bullet go through every closet door."
Harvey Milk

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by: Buffy @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 13:27:02 PM CDT

This is silly....

I can't believe someone really wrote this post.  There is something homophobic about Rickrolling?  The whole "premise" of the "joke" is that Rick Astley does not sound "white" or "British" - which is what you'd expect from a British white guy.  When the song first came out everyone assumed the singer was black.  Don't you remember when Sinbad had a talk show and invited Rick Astley on?  He said he thought Astley was a "brother".  When they profiled the song on VH1's "Back to the 80s" (or whatever it's called) they spoke about how everyone assumed Astley was African-American.

The real prejudice surrounding this joke is actually racism, not homophobia.  

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by: Armistead @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 15:55:36 PM CDT

Silly?

Do the same research I did. Google "Rick Astley" and the word "gay".

Then, Google "song by a gay guy" and see what you find.

How about "Rickrolling" and "gay"?

You'll find thousands of posts that are obviously homophobic. These posts trace back to the very origins of the Rickroll.

The people defending Rickrolling sound a lot like the ones who defend blackface.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 19:16:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What's the point?

You get 412 links by searching for "Rick Astley" and "cheese danish" in Google.  Google search results are hardly a method to gauge cultural trends.

I'm sorry, but I'm a gay man and I have no idea where you are finding this "connection".  I witnessed the Rickrolling phenomenon on Digg, YouTube and etc. on April Fools Day.  There was nothing I found even remotely homophobic about it.

The one source you have is the single reference on Family Guy.  I think in that case, unfortunately, Family Guy is using "gay" as a synonym for "stupid" which is regrettably homophobic -- but I don't understand what it has to do with Rick Astley.  He was not rumored to be gay when he was popular.  This all just makes no sense.

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by: Armistead @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 20:19:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Seriously?

I posted this to Digg:

http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Moro...

This is probably the most alarmist post I've seen on this site, and that says a lot!

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by: vividblurry @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 16:32:55 PM CDT

Nice... this person called me a moron

This is what "vividblurry" wrote:

Some blogger thinks our beloved Rick Astley "looks gay" and therefore assumes that Rickrolling is rooted in homophobia. No, Rickrolling is rooted in the fact that Rick Astley is AWESUM. Not to mention that he is married with child.

First, I provided actual research -- no assumption on my part all.

Second, I provided links to several blogs in which Rick Astley is called gay.

Did you even READ my article?

If you want to refute my findings, that's one thing. But, I'm certainly not a moron and will debate someone as incapable of communicating logically and cogently as you at the drop of a hat.

Finally, the word is AWESOME not AWESUM. Really. It is in a book called the DICTIONARY.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 19:08:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well...

You are indeed debating me, so good job.

In any event, you know very little about Internet memes, as is illustrated by your original post and your criticism of my spelling of the word "awesome." I know how to spell "awesome." However, "AWESUM" is lolspeak for "awesome." If you were even remotely web savvy, you'd know this, and you'd also know why nearly every commenter is calling you out for being so utterly alarmist and inane.

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by: vividblurry @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 20:37:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

My aren't you cutting edge

I make a very good living as a Web producer, thank you very much. I was formerly the senior Web editor for Kinko's Inc. and I've worked on projects for companies like Kodak, CNN, and Paramount just to name a few.

I was making Web sites when you were in middle school, junior.

I've been blogging for seven years. I'm an expert at online marketing, search analytics and user interface design.

I'm quite familiar with Fark and similar juvenile online forums. I know that they are popular with young, socially immature young men such as yourself (as evidenced by you calling me a moron).

I am not an alarmist. By definition, an alarmist spreads false and inaccurate information without supporting evidence. If you had opened up that book called a DICTIONARY, you would know that, too.

I'm not predicting that the sky is going to fall because of this. It is just an observation, supported by research, that I believe is worth noting.

You come across as being very immature, low-class, and in need of some serious growing up.

I should also point out that it appears you are suffering from obnoxious personality disorder (OPD). You may want to see a good psychiatrist about that.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 21:01:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

lolz

And I was making websites when I was IN middle school. What is your point?

If you think calling me out on my age or referring me to a dictionary is somehow a "mature," "high-class" and "grown up" form of debate, then yikes, you win!

I don't know - bickering with someone on a random blog is not really my style, so have a good night.

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by: vividblurry @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 21:16:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bickering appears to be just your style

You're the one who started this by referring to me as a moron.

I certainly am calling you out on your age. I'm older, wiser, and more experienced. Obviously, in addition to being young, you lack comprehension skills. You made a couple of outrageous false statements regarding my article:

1) You wrote: "Some blogger thinks our beloved Rick Astley "looks gay" and therefore assumes that Rickrolling is rooted in homophobia."

No. I didn't write that I think Rick Astley looks gay. I wrote: "For the record, Rick Astley is not gay. He was thin, pretty, and had an enormous voice. Unfortunately, he did not conform to the standard macho image that straight people demand of male performers..."

2) You wrote: "No, Rickrolling is rooted in the fact that Rick Astley is AWESUM. Not to mention that he is married with child."

If that is the case, support your position with evidence. I provided numerous links to posts titled "Here's a song by a gay guy" and you've not provided a worthy rebuttal.

Show us proof that Rickrolling was started by ardent Rick Astley fans, if that is your position.

3) You wrote: "This is probably the most alarmist post I've seen on this site, and that says a lot!"

You characterize my article and this blog as alarmist, when it is obvious you don't even know what the word means. Simply making an observation about the origins of Rickrolling is not alarmist. You are hostile and arrogant from first contact.

