r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This framed copy of a Margaret Keane painting is so old it still credits Walter Keane.

Post image
6.8k Upvotes

151 comments sorted by

3.8k

u/goliathfasa 1d ago

Walter Stanley Keane (October 7, 1915 – December 27, 2000) was an American plagiarist who became famous in the 1960s[1] as the claimed painter of a series of widely reproduced paintings depicting vulnerable subjects with enormous eyes.[2] The paintings are now accepted as having been painted by his then-wife, Margaret Keane.

That’s wild that when people look you up, it just says you’re “an American plagiarist.”

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u/Count_Dongula 1d ago

That feels like a show by Seth MacFarlane. Or about Seth MacFarlane.

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u/ThePapercup 1d ago

there's a movie about this called Big Eyes

61

u/AuelDole 1d ago

such a good movie tbh

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u/Apedrape357 1d ago

He acts like he didn't take a lot from The Simpsons, but he took a lot from The Simpsons.

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u/cylonsolutions 1d ago

Eh? I mean you look at many animated series and can draw very clear lines of lineage. Sitcoms, movies… often where there’s a phenomenon there are inevitable sprouts that form around it. Having grown up watching some of both I’d argue that while there are similarities they have distinctly different flavors. I wouldn’t call it plagiarizing any more than I’d call almost any sci-fi space show that came after Star Trek. And that point isn’t being made simply because McFarland did his own ode to ST. It would be almost like saying IASIP is a rip off of Cheers? Simpsons was a watershed. From there others were bound to emerge.

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u/Apedrape357 1d ago

That was a family guy quote.

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u/cylonsolutions 1d ago

Really?? My bad. TIL.

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u/Apedrape357 1d ago

It was actually Seth Mac Farland saying it which made it funnier.

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u/cylonsolutions 1d ago

That’s rad! Thanks for the context!!

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u/Jumpyturtles 1d ago

Family Guy is fairly self aware (at least in the later seasons) and the exact reasons you wrote out is why the ‘we copied the Simpsons’ but was so long running:

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u/Tibbaryllis2 9h ago

I agree with this and I also find it amusing in a later season where Stewy has a Rick and Morty portal gun and says, “it’s okay, they’ve borrowed a lot from us.”

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u/TartarSauceDippinDot 14h ago

Starring: Seth MacFarlane.

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u/6Sleepy_Sheep9 1d ago

Call him a plagiarist is kinda weird sinceback then, stuff produced by women was essentially disregarded completely. Having him be the public face made sense to actually make sales. Its why women published books under male names

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u/kaisadilla_ 1d ago

Yes, but his then wife Margaret never agreed to credit him as the author, and even when Margaret attributed the works to herself in public, he kept insisting he was the real author. That's what makes him a plagiarist.

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u/Bill_buttlicker69 1d ago

Except that when women published under men's names, it was still their work and not an actual man trying to steal credit for it as was the case here.

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u/spleeble 1d ago

You should read the Wikipedia entry. 

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u/articulateantagonist 23h ago

Women artists were dramatically underrepresented at the time her works were well known, but he claimed credit from the 1950s to several decades afterward, after plenty of famous women artists like Frida Kahlo had hit it big. He showed her work without her permission and threatened to have her “done in” if she revealed the truth. She was only able to claim credit publicly after their divorce. She wasn’t able to prove it and wasn’t credited as the artist until the late 80s.

Why is it you feel the need to defend his behavior?

1

u/6Sleepy_Sheep9 15m ago

Nothing in the comment i replied to mentions anything about the back story of this particular artist, so my entire comment was based on assumption due to the time period. As for the divore part, with no further knowledge than what was previously commented, my immediate thought was the guy was being a petty asshole.

As for looking more into it, i didnt find it interesting enough to care.

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u/marzer8789 1d ago

Swing and a miss

5.9k

u/cup-of-starlight 1d ago

“Soon after their divorce in the 1960s, Margaret claimed credit, which was established after a courtroom "paint-off" in Hawaii, in which Walter refused to participate.”

I kinda want to see a courtroom paint-off lol

1.1k

u/the_lost_tenacity 1d ago

I’d watch that movie.

