![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Magical Goobers and Office Assistants
Apr. 3rd, 2025 06:00 pmOne of my online friends observed that I have an affinity for “goober” characters back when Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Netflix, 2021) debuted and brought with it a revamped version of the comic sidekick Orko that I absolutely adored. I empathized with the lil' guy with enormous potential, but whose confidence was in the gutter after years of screw ups yet still manages to rise to the occasion when his friends were in need. And, in the end, Orko had the most satisfying arc of all the characters in Revelation.
Not bad, little Oracle!
If it isn't already obvious, I am an absolute sucker for a goofy character redemption arc. Perhaps I see something of myself in the little guys who can't ever seem to get anything right but remain committed and earnest through it all. The more despised they are by the general population, the more I find myself hoping they get their day in the spotlight during a revival/reboot. So, yes, I love Orko, I don't hate Jar Jar Binks, and I have incredible fondness for Microsoft's ill-fated office assistant program Clippit (better known by its nickname "Clippy").
Now there's one that's certain to get me in hot water in some circles. Putting down Microsoft Office's abandoned mascot has been common practice on the internet since the late-90s, with the paper clip existing as the butt of people's jokes far longer than the four years it actually appeared within the MS Office Suite. Hell, even the friend who found my affinity for "goobers" endearing once wrote a whole gosh darn novel where a Clippy locum tenens was one of the primary antagonists. It's treated as a given that the character exists only to be shat upon as an annoyance; the most odious piece of programming to have ever maligned our computers.
Me, I could never find the energy to hate this paperclip. I mean, just look at it! That silver body, those googly, highly expressive eyes that always glimmered with eagerness and a dash of mischief-- it's a fantastic character design! Artist Kevan Atteberry absolutely crushed this assignment. And I haven't even gotten to the wide range of delightful animations they put together for the character:
Adorable!
Okay, okay. If you watched the video, you are quickly reminded how this invasive, sometimes loud, character could grate on people's nerves, but that doesn't change the fact that Clippy's an incredibly dynamic character design with a cute personality that I simply adored as a child first learning to use the computers at my home and in school, and I miss being able to watch its various transformations playing out in the corner of my screen whenever I'm stuck somewhere in my writing process.
Yes, it often made wrong assumptions about what you wanted to write and probably had no place appearing on the monitors of people working in professional, tech savvy environments, but Clippy represents an era of trying to make technology friendly for computers that has become a distant relic in our sleek modern lifestyle where everyone has to be technologically savvy from a young age. Getting on a computer used to feel like a magical experience full of eccentricity and personality where even basic office programs put forward a friendly face for users.
Is offering help really so great a sin?
I won't go so far as to say the mass rejection of Clippy was a precursor to other toxic trends across the worldwide web, but it certainly fits a pattern that persists to this day and certainly hasn't stopped with digital assistants. You see the same vitriol once aimed at maligned characters in chat forms directed at real people across the worldwide web every single day.
I suspect that, even if Clippy had been effectively implemented during its four years bundled with Microsoft's office programs, I believe the ridicule wouldn't have changed much. People were becoming more knowledgeable about how to use their computers and their various programs and sneered at the concept of this cartoon character daring to make suggestions for how they approach their work.
So, tonight I'm pouring one out to all the Orkos and Clippys of the world. No matter how many times you all screw up or get in the way, just keep doing your best to help every way you can. If that sometimes means you need to step away for a while, that's okay, but never assume that you are unwanted and unloved. No matter how loud the cynics scream, there will always be a place for goobers trying their best to help and make the world a better place.
Not bad, little Oracle!
If it isn't already obvious, I am an absolute sucker for a goofy character redemption arc. Perhaps I see something of myself in the little guys who can't ever seem to get anything right but remain committed and earnest through it all. The more despised they are by the general population, the more I find myself hoping they get their day in the spotlight during a revival/reboot. So, yes, I love Orko, I don't hate Jar Jar Binks, and I have incredible fondness for Microsoft's ill-fated office assistant program Clippit (better known by its nickname "Clippy").
Now there's one that's certain to get me in hot water in some circles. Putting down Microsoft Office's abandoned mascot has been common practice on the internet since the late-90s, with the paper clip existing as the butt of people's jokes far longer than the four years it actually appeared within the MS Office Suite. Hell, even the friend who found my affinity for "goobers" endearing once wrote a whole gosh darn novel where a Clippy locum tenens was one of the primary antagonists. It's treated as a given that the character exists only to be shat upon as an annoyance; the most odious piece of programming to have ever maligned our computers.
Me, I could never find the energy to hate this paperclip. I mean, just look at it! That silver body, those googly, highly expressive eyes that always glimmered with eagerness and a dash of mischief-- it's a fantastic character design! Artist Kevan Atteberry absolutely crushed this assignment. And I haven't even gotten to the wide range of delightful animations they put together for the character:
Adorable!
Okay, okay. If you watched the video, you are quickly reminded how this invasive, sometimes loud, character could grate on people's nerves, but that doesn't change the fact that Clippy's an incredibly dynamic character design with a cute personality that I simply adored as a child first learning to use the computers at my home and in school, and I miss being able to watch its various transformations playing out in the corner of my screen whenever I'm stuck somewhere in my writing process.
Yes, it often made wrong assumptions about what you wanted to write and probably had no place appearing on the monitors of people working in professional, tech savvy environments, but Clippy represents an era of trying to make technology friendly for computers that has become a distant relic in our sleek modern lifestyle where everyone has to be technologically savvy from a young age. Getting on a computer used to feel like a magical experience full of eccentricity and personality where even basic office programs put forward a friendly face for users.
Is offering help really so great a sin?
I won't go so far as to say the mass rejection of Clippy was a precursor to other toxic trends across the worldwide web, but it certainly fits a pattern that persists to this day and certainly hasn't stopped with digital assistants. You see the same vitriol once aimed at maligned characters in chat forms directed at real people across the worldwide web every single day.
I suspect that, even if Clippy had been effectively implemented during its four years bundled with Microsoft's office programs, I believe the ridicule wouldn't have changed much. People were becoming more knowledgeable about how to use their computers and their various programs and sneered at the concept of this cartoon character daring to make suggestions for how they approach their work.
So, tonight I'm pouring one out to all the Orkos and Clippys of the world. No matter how many times you all screw up or get in the way, just keep doing your best to help every way you can. If that sometimes means you need to step away for a while, that's okay, but never assume that you are unwanted and unloved. No matter how loud the cynics scream, there will always be a place for goobers trying their best to help and make the world a better place.
