Talk:Dr. Clayton Forrester (Mystery Science Theater 3000)

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Middle Name?[edit]

Is there a definitive answer on the character's middle name? The article says 'Deborah Susan', but I've also heard 'Stonewall'. Is there an explanation, or am I looking WAAAAY too hard into this?Skibz777 00:22, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No offense intended, but I'd suggest the latter. In the non-Thanksgiving version of "Night of the Blood Beast", in the intro segment (approximate timecode 0:04:30), Pearl Forrester refers to her cowed son as "Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester". This was a one-time joke that amply demonstrates the problem with in-universe fan-writing of Wikipedia articles. Despite the motto of this show, "Just repeat to yourself, it's just a show / You should really just relax", such in-universe writing tries to squeeze meaning out of every little thing said and done within the show, no matter how nonsensical or even self-contradicting it may be. At most, this tidbit should be presented in passing while making a larger point, like so:
Forrester's mother constantly brow-beats her hapless son, expressing her disappointment in his failures ("Oh, Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester, you've ruined it for me again!" after his poor trombone recital1)…
* * *
1 Mystery Science Theater 3000, episode #701 ("Night of the Blood Beast"), intro segment, 3 February 1996
This is one arguably reasonable means to provide such amusing bits of information without mangling the integrity of a proper encyclopedic tone. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 11:13, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]