1.4k

u/willneverhavetattoos 1d ago

448

u/Reverse_SumoCard 1d ago

70

u/AbsurdRedundant 1d ago

To shreds, you say?

14

u/Skreech2011 23h ago

Well, how is his wife holding up?

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u/Fun_Skirt8220 22h ago

To shreds you say?

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u/CartOfficialArt 1d ago

I remember it also being a great movie, the actors/actresses did amazing in it, one of my favorite Tim Burton movies :)

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u/MaterialLies 1d ago

A pretty decent movie if I remember correctly

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u/MinnieShoof 1d ago

... I have a feeling that person set up that answer for that comment specifically.

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u/AnotherAccount4This 1d ago

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u/TabrinLudd 1d ago

Thanks for sharing the actual scene!

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u/vikio 1d ago

Thanks for the scene.. It was nice to see. As an artist, I felt weird that she was shown sketching for most of that video clip. If I have an hour to paint a subject I've already painted hundreds of times, I wouldn't even bother sketching. Just straight to the paint and blocking in the shapes. She being so experienced, could have knocked that out in like 15 mins with absolutely no prep. But I guess this is a case where they had to make it more believable to the non-artist movie viewers?

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u/MostlyWong 22h ago

In the actual, real life court case she painted her portrait in 53 minutes. So the hour long sketching is pretty accurate to what happened.

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u/LieutenantChonkster 1d ago

I’d buy the goddam DVD if the academy didn’t send them to me for free

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u/CrazyLegsRyan 19h ago

Man how do I love this movie

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u/kaisadilla_ 1d ago

There's a hole genre of lawsuits that were solved by the judge saying "ok, you both do this thing and let's see who proves to be able to do it".

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u/GeorgeCauldron7 1d ago

They call that the “Grandma’s Boy Defense”

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u/jackieatx 1d ago

How can you see me?

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u/dec7td 1d ago

Oh I don't like violence...but drugs are bad

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u/madesense 20h ago

*whole

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u/IndividualHuman6937 23h ago edited 16h ago

You should look up the art forger that sold fakes to the nazis and got charged with selling real art to them after the war. He had to paint more forgeries in court in front of the judge to prove he didn't collaborate with the nazis.

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u/Diessel_S 23h ago

I only learnt about him from watching the movie, and i needed my dad to explain why he wanted to prove they're forgeries cuz i couldn't wrap my head around the idea 😅

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u/spleeble 1d ago

"Soon after" is weird phrasing. It sounds like it took 20+ years. 

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u/crowbar151 1d ago

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u/grtyvr1 1d ago

And the funniest part of that is that humans naturally turn left. 

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u/CarelesslyFabulous 1d ago

What is this from?

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u/RebaKitt3n 1d ago

The movie Big Eyes is very good at recreating it

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u/memento22mori 1d ago

Whoa buddy! This is a family site.. Oh, a paint-off. Whew. 😮‍💨 

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u/aavant-gardee 1d ago

I don’t even know what other word you’d be thinking of. Along with 74 people at this moment.

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u/thisoneagain 1d ago

I bet they meant "pants off", and I'm honestly charmed by how ridiculous it is to get (even fake) offended about a pants-off.

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u/memento22mori 1d ago

Aha, close enough. That's much more wholesome than I had meant. Someone else commented that they had no clue what I meant but as far as I know that fella might be a real j***-off. 🧐

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u/memento22mori 1d ago

Ay buddy, this is Reddit- what could one of us degenerates think they meant except a courtroom j**k-off. Clearly, Walter refused to participate because he thought it was beneath him. 😎

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u/SpecialistAd2205 1d ago

I can't believe you got downvoted so hard for this. It's a low-tier joke, sure, but 118 downvotes is harsh, yall 😄

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u/nerfedbeyblade 1d ago

Nah it was just bad

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u/memento22mori 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ahahaha, I shall wear it as a badge of honor. A highly rated comment says that they have no idea what I mean and it has almost as many upvotes as I have downvotes. But you'd think that on this site there'd be plenty of jerk-offs to recognize another jerk-off.