4) You wrote: "I don't know - bickering with someone on a random blog is not really my style, so have a good night."

You are dismissive, petulant, and unrepentant. These are indicative of social immaturity. This may be due to your age (24 according to your Digg profile) or you could just be an asshole.

If you want to write an intelligent rebuttal to my article, with supporting evidence and without the ad hominem, please do so. However, I doubt that you're up to the challenge.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 21:51:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Rickroll is stupid.

1. Rick Astley isn't gay, but was looked up to by gays.  The same thing with Robbie Williams ten years later.

2. I do not understand this Rickroll thing.  My buddy in Texas did this to me before and all I see is some Rick Astley video.  I do not get this joke because I heard this song on the radio a lot twenty years ago.

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by: Blood From Machines @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 16:49:22 PM CDT

had never seen the video before

of course i'd heard the song years ago, but had never seen the video until now.  i can see why someone would pick it as a "that's so gay!" type "joke".  not because of the incongruity of astley's big voice and young and slender body, but because of the enthusiastic man who played the bar tender.  he really got into ricks groove and mr astley smiles and sings.  too bad they were never in the same frame simultaneously.  ah well, that would have been more than the 80s could bare, i guess.

interesting piece of investigative work, Fritz.  i can imagine that lots of people do laugh at the video just because it is 80 kitsch or they think big voice + slender man= hilarious and are truly ignorant of the origin of the rickroll.  however, for those who do know the origins of the "joke" and perpetuate it, shame on them.

bananarama is a good choice.  that dredged from my memory fun boy three, which in turn started me humming the go gos & belinda's repertoire.  :)






Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 17:21:28 PM CDT

speaking of homophobes and rickrolling

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by: ol cranky @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 19:03:21 PM CDT

Get it?!

He played a "song by a gay guy" to Fred Phelps!

This just proves my point.

This isn't "incongruity" -- it is a misguided choice to play a song that many people assume is by a gay man.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 19:12:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

nope, still don't get it

I doubt phelps and his bretheren know who rick astley is or are familiar with a song, so I doubt they even knew what is is to be rickrolled.  Maybe you should check with the guy who did this as to why he chose this song and relay your concern that his actions smacked of homophobia.  I'd be curious to know how he responds.

If it makes you feel better to label me and anyone else that that ever laughed at Rick Astley singing that song a homophobe - knock yourself out.  It's quite possible you will find homophobia and any other sort of intolerance wherever you choose to look for it (whether it's there or not).  You give the haters way too much power.  The bigger a deal you make out of imagined or minor slights, the less people will pay attention when there is a very big and very real intent to offend.

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by: ol cranky @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 19:53:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Memeage

To break it down to the most simple terms possible, the Rickroll is popular because immature young men like to laugh at males who they perceive to be gay.

The thing about Rickrolling, as with any Internet meme, is that it's almost impossible to point to a single point of origin. I'm not disputing your examples or even arguing why a lot of young straight guys think it's funny. But at this point, it's taken on a life of its own, like lolcats and "All Your Base" and "I'm in ur ____, _____ing ur ____." It's passed on primarily because it's meta-funny--that's why the Muppet parody is out there, and why XKCD and other webcomics have picked it up.

I remember when the song was popular, and the video in particular epitomizes '80's cheese with the laughable production values combined with inane lyrics performed by someone who at the time seemed to be taking himself Very Seriously--Pop music is srs bzns!--but who can laugh about it now. It's funny now because it's absurd.  

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by: Darkrose @ Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 19:43:43 PM CDT

Gotta agree....

I gotta agree that the whole rickrolling phenomenon is funny to people for many of the reasons discussed here, and not wholly or even in large part because of some homophobia thing.  Just because "gay " was somehow associated with the Family Guy show and the rickrolling thing accelerated from there, I doubt most people think its funny to link to the video because Rick is so "gay."  Besides, with so many other real, violent, mean, discriminatory acts occurring on a daily basis out there that are so much worse that we should be focusing energy........  [writer left to fight real homophobia]

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by: Mich @ Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 00:30:45 AM CDT

sigh...

I love when our energy and time gets spent on something like this rather than, say, getting a queer-inclusive anti-harassment policy passed at your local school district or getting a domestic partner registry passed in your hometown.  

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by: apollonia666 @ Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:06:09 AM CDT

lol wut

There's another problem with your timeline. If episode aired May 20th 2007 why do definitions for "rickroll" in urban dicitonary exist prior to that date?

http://www.urbandictionary.com...

May 5 was the date of the first rickroll related ytmnd

http://wiki.ytmnd.com/Rickroll

the family guy thing is a coincidence, 4chan is to blame.

Anyway, if gay=hilarity then why isn't buttrolling more popular?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

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by: crazyhatman @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:04:33 AM CDT

This is why you fail:

You couldn't find any posts from before the family guy episode with the "song by a gay guy" reference. This does not prove that rickrolling came from family guy. What it proves is that the "song by a gay guy" line came from family guy

Most rickroll posts are either a bare link to a video or a link that says it's something else entirely (some trailer, sex video, etc) and actually goes to the Astley video. You wouldn't have been able to find those with a google search - also, the current main "Rickroll video" having a creation date after it doesn't mean that the video didn't exist before with a different video id.

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by: Random832 @ Wed May 21, 2008 at 23:14:35 PM CDT

Rickroll by phone

There's a lot of sites like these popping up where you can rickroll by phone.

One of the better ones:

http://myphoneblaster.com

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by: klord @ Wed Jun 04, 2008 at 14:22:14 PM CDT