Is Political Correctness going too far?

[j7wild]

I found this on another forum:

So it's finally come to this. No matter how violent, aggressive and misogynist many of our beloved American comic books and Japanese manga are, it's Tintin who gets sued for being racist. The first book, published a decade before WWII (!), is now the subject of debate. Was it indeed colonialist? Did it have fascist leanings?



I can honestly understand that certain images would appear inappropriate to audiences today, but over 70 years ago, the world was different. Depictions of the Belgian Congo, like the following one:



were pretty normal and hardly perceived as racist.

Yet no matter what, certain people want to have the comic book banned, from the children department by some, from existence by others. Now this is where I must protest:

1) It's censorship. You like that? Go to Russia, 20 years ago. I'm against it.
2) Smart people understand that those images are not at all meant to be taken seriously. It's a comic book, people! Why don't you burn down our embassy?
3) It was published more than 70 years ago! What's the point? Next thing a bunch of feminists is going to sue the Bible for its explicit advise to stone women who commit adultery.
4) Hergé meant no harm. Plus, he's not the only one. I can think of a dozen more European comic books that would have to be banned then.

Anyway, they ain't gonna get my copy. And besides, the book features talking dog's, lions, monkeys and alligators. Who even takes that material seriously? Wow, yes I can feel the racist propaganda flowing through my veins… :roll:

If people want tolerance, why don't they start with showing a little bit of that themselves. Especially when it comes to humor.

By the way, the original book has already been 'cleaned' once. For example. In the following picture, the old one is matched up against the 'new' one. So they replaced a black man by a Greek man and now everybody is happy :shock::



Look, I'm neither racist, colonialist, fascist nor misogynist, but I do believe that we're crossing a dangerous line by attacking art from the old days on its 'unacceptable content' today. What do you think?

Agatha Christie's Ten Little Niggers,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None

which happens to be one of my favorite books, is a perfect example. English isn't my first language, so I never really understood why the n-word is so negative here in America (while in Spanish, Portuguese, and in many other languages, it is a normal description of someone's race).

The title was changed to And Then There Were None and the poem that follows the murder plot became "Ten Little Indians".

Worst of all, in a recent 2003 computer game adaptation, the poem was changed to "Ten Little Sailor Boys". So I guess now the word Indian is offensive too.

Scary times we live in.

Last year, a sortlike incident occured in Holland. The following candy



has since the beginning of the 20th century been known among kids as "negerinnetetten" which translates as "negro tits". This was also considered highly offensive and so it was replaced, after civil actions, by "negro kisses".

Add to this the infamous Mohammed cartoons that resulted in Muslim riots burning down embassies, and one starts to wonder if those who plea for tollerance actually understand the meaning of the word...

if you think TinTin was raciest go and look at all of the old cartoons, especially the Walt Disney, but again its a cartoon people

The only time the golden age cartoons were blatantly racist was when they were pushing WWII era proproganda.

Yeah... its strange that Superman cartoons where he battles 'the Hun' and 'Krauts' are, though rarely seen, are never subject to this kind of treatment.

A mate of mine has a video of some very strange 40's cartoons, including some distinctly dodgy Bugs Bunny ones.
They are fascinating to watch as historical items, but I wouldn't expect them to be shown on cartoon network today.

But then you get things like the 'softening' of the housekeeper's voice in Tom and Jerry ( I beliecve she's been re-dubbed by Alfre Woodward), which is just ridiculous. Are they suggesting that black people didn't talk like that?

Yet it's okay for African and African American Rappers to call each other the N words in the songs and in their movies and during public appearances and interviews - including using the alternate version of the word: "Nigga".

But when a white teacher called a student "Nigga", he got suspended!!

http://www.filecabi.net/video/nigga-please.html

Do you ever see a Hispanic call another Hispanic "Wetback" or a Chinese call another Chinese "Chink?"

Talk about double standard being used by African Americans!!