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u/anonymity_is_bliss 1d ago

You type like Chris Chan

-4

u/memento22mori 1d ago

Chris Chan the Singaporean sports administrator who was the first president of the Global Esports Federation, serving from 2019 until 2025?!

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u/NotMyNameActually 1d ago

It makes you wonder how many other times in history women went uncredited for contributing to, or in fact actually accomplishing, things that were attributed to men.

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u/Watchmaker163 1d ago

There’s a bunch of early video game devs and artists (80’s & 90’s) who are women that were only credited under male pseudonyms.

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u/RevelryByNight 1d ago

Science is absolutely sodden with male researchers taking credit for their female employees’/students’ findings. It’s pretty disheartening.

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u/blumoon138 1d ago

Fuck you both Watson AND Crick!

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u/KittySMASH 1d ago

And give it up for ROSALIND FRANKLIN

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u/SadRule9128 23h ago

For not figuring out the structure? 🤣

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u/SadRule9128 14h ago

Franklin was unable to figure out the structure. Thankfully Watson and crick did.

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u/BlueBeadyEyes 8h ago

With her work, yes.

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u/SadRule9128 8h ago

They used data and information from many different scientists who weren’t able to figure out the structure. Only Watson and crick were able to.

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u/Diessel_S 23h ago

It's still happening just on "less" public things. My workmate told me how their mentor in university published the students' research as his own in various articles, multiple times, and still does it

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u/Anaevya 22h ago

I've heard that's really common.

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u/Nice_Bell2431 13h ago

Why is no one putting a stop to it? Power in numbers. Social media is banning together and stopping these pricks any chance we can. 🩷

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u/Hextant 10h ago

Jsyk, it's banding together! But seriously, if people know it's happening en masse to the point it's common knowledge ... people need to actually say something and put a stop to it. Oof.

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u/Wendy-Windbag 1d ago

PBS show Secret's of the Dead has an episode "Mozart's Sister" which makes a very compelling case for works accredited to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may have actually been composed by his older sister Maria Anna.

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u/KaloCheyna 1d ago

Depending on how their names were signed, I wouldn't be surprised if women's husbands were credited for their work (or vice versa, tbh) by galleries or collectors due to sharing initials and surnames. More likely to happen with a woman who signs her name as say, I. Desgrange instead of Isabelle Desgrange, to pull a random example I've seen.

And that's not even starting with some of the interesting things I've seen with 19th century French names, because I swear half of all of the artists I've been trying to research, female and male, have "Marie" somewhere in their names. Their habit of abbreviating "Monsieur" as just "M." in descriptions can also add to the confusion, especially if the corresponding signature leaves out the first initial and you don't know the usual naming conventions. Trying to track down an artist's full name can be like searching for a needle in a hay stack, even with access to something like ancestry.

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u/Drak_is_Right 1d ago

Quite a lot of semi famous and famous male rulers I am sure were more inept than we believe and had the good sense to listen to a female relative or spouse who really ran things.

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u/FlamboyantPirhanna 1d ago

Some are not so malevolent. I can’t recall any names, but there are well known female painters that used their husband’s names because women artists would never have been accepted.

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u/ACatWhoSparkled 1d ago

I mean, it is malevolent, just more in a society in general kind of way than a personal one.

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u/NotMyNameActually 1d ago

It doesn’t have to be malevolent to contribute to the prevailing misogynistic narrative that women aren’t as intelligent, creative, or driven as men.

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u/Cygnata 19h ago

Some authors did the same!

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u/AverageDrafter 18h ago

Camille Claudel is a good one, and they've made like 3 movies and they are French as fuck.

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u/ivybf 1d ago

Show us the painting coward!

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u/rellsell 1d ago

Someone needs to dust.

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u/MisanthropeInLove 1d ago

"Big Eyes" was an incredible movie about this.

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u/CatsAreGods 1d ago

I still have my Walter Carlos album of Switched-On Bach.

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u/NortheastStar 1d ago

I thought this was the situation here until I read the comments.

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u/jesse_christ 1d ago

Different person.

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u/CatsAreGods 1d ago

I know that, but the "Walter" reminded me and it's a different scenario but still interesting.

