7 Reasons That Jessi Slaughter’s Father Probably Should Have Kept Quiet

Posted on July 19, 2010 in Posts | 3 comments

I’m sure that most of you reading this are, by now, aware of the Jessi Slaughter (not her real name) phenomenon.  If you’re not, to summarise, she’s an eleven year old girl who did what any other eleven year old does, she was silly and she made some mistakes.  She wound some people up in internet chat rooms and then made several threats to the people that disliked her including, “I’ll pop a glock in your mouth and make a brain slushy”.  They took exception to this, and there was an astonishing internet hate campaign conducted against her.  To be honest, the whole thing was rather tawdry and not worthy of our attention.  Then her dad waded in:

Understanding of the Internet FAIL
Uploaded by failblog. – Sitcom, sketch, and standup comedy videos.

Now, at 7 Reasons we occasionally like to think of ourselves as a self-help guide.  And to this end, I feel compelled to address my remarks directly to Mr Slaughter, as it is surely he who needs my help the most.

1.  You’re Not Very Good At Addressing The Camera. I dislike doing pieces to camera, mostly because I’m not very good at them.  I tend to get a bit flustered and mangle my words, and it’s because I’m so bad at them that I try to avoid doing them at all costs.  But I know this much, Mr Slaughter.  When addressing the camera, you should never, ever get down on one knee at the start of every point that you want to make, only to spring up again afterwards, because it’s an undignified position for any gentleman – especially one who’s maturing in years – and it does tend to make you look like a bit of a fruitcake.  Oh, and always try to wear trousers.  Trousers are very important.

2.  “…you’ve been reported to the cyber police…” Oh my god!  Run for your lives!  It’s THE CYBER POLICE!!!  They sound futuristic and terrifying and now I’m cowering fearfully in the corner of my…hang on…the cyber police?  There are no cyber police.  You just made them up to intimidate the people you’re ranting at.  Now, I’m no expert in making up shadowy organisations to intimidate internet users, but I can’t help thinking that the sort of people that spend their time trolling others via the internet might conceivably have some knowledge of its workings and be able to see through your deceit.  If I were you Sir, I’d have used a real and scary organisation to threaten them with.  But I sense that you realised this too, Mr Slaughter.  Somewhere, in the midst of your furious rant, you seem to have grasped that the cyber police weren’t going to fool anyone and you did what any sensible person would have done in your situation; you added a secondary organisation.

3.  “…and the state police…”. Yeah, that’s telling them.  Tell them that the FBI are going to hunt them down, tell them that the CIA are hot on their trail, tell them that…wait…the state police?  Mr Slaughter, Mr Slaughter, the state police?  Seriously?  These people?

4.   Moustache. While watching your epic, and rather unhinged rant, Mr Slaughter, I fancied that I could hear another sound in the background.  The sound of moustachioed men’s heads being placed in their hands as they collectively murmured all around the world, “Oh god.  This’ll set us back years”.  You see, Mr Slaughter, the moustache has been enjoying something of a renaissance of late, and is no longer the object of ridicule that it once was.  That is until now.  You have shamed the moustached community with your exploits, Sir.  I firmly expect sales of safety razors to soar as a result of your buffoonery.

5.  “…Consequences…will…never…be the same.” No, Mr Slaughter.  And nor will my monitor, covered as it now is with most of the cup of camomile tea that I was attempting to consume while watching your video.  Nor will my wife be, as she will surely remain traumatised by the sight of her husband spitting a beverage at his own computer before helplessly convulsing and writhing around on the floor for several minutes wholly unable to form words and barely able to breathe.  My cat, you may be pleased to learn, seems unaffected by the spectacle. Oh, and before I forget, what the hell does consequences will never be the same mean?

6.  Embarrassing Dads. Your daughter did a silly thing.  She’s young, and we all make mistakes.  No one wants to watch a red-faced eleven year old girl cry and this episode would have been a fleeting, yet soon forgotten, embarrassment for her if you hadn’t pitched in.  Then, Mr Slaughter, and only then, did this video truly go viral.  As you so insightfully and eloquently bellow toward the end of your rant, you are “HER FATHER” and you will probably go down as the most embarrassing dad in history.  And George W. Bush has children.

7.  Parenting. While I’m on the subject, when you state that you are “HER FATHER”, you are surely only referring to the biological aspect of parenthood.  After all, what sort of parent allows his eleven year old daughter to go online with a webcam and threaten to shoot people or express the wish that they “get AIDS and die”?  If you don’t want her to be vilified on the internet or upset by the reaction she gets from it, take it away from her, rather than mindlessly and somewhat comedically railing against the other people that use it, however childishly they may have behaved.  The only part of this whole episode that’s funny is your rant, Mr Slaughter.  The rest is horrifying.