1

Such flaws definitely keep this prank at the sub-genius level.

And none of their commenters' names link to sites. How suspicious is that? Not even the "spammer's" name is clickable.

Lame.

2

What got me suspicious was that even though one of the commenters said something about having read this blog for a long time, there was no archive. A search for Benjamin Leo didn't yield any information either.

Oh, well. At least I was in good company on the blogroll.

3

I got a comment from a guy named Steve and then at the bottom he had a little sig that said "Hetracil saved my life." ????

4

Weird.

But funny, that someone would go to so much trouble...

and still not do it right.

Classic.

Oh well.

Good for a laugh, at least.

5

Oh, snap - I'm on his blogroll too!

6

That's pretty funny, they have another Website for Hetracil and everything. Taken by 30 million americans!

7

The story is actually pretty entertaining.
quality sci-fi.

8

It's the "perpetrator" of the "hoax" here...
I prefer "author" of the "story" but your points
are well taken.

What I'm trying to say is, anti313 is meant to be a work of fiction. Yes I wanted it to look real, but only in the same way as any author wants their work to be convincing and realisitc.

Creating and distributing art for a new medium is tricky... but please - read the whole story posted at anti313. It's supposed an entertaining and intellectually stimulating exploration of some very complex material - not just a failed hoax.

My theory was this:
Sooner or later, there's going to be a pill which removes the chemical impulse for certain men to behave effemenately. When that happens, a lot of very interesting questions are going to be raised in the fields of identity, sexual orientation, and religion.

My goal was to explore these questions through one man's journey.

I hope you'll read the story it out and see if you get something out of it... I'd love to discuss any of the issues that it raises and get your general opinions of the execution involved.

I'd also like to hear your thoughts on the blog as a medium for fiction - but to me, this is really secondary to the issues explored by the story itself.

Thanks and be well,
Benjamin

9

Benjamin,

There will never be a pill that removes sin from our lives. No pill will cure pornography, rape, child molestation, necrophilia, homosexuality, adultery, etc. I think you get the drift.

If it were that simple to cure our flesh from desire we wouldn't need the Christ.

The only pill that will ever help any of us is the hardest pill of all to swallow. That we are indeed sick and in need of a physician.

10

Eric & Lisa-

Thanks for posting again-
I couldn't agree more, and in fact, the complexity you highlight is a large part of why I wanted to explore these issues.

There is no pill that will cure sin - it just isn't possible by definition.

However, I wonder what exactly will occur when a pill is created, and it won't be long, which will physically inhibit the impulse for some men to act effeminately and subsequently ends their homosexual tendencies?

Thanks again,
Benjamin

11

"Fake but accurate", eh?

How's Dan doing with his retirement?

12

What I'm trying to say is, anti313 is meant to be a work of fiction. Yes I wanted it to look real, but only in the same way as any author wants their work to be convincing and realisitc.

Benjamin, when you say that you meant your work to be a work of fiction, what exactly indicates this intention to the reader? The analogy between what you produced and other works of intentional ficition is faulty, in my opinion. Granted, fiction writers, for the most part, seek to make the worlds they create realistic and convincing, but they also identify their "art" as novels and short stories, thereby revealing their intent that their work be understood as fiction.

13

wow,

you're uncovering the liberal media. you've got em on the run! do you think Hillary is behind it? maybe Ted Kennedy!

14

I sure do hope nobody falls for this.

15

Good blog, bro!

Matthew

www.matthewpaulturner.com/blog

16

Where can I get some of that Hetracil? And do they also make Shetracil?

17

Come on. "Homocil" on SNL was funnier. Plagiarism, anyone?

18

Keith-

You've got a great point, and I can't say that I disagree.

So what do you suggest? Should I have a banner across the top, or a warning telling readers it's "just fiction?" Wouldn't that affect a reader's experience? Isn't it much more edgy and powerful not knowing exactly what it is, or whether it's real, or at least having to think about it? Doesn't that make a reader consider the issues more deeply?

Although- maybe I'm mistaken. So far, all I've heard is people discussing the fact that it's "not real," a "hoax" etc. I'm not convinced that anyone has actually read the piece at this point, let alone thought about any of the issues I'm trying to raise.

19

Jim-

Great catch! I swear I never heard of it.
I haven't watched snl since its 2nd glory days in '86 with phil hartman and dennis miller.

20

Benjamin:

I think the main problem is that by setting it up as a real medicine/article/etc., the minute someone catches on that this isn't real, it totally shatters the illusion, and they are no longer able to suspend their disbelief long enough to really think about the real issues. One of the keys of any good fiction, of any sort (novels, short stories, movies, whatever), is that the reader/viewer can suspend disbelief enough to really see the world the author is creating (enough so that you have trekkies/trekkers wearing costumes and congregating in conventions, people naming their kids after Tolkien characters, etc, etc!), and in turn, because they can temporarily "believe" the fantastic world, see the larger issue(s) the author is trying to get across.

By presenting it as the real thing, what you are tapping into is the human impulse to walk away when you feel like you've been "had;" or to not take seriously, and only pay attention enough to mock, what is clearly not true but tries to pretend to be (e.g. The National Enquirer and its ilk).

The only way you're going to get people to take you seriously enough to read through the whole post, and really dissect it for the issues it presents, is to up-front give the premise "Let's just pretend...". Else your writing will be taken about as seriously as the checkout aisle newspapers that claim "Elvis still alive, invents two inch tall chicken that holds key for eliminating world hunger!"

21

I'm not convinced that anyone has actually read the piece at this point, let alone thought about any of the issues I'm trying to raise.

Unfortunately I did read it. It's long, rambling, and the graphic description of how you (or your character) masturbated in the bath was gratuitous and unnecessary.

A sub-genius hoax.

22

Actually, it read an awful lot like the human interest stories in the papers I read.

One thing I may suggest, that would have tipped off an educated reader, though--keep the number of prescriptions down. To have 40 million people on the thing means we ALL would have heard of it--we would know dozens of people using the stuff. There are only 290 million Americans, less than half men! Better to keep it at, say, 400 thousand. Know what I mean?

Also, if such medicines were to become widely used, it would have a serious and debilitating effect on Democratic voter rolls among men, which would be yet another reason for the ACLU to become so exercised.

23

Oooh, Catez, methinks thou dost protest too much.

This guy read the whole gay jack-off description and then sits up sweating and goes... "that was gratuitous!"

Ya know, Catez, it's going to be very hard for you to be saved after such a performance.

24

Yeah! Benjamin Leo's a scumbag hoaxer.
go christians!

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050828/D8C8JGIG0.html

25

It's good to let people know what they can avoid in the "story". Unfortunately there's no warning on the content.
BTW I'm not a guy.

26

Hey, I'm insulted. I'm not on the blogroll. What have the guys at Letters from Babylon got that I haven't got? I mean, besides better writing skills and serious thinking about theology? At least I'm way more prolific.

By the way, BBEditor, that AP article doesn't tell the whole story. Fred Phelps heads up a cult, and it would take some stretch of the imagination to call him an evangelical. Dean Esmay, an atheist himself, does a very thorough takedown of that article.

27

I read this article.It's really amazing.
john

28

"However, I wonder what exactly will occur when a pill is created, and it won't be long, which will physically inhibit the impulse for some men to act effeminately and subsequently ends their homosexual tendencies?"

This is still part of the parody, right?

I mean, sort of a dual level thing? You can't possibly be serious.

29

The simple fact is that if you read this story knowing that it is a work of fiction, it doesn't have the intended effect of the writer. Thinking it is real actually makes you think about the issues he raises. I vote for the genius category.