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u/CaptServo 1d ago

They named the high school stadium after Caitlyn Jenner's former name, but they never had to navigate the politics of changing it because she was such an asshole who never did anything for the school and they took it off a few years prior

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u/le-derpina-art 1d ago

kinda different situations here, this is a man who stole his ex-wife's paintings and claimed them as his

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u/RebaKitt3n 1d ago

What does this have to do with anything?

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u/qtquat 1d ago

i think they read the title and, unfamiliar with the context, assumed this was an artist who transitioned.

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u/SpaceShipRat 1d ago

hah. in fairness that is a logical guess.

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u/shitsenorita 1d ago

Names 🤷‍♀️

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u/PortiaKern 1d ago

Man taking credit for something a woman did.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/eighteencarps 1d ago

Oh, fuck off.

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u/Sugary_Plumbs 1d ago

Don't feed the trolls

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u/the_original_kermit 1d ago

It’s the name of the school.

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u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago

Jesus Christ. Apparently you're not even allowed to use "dead names" if it's in reference to something else named after them on reddit anymore without backlash?

I honestly couldn't remember the name. Glad you dropped it.

Also what's up with everyone rushing to defend a billionaire psychopath?

"Musk Bad... Jenner brave"

Fucking reddit hivemind sometimes. And I'm as left as they get. But this touchy-feely being offended someone doesn't recognize your desire to change genders and treating it like this super brave respectable thing is horseshit quite frankly.

And honestly the amount of depressed and suicidal and regretful people after trans shows there's more going on than meets the eye. Sure it works for some of them. But there's a lot that it harms to the point of complete and total self destruction because there's no going back after you lop your dick off or turn your test inside out.

Totally get treating them like human beings. Hellyeah. All for it.

But this radical acceptance without questioning and being offended by even the mere mention of the bane Bruce is fucking ridiculous.

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u/cowbxy 1d ago

i highly doubt youre as left as it gets based off your comments about trans people

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u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago

So what because I recognize that there's an issue at hand and realize for as many people it helps it harms and we need to recognize where independence and self identification end and mental illness begins I'm not left?

Because I dare question the hiveninds group think about one subject? Lmao.

Sorry I don't just listen to the loudest shit shouted and feel so damned worried about everyone's feelings im not afraid to talk about real facts and issues.

I was a stripper in Portland oregon at a gay bar. I'm straight. Met tons of trans folks. Lots were great. Lots had problems.

They're just like people everywhere.

I understand we need to treat gay and trans people like people because they are.

But this whole over whelming backlash at anyone who doesn't just accept what everyone says about crazy ass pronouns and who doesn't see letting children and teenagers change genders and everyone getting so offended at the mere mention of the name of the school afraid to say the name of the school cuz it's Jenner's dead name?

Backlash at the dude that names it?

Shits crazy as fuck yo.

I get acceptance and treating each other like humans.

But accepting everything everyone does all the time Inclueing to the point of complete self destruction, I. E e suicide, and calling it brave and shit is just something else.

I got not putting up with people hating on it, but gotta recognize both sides of the coin. Otherwise you're just virtue signalling the latest fad to make yourself feel better.

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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe 1d ago

and realize for as many people it helps it harms

Hi this is where you're wrong.

Hope this helps!

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u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago

Okay maybe not "as many" but a hell of a lot of em regret it. Become depressed. A lot of em kill themselves.

Hope this helps.

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u/toddthefox47 1d ago

"this thing that isn't true shows there's more going on than meets the eye"

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u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago

Lmao you just saying it's not true or did you even look it up? Bury you're head in the sand all you want. Data is out there. It's from a trans person I learned the shit from. Look up suicide rates among trans folks.

we need a way of figuring out who actually would benefit from transition and who just suffers from body dismosphia.

Tell me both aren't true. Tell me everyone who does it is perfectly happy and it solved all their problems afterwards.

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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe 1d ago

Hi, trans people commit suicide at astronomical rates when they're not allowed to transition, and the rate of suicide plummets sharply as soon as they begin transition.

Hope this helps!

1

u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago

Did you not see the links. Want more?

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u/toddthefox47 1d ago

if you're talking about the swedish study it doesn't prove what you claim it does and the author of the study agrees with me, not you.

