DiscussMormonism.com

Dr. Peterson,

Here on mDiscussions, your avatar is of a suave, debonair man. On mDialogue, you have a sinister, dark-side character. Is there a reason for the difference? Does each avatar evoke the type of image you want readers of the respective mBoards to attribute to you?

His avatar here is the legendary Cary Grant, the coolest guy ever to grace the movie screen. He was married several times and had many affairs with Hollywood starlets. Some people thought he was bisexual because he seemed a little too buddy buddy with Randolph Scott.

So what is Dr Petersen trying to tell us by choosing Cary Grant as his avatar?

His avatar here is actually Ward Cleaver, from Leave it to Beaver, and not Cary Grant. He began using this avatar after I made fun of him for having 1950s-esque, stodgy taste. (I was teasing him in light of one of his never-ending announcements about the latest opera/play/poetry reading/concert he planned to attend.)

As for his MDD avatar, I think he chose it as a means of dispelling criticism. One of the ways he responds to criticism of his behavior is to create this jokey, over-the-top, self-deprecating caricature of it. Thus, if we say that he's spearheaded smear campaigns in the Review, or that he's been needlessly nasty to, say, MsJack, his response is to go, "Oh, silly me! I must be the most vicious thug in the universe! See, look---I'll even use Ming the Merciless as my avatar!"

Lol. My bad. I never took the time to closely examine the thumbnail.