Why Isn't "Gypsy" in the "Favorite Bot" list?

Greetings!

I was going through my profile preferences and under “Favorite Bot” it has Crow and Servo of course, it has the new bots M. Waverly and Growler and it even has the bots made by bots Minsky (504 "Secret Agent Super Dragon) and XT-5000 (211 “First Spaceship On Venus”) but it DOESN’T have Gypsy! All it has is GPC.

Now, to my understanding, GPC and Gypsy are 2 separate bots. Gypsy is the bot we all know and love from the classic and new episodes who’s permanently attached to the SOL and who handles the “higher functions of the ship” whereas GPC is the small, mobile version of Gypsy from the live shows. Why is Gypsy not in the list for “Favorite Bot”? That’s very disappointing. I mean even Cambot is listed and we hardly ever see him lol. But no Gypsy? This must be rectified, ASAP in my opinion.

Thank you for your consideration.

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My understanding is that Gypsy is now known as GPC, which has the benefit of not being a slur against Romani people.

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This is just my opinion, I think that’s stupid. Gypsy can also be a name which has nothing to do with a “slur” against anyone. Should all people named “Gypsy” change their names now because some people consider it a slur? This world is getting ridiculous.

Thank you for the reply.

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It’s always been ridiculous. We’re just finally growing up. :wink:

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Seems more immature to me when people can’t differentiate between a name and a slur. Maybe it’s just me.

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But it doesn’t cost much beyond a little effort not to use a word for the sake of making someone feel a little less marginalized and more human.

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The original bot (though she has been made smaller so she can be more easily puppeteered and fit in more scenes with the others) is GPC-1 and the mini hand puppet version that premiered on the last tour is now GPC-2. So if you love her, pick GPC.

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I do miss her giant “garden wheelbarrow” form, but I love her all the same! And as much as I like her old Moms Mabley-esque voice, I really like how Rebecca voices her too.

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I really think Moms Mabley isn’t really the right characterization here. It’s a man doing a falsetto and Moms had a raspy voice.

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If you like. I hear a kind of consonance, but each to their own. The earliest voicing, courtesy J. Elvis, had a different timbre, and she changed perceptibly each time she changed hands. And Moms had a range of delivery as well, including an exasperated staccato.

Only you? No it isn’t. Feelings and perceived realities matter more than common sense and actual reality these days. For 30 years, Gypsy the Robot wasn’t offending anyone until people speaking for people who were supposedly offended demanded the change and Joel complied. It’s his right. “To each his own…”

I may not like or agree with the change but it is what is. What sickens me is how politics and so-called “conventional wisdom” overwrites other loyalties and perceptions and despite loving a character otherwise for a generation and change folks wash their hands of that affection once their allegiance to policy and activism goes against something they previously adored. All for what is believed to be righteous but reads as Follow the Leader to the rest of us. Someone’s offended? Okay Let’s Ban or Change it. Thanks.

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Some of us more slowly than others, it would seem. :thinking:

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I would have renamed her “Glitchy,” to keep with the syllables. But otherwise, I think it’s good to change her name. It’s ok to use a word not knowing its connotations, just as much as it’s ok to stop using said word once you do know. I think it’s as simple as that. It doesn’t have to be a big soap box moment, which it wasn’t. Joel didn’t want to potentially hurt anyone and so he changed it. I think that’s a kind thing to do. You can get upset and wail about politics, but remember it’s just a TV show.

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Also, it’s not a hill I’d die on, personally. But heck the OP can still place her original name in his bio if it matters that much to him.

Oh, and here’s an interesting Wiki tidbit from the Romani people page:

At the first World Romani Congress in 1971, it was unanimously voted to reject all exonyms for the Romani people, including Gypsy for its aforementioned negative and stereotypical connotations

So… this discussion has been happening for decades. A lot of us just weren’t privy to it at the beginning.

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Of course “it’s just a TV show”, it’s why taking offense to Gypsy’s name is as frivolous as everything else. And for the record, there’s no "upset"or wail"ing here. Not by me. Those are your words and characterizations with respect. One can disagree without being disagreeable. A lesson we could all learn. Including myself which is why I’m kindly stating my thinking and nothing more. We will have to “agree to disagree” here and both love the show in the same breath. I think that’s fair. Have a good one! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Matter of opinion my friend. Is it immaturity or a difference of opinion? Last time I checked we could still differ without implying the other side is less. When we go after people’s souls not their words, we leave the exchange of ideas for something else. A good healthy debate never hurt anyone hence why every episode of MST3K ends with a tribute to the framers of the First Amendment. We’re each entitled to our reads but as the saying goes never judge anyone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Sadly a trait I see less these days. Anyway I’ve said my peace. Thanks for having me in this great community. Cheers!

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P.S. To this debate transpiring before? Yes but most of us “weren’t privy to it at the beginning” as you said and further it required social change and action in the present to bring it about and specifically target fictional entities like Gypsy the Robot who’s only correlation is the name superficially itself not any context or meaning associated with the offensive interpretation of the past used to cancel her today. Apparently something is guilty until proven innocent in today’s society and I personally feel it should be the other way round. I’m fine with a conservation on any topic. Let’s discuss speech not restrict it. It’s a slippery slope. What’s next? Crow being renamed because of Jim Crow laws? Where does it stop? No matter, I thank each and every one of you on the discussion. Enjoy the weekend!

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MST3K: Here’s a character named Gypsy. It’s short for gypsum.

Romani people: That word is an ethnic slur that’s been used for generations to degrade our people and propagate harmful stereotypes.

MST3K: Oh. Well, we certainly didn’t mean any harm. But we don’t want to make people needlessly uncomfortable. We’ll rename her to GPC. It keeps to the spirit of the name. We don’t want to hurt anyone, even inadvertently, and, honestly, GPC as a character would agree with that.

That seems perfectly reasonable to me.

If you’re offended that people were offended and want to forcibly change the name back to what it was because you consider the voluntary name change to be censorship… You might want to take a step back and ponder the irony.

In any case, it’s not our decision. Joel and his crew listened to the feedback, talked it through, and made their choice. I don’t see that it’s worth our having a moot fight about it.

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Ignorance is not the same as innocence, but it is similar in terms of lacking malice. However, once you learn that something you are doing is harmful to someone else, willfully continuing to do that thing is malicious, and you can no long claim innocence.

Very true.

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I grew up with slurs, racial and sexist. They were perfectly ‘normal’ in the world I grew up in.

When I grew up, I found out that those ‘harmless’ terms were not harmless, and I stopped using them. Sometimes I’m still learning that some of the words I use are hurtful, and then I stop.

It’s not ‘political’, it’s not ‘canceling’, it’s not ‘censorship’, it’s just kindness.

Please be kind.

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