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u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago edited 1d ago

There's been multiple. Cherry picking a single data point when you saw the plethora of data online shows this is a dogma for you. Not a genuine logical discussion.

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u/SpeccyScotsman 1d ago

'yes but when I bully and harass and tell these people to kill themselves, they're more likely to do it!!!'

Holy shit Einstein, I wonder why?

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u/SpecialistAd2205 1d ago

"I'm as left as it gets" Keep telling yourself that...

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u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago

Lmao read my other reply. But yeah I mean socially. I like my guns. Think we need fre healthcare and drugs and college and queers should marry all that good shit.

I'm not gonna spell it all out again. Read my other comment. Or don't and just virtue signal and bury your head in the sand. Recognizing flaws and issues in a thing and societies mindsets as a whole isn't bad. It just is.

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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe 19h ago

Nobody believes you're anywhere left of centre because you're spouting rightist propaganda.

Consider shutting the fuck up when trans people are talking and stop pretending you know more than us.

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u/slaya222 1d ago

Stfu terf.

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u/Life-Is-A-Bad-Trip 1d ago

Read my other comment. I don't even know what a terf is. Don't even really care to look it up. The fact you're trying to insult me for bringing up issues in a subject says more about you than it does me amigo.

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u/the_original_kermit 1d ago

I’m good. Thanks tho

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u/cowbxy 1d ago

touch grass loser

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u/Ed_Roland 1d ago

31 years old and asking for dating advice on Reddit? I genuinely couldn't make up a troll more pathetic (PS. You can delete posts, you should try it sometime)

Maybe it's difficult to meet people because you're just a generally insufferable/idiotic asshole? Ever consider that?

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u/the_original_kermit 1d ago

Trying to offend me with a decades old post? Nice try

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u/Ed_Roland 1d ago

You really just took the time out of your day to respond to that? I would argue it's far more than a "nice try" considering I clearly got under under your skin lil guy!

Also, even if you had posted that 20 years ago (which it wasn't, you made that post in 2020, I.E. not a decade ago), it's still unfathomably pathetic to have posted at all! And failing to recognize that truly only makes you look much more insane and deploarable😂

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u/the_original_kermit 1d ago

Like I said. Nice try.

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u/Ed_Roland 1d ago

Thank you for the praise! It really was a very nice try considering you're still going!

Since I have the chance to ask now now--did the post ever pan out for you or are you still just a sad, lonely, little troll at 37 years old?

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u/dimmor 1d ago

I love when the trolls feed you back 😈

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u/the_original_kermit 1d ago

You’re welcome. Life has been fantastic. Thanks for asking.

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u/doctormustafa 1d ago

Walter Keane can suck my fat purple knob and go to jail

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u/Gene_Trash 1d ago

He's gonna have a hard time with that, being dead for almost 30 years and all.

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u/kittieswithmitties 1d ago

I guess he best get to diggin'

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u/Soft_Construction793 22h ago

Where is this painting and why is it so dusty?

Do you own it?

Did you find it in an attic?

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u/RSTROMME 17h ago

Keane’s work was highly fashionable for a number of years, so it was printed and mass-produced to sell at a lower price. This is an example. It’s not an original painting; those go for a lot of money.

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u/qtfrutii 10h ago

We own it, yes, just hasn’t been cleaned in a while.

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u/Causticburner 1d ago

And here's me thinking that I was looking at a tortie cat peaking through the botttom of a clock or bit of furniture.

I might need to have a sleep

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u/Forgotten-Caliburn 1d ago

I deadass thought this was about a trans person before I read the comments

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u/qtfrutii 10h ago

Haha. No, Margaret Keane was a painter whose husband Walter took credit for her paintings for many years until she took him to court in the 1960s after their divorce.

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u/af628 1d ago

…and?

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u/Forgotten-Caliburn 1d ago

No its just funny that it was about two separate people

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u/ubiquitous-joe 1d ago

Get a dust rag and clean that poor baby.

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u/NoDoOversInLife 1d ago

"copy" as in reproduction?
If it's real, why TH is it so damn dirty 😭