Can I be honest, I think if we went back in time and told that “MYRRH-DER” “*gasp* Judas! No!” joke to a group of medieval peasants they would completely and utterly lose their shit. They would be grabbing each other and crying with laughter. idk I just love the thought of a joke created through a modern, 21st century medium being accessible and enjoyable for devout practising Catholics hundreds of years ago
You’d be burned as a heretic, but sure, imagine they’d laugh.
No, you really wouldn’t.
When I wrote this post I specifically had in mind the liturgical plays enjoyed by medieval folks, especially from the 14th century onwards. These plays were once performed at liturgies, in Latin, under the direction of the priest or bishop, but later became plays that were enjoyed on the village green, recited in English, and performed and produced by players. Gradually, more and more comedic and farcical elements crept into the plays, because that’s what audiences loved and demanded.
They would tell the lives of saints and Bible stories such as the Fall of Man, Noah’s Ark and the Nativity. Because plays were enjoyed at carnivals and because religious spirit and merrymaking aren’t incompatible, certain characters became humorous and stereotyped. For example, Noah’s wife was a shrew who would smack her husband to get him into the ark, Herod was a ludicrous, blustering tyrant and poor old Joseph was particularly derided and used as comic relief, especially in the Nativity plays. Apparently, being cuckolded by God was not the way to appeal to a medieval man, though he would gain respect after the Reformation.
In the context that medieval peasants watched and loved ribald and slightly irreverent liturgical plays, something that would later evolve into the English stage as we know it in Shakespeare, it is entirely accurate and harmless to think that during a Nativity play the last wise man might say “I bring thee myrr…” and after Jospeh has thanked him, he would unmask to reveal his red hair (sorry guys Judas was ginger) and exclaim “MYRR-DRE!” causing Joseph to gasp and cry “JUDAS!! NAY!!” and probably trip over himself falling backwards, to the unparalleled surprise and delight of the devout medieval peasants who, guess what, still have a damn sense of humour.
i read some medieval mystery plays this semester. there’s one where mary, having pregnancy cravings, is like “oh, husband, won’t you go get me some cherries from that tree there?”
and joseph basically says “eh, that tree is really tall and I don’t want to. how about you ask the guy that got you knocked up to get you the cherries?”
and the tree ~miraculously bends down~~ so she can eat them
you know i see people call characters who definitely aren’t chaotic evil chaotic evil a lot. but you know who actually IS chaotic evil and everyone calls lawful evil? GLaDOS.
*young republican voice* i don’t see why my rich, rich, rich rich rich, rich rich rich rich, so fucking rich, father should have to pay for poorer boys school lunches. he could spend that money on a racism machine
More schools do this pls saying the pledge every morning is the most dystopian shit ever
No one forces you to do it lmao
^^^^^^
Lmaoo it’s literally unconstitutional to require kids to stand for the pledge. I don’t for multiple reasons and not only can no one can make me, but no one has even tried, besides just curiously asking me why. Like fuck no ones forcing you lol
“No ones forcing you you’ll just be in an incredibly awkward position, socially ostracized, and threatened by staff :/// no one’s holding a gun to your head though so it’s ok !!!!!!”
Shut up dumbasses
I mean, it’s nice you went to schools where they didn’t force you? ‘Cause… they’re forcing my son.
Literally. Every day. Threatening him, guilt-tripping him, trying to bribe him or shame him. I have been down to his school to talk to the administration multiple times over this. And EVERY SINGLE TIME I bring them the supreme court ruling on my phone and I remind them he has a constitutional right to NOT participate.
It never matters. They say “Oh, well, then he should just sit quietly” and I say THAT’S WHAT HE WAS DOING, and they say “Okay then.” And the next day he comes home and says, “Mom, today one of the teachers told me her son is in the army and I’m insulting her son by not standing for the pledge.”
This is an eleven-year-old they’re talking to this way. And he was the one who made this choice. He said he sees too much inequality in the world, and too many people in America are treated as sub-human, for him to want to chant ‘liberty and justice for all’ like it’s already happened. I didn’t make the decision for him. He said, “Do I HAVE to participate? Because I don’t think it’s right” and I said I’d support him whatever his decision was. And we’ve been fighting this guerrilla war with the administration ever since.
Just because something didn’t happen to you, specifically, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. How about you stop acting like your experiences are universal, all three of you up there.
THAAAAAAAAAAAAANK YOUUUUUUUUUU.
“lol you don’t have to participate” the fact that the practice specifically targets schoolchildren who are too young to know what they’re saying, regardless of whether the participation is voluntary or not (and it’s often not), is still pretty dystopian. They’re too young to pledge anything else by legal standards, we know that, and we’re taking advantage of it to make them swear loyalty oaths before they’re old enough to understand.
i got detention in middle school for refusing to do the pledge
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
