Unfashionable (sort of fandom) opinions

[tree_and_leaf]

Not only do I find the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster more than a little annoying,* and suspect that had it ever been used in the war, it would only have contributed to morale by being instantly parodied.

I also imagine it being created by Helen Wimsey.



* "I wish Nelson would stop signalling. We know well enough what to do." On the other hand, no-one in my family liked Vera Lynne ("Turn that bluidy woman off," as my great-uncle would apparently always mutter if she came on the radio), so it's possible that we are just, collectively, poor samples of the Great British Public.

Comments

[antisoppist]

I find the Keep Calm and Carry On poster very irritating now it is on everything, and two of this town/village's nine shops are interior/gift/knick-knackery shops with windows full of things bearing variations on it. Actually the gun shop had some as well, last time I went in there for socks.

Either Helen Wimsey invented it or she thought the lower orders should be doing it anyway without the need for encouragement.

[dorothean]

windows full of things bearing variations on it

Oh dear, I thought the entire thing was a fabrication of American teenagers on Tumblr.

I suppose my country doesn't have a monopoly on fake-nostalgic monarchic frivolity.

[sophia_gratia]

Word! Blitz nostalgia is really weird!

Though I'll admit to participating in parodying it by occasionally wearing a navy t-shirt with the crown upside down that says 'NOW PANIC AND FREAK OUT' because I sort of believe in the sentiment, politically.

[tree_and_leaf]

Oh, it's not about monarchism, it's harking back to the myth of the Second World War as the great age of British history when we were all virtuous, brave, and our stiff upper lips did not tremble.

[tree_and_leaf]

That's quite funny!

"When in trouble, when in doubt
Run in circles, scream and shout."

[tree_and_leaf]

It's getting quite sick-making. Especially when it involves bloody cup-cakes.

[liseuse]

I quite like the parodies of it that are already around. And the appropriations of it. I have an etsy page bookmarked because it has an adorable version which reads "Panic, and then Cast On" with a picture of some threatening knitting needles. And I do want a "Now Panic and Freak Out" t-shirt.

[antisoppist]

One shop now has a row of Keep Calm and Drink Tea/Go Shopping/Garden mugs in the window. The only thing I can say for it is that it is a slight improvement on the union jack cushions and the wooden statue of a monkey in clothes holding a tray.

[toft]

The idea that that sign was created by Helen Wimsey is now my own personal canon and cheers me massively.

[nineveh_uk]

I quite like the version in my work kitchen exorting us to wash up that reads "Keep Clean and Carry On". It is next to a Kitchener one. Thoguh you must bear in mind that the alternative would be a whole page of exortations on how and why we must wash up.

[kayloulee]

One thing I do like about the Keep Calm And meme-thing going around is all the fannish variations you get. It's like collecting trading cards or something!

But! The main point of this comment is that I know where you can get the Now Panic And Freak Out shirt: Threadless sell it for $20 US, but if you wait for a sale it'll go down to $10 or possibly $5 if you time it right. It's nearly sold out now but you can ask them to email you when they're back in stock. My sister has one and I am very jealous.