Alright, alright, I know that I was waving my freedom of speech flag proudly earlier this week, but I’m waving it a little lower today. A picture surfaced depicting the Spanish basketball team posing for a photo prior to the Olympics. All of the players appear to be using their fingers to slant their eyes. Ouch. This one was destined to piss people off. Even worse, the picture was taken to appear in a local advertisement.
In the Snickers ad I talked about earlier in the week, I couldn’t find enough cause for people to misinterpret the humor. In this incident surrounding the Spanish basketball team, I can’t find a reason the ad would be funny. Perhaps I’ve merely found myself on the other side of the fence, which I’m more than willing to admit. In comparison, I saw the Snickers ad as saying “be a man,” not “don’t be gay.” The Spanish team picture says “we’re going to China where everyone has slanted eyes.” I’m looking for another alternative to the joke but am hard pressed to find it.
I would like some feed back from the gallery, so I can see if this picture could raise a chuckle outside of frat house.
3 comments:
There is humor in this ad. Just like the ad with Mr. T, but the problem is that the humor in both ads is at the expense of someone else based on cultural stereotypes. I'm guessing your problem with this ad is that the Spaniards are making a joke base on an unchangeable physical trait, not dress and/or lifestyle choices. Which leads one to believe that you think "not being manly enough" is a choice that the character is making (wrongly I assume) unlike a facial feature that is common to most Chinese. This is my problem with humor that puts people down. Is it funny? Very often, yes. Does that make it right, or justifiable? Maybe, maybe not. You are dealing with intent and it is hard to say that anyone is/was deliberately trying to cut someone down, but it does have an effect. It will carry consequences, whether that be on one person's self esteem or those of a country of one billion.
My problem with the Mr. T. ad was that people automatically assumed he was gay bashing. No where in the ad was there any references made to being gay. That was my point. Acting like "a man" and "not being gay" are two totally different things, and if you think they aren't, then you're the one propetuating a stereotype.
Oh, and by the way, doing yoga or speedwalking isn't a character trait. It's an activity. You can chose to go to a yoga class. It's not preordained by anyone. Nice try. You're on the right track, but not quite there. Counterpoint.
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