Among the 15 or so people who have contacted me so far about the possibility of inheriting one of my Second Life avatars via my will, the most intriguing request came from the SL celebrity, performance artist, and perennial provocateur SaveMe Oh (blog, Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo), who writes:
I would be glad to take over an avatar as we have all our Second Life to celebrate virtual life. Your avatar will become part of the SaveMe Oh army of freedom fighters… If you like the idea that SaveMe Oh takes over a part of you, please send me your most outspoken avi. I wish you a full life as long you are on this world.
Which raises a couple of interesting questions:
- Who is SaveMe Oh, and why does she have such a reputation as a troublemaker, or “freedom fighter” as she puts it?
- And just who is my most outspoken avatar?
So, I went and did a little background research on SaveMe Oh. The first thing I found was this video called The Parade (warning: not really safe for work):
The Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) issued the following statement after this video was published:
This notecard is to ensure that everyone is aware that the Committee has banned SaveMe Oh at the Estate level on all 29 LEA sims permanently and AIRs are not permitted to override this. This is effective January 1st, 2017 and onwards.
It would seem that SaveMe Oh has been banned from numerous sims for her activities. Furthermore, she documents her discussions with many of the people who have banned her from their sims on her blog. She’s a troublemaker, all right, but every society needs agitators to shake up the status quo.
As for my most outspoken avatar. well, that would probably be my drag queen/clown avatar, Velcro Zipper:
Both clowns and drag queens tend to poke fun at society’s sacred cows, and they often get away with saying the most outrageous things. This might indeed be the perfect match up!
But, for this particular potential avatar-inheritor match up, I want you, my blog readers, to weigh in with your opinions. I need everybody to fill me in here and provide some historical context before I make this particular decision.
Why should I leave SaveM Oh my Velcro Zipper avatar in my will? Why not? Let’s hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter! I’m genuinely curious to hear what you think. Thanks in advance!
UPDATE 7:00 p.m.: Well, I certainly got a lot of feedback from various people, mostly negative. I had been willing to give SaveMe Oh the benefit of the doubt, but many of you consider her to be nothing more than a griefer, and they warn me to consider what I am doing more carefully. So I will.
One person even went so far as to criticize me for wanting to leave my SL avatars to other people in my will in the first place, accusing me of being “furiously in need for attention”. This made me angry, and I told her that I have already explained what I am doing and why I am doing it in my blog, and I don’t feel the need to explain myself further. Either you get it, or you don’t. If you don’t get it, and all you feel you can do is criticize, then so be it.
UPDATE Oct. 27th: SaveMe Oh has responded on her blog, saying:
Now I have a question for Ryan Schultz. Do you think this is the work of a griefer or an artist?
If it be your will from SaveMe Oh on Vimeo.
Putting aside whether you support or do not support the activities of SaveMe Oh, consider instead the bans for this avatar. Any one of us could receive a permanent ban from Linden Lab, at any time, for any reason, but SaveMe Oh seems to be a bit closer to the front of the line than most of us. Perhaps, SaveMe Oh enjoys leading the pack!
I think Velcro Zipper is a perfect match for SaveMe Oh, but a permanent ban would delegate Velcro Zipper to a permanent black hole. So, if you like the idea of giving Velcro Zipper an active, interesting life before hitting that black hole, then go for it.
And, FYI, I do get it.
Being 11 years and 8 months old this doesn’t look very much like somebody eager to recieve a permaban. I am not an artist collecting bans, but a performer often obstructed to do her job by narrowminded wannabe’s.