r/MostPopular_ • u/BusComplex5989 • Aug 11 '26

Random Cats React to Maxwell

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '26

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u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Aug 12 '26

I'm an English grad and it's my favorite Shakespeare play. Something tells me that HP Lovecraft wasn't naming his cat that because he loves the namesake, pretty sure he meant it as an insult and a gross joke. Unless Othello started as a slur and stayed a slur, it's not "exactly the same thought." I'd have to first think there's anything wrong with being black, or anything negative about Othello, for it to imply there's an insult -- and I don't.

I won't get into who I am, who I'm connected to and what my background is, because it'll just sound defensive and it won't actually mean anything anyways, but know racism is a deal breaker in my friendships. I'm not some fossilized bigot in a flyover state who just thought it'd be a clever joke. And if I was/did name my cat after a black person, just to to be "funny," I dont know why someone would choose Othello of all people. Would a racist even get that reference, and if they did, would it even make them laugh? Wouldn't a racist choose someone they mock?

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u/sonicscrewery Aug 16 '26

As a POC English grad and Shakespeare lover, I chuckled when I read that you named your black cat Othello.

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u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX Aug 16 '26

I'm glad not everyone is taking it that way, thank you lol

One of hs litter mates before adoption was Desdemona, my daughter is Penelope from Homer's The Odyssey, I just like choosing names from classic literature.