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Comment by jb1991 | Hacker News Reader

jb1991

> The waitress told us he drew sketches of the faculty he did not care to eat with. She said they all had long noses.

I’m trying to understand this comment. I can’t tell if this is somehow a vague hint of an anti-Semitic attitude? It’s a weird thing to say or write in modern times if not.

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In many cultures this signifies being a fool, e.g. think Pinocchio. Similar connotations exist for a wide variety of exaggerated proportions you might see in caricatures. So in this context it seems he didn't think highly of the faculty members at an intellectual level.

I forget the name of the specific art style, but "exagerated noses" is a known caricature motif. You can see this vividly depicted in the opening sequence of the BBC's "Yes Minister" TV series from the '80s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDEMthILzpA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Scarfe

also did drawings for Pink Floyd's The Wall.

Awesome! Thank you for the proper cite.

> I can’t tell if this is somehow a vague hint of an anti-Semitic attitude?

Doesn’t seem likely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_A._Michelson#Life: “Michelson was born in Strelno, Posen, Kingdom of Prussia (modern-day Strzelno, Poland), to Jewish parents […] His family was non-religious, and Michelson himself was a lifelong agnostic”

Jumping to that conclusion does require a very honed skill of looking for outrage.

I'd be curious to know what they mean but until then I'd just take it as a pun and move on.

> Jumping to that conclusion does require a very honed skill of looking for outrage.

Welcome to the modern internet.

It’s a good thing they didn’t jump to any conclusion, and asked a question

"I saw a monkey in this guy's house, which made me think of black people. Therefore, he was racist".

Assigning your own biases to other people is a great way to lose friends and influence nobody.

Ridiculous accusation. And note several others in thread had a similar curiosity about the remark.

Considering he was Jewish it seems unlikely?

You have to admit, it’s a strange comment though.

If you’re looking for it.

Could be a physiognomy angle.

It's fine. Stop seeing race, ethnicity everywhere. Just be more chill and not get triggered by everything, we don't have to police language. People should be able to say whatever they want

On the other hand, OP asked a question and you seem to be the one policing language in response.

I was not triggered, merely curious. It caught my eye. Several other people in this thread also noticed it as a bit strange. Doesn’t mean any of us were “triggered” by it.

Add me to the list of people wondering about it too. An odd throwaway line, something of a non sequitur, some information we didn't really need to know - and yet, it was included. (And the noses referred to again later.) But without further elaboration. Clearly we are supposed to take something from this - but what?

And I also considered the anti-semitism angle. It's not like the hook-nosed hand-wringing cartoon Jew isn't an extremely well-known anti-semitic stereotype, and it's not like the idea that somebody might be anti-semitic is hugely surprising. I don't think this thought is exactly some ridiculous flight of fancy!

Turns out Michelson was a Jew though. Well, maybe that was just his art style then! But now I'm even more confused about the inclusion of this information.

It is a strange comment.

I wondered too. It may simply indicate that the portraits were (intentionally) unflattering.

It's a reporting of a report of an observation of portrait drawings.

Theres no way to know what it means from the text; you'd have to ask the artist.

The question is why did the author feel compelled to bring up this bizarre remark about noses twice in the article, it’s rather out of the blue and several of us in this thread found it odd. It’s just a little strange. Curious, is all.

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