Racist ringtones?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/09/AR2006050901903_pf.html
Glad to see 8 people bought this...now, here is the thing...taken seriously, sure, dead-on, this is a piece of garbage that nobody should want. But...on another level...I find it hilarious. "Step away from the orange-o"? That is awesome! Still laughing.
And illustrative of the internal confusion I am often plagued by. I would love to jump on the hyper-offended bandwagon and say how offended I am by it, to admit that bits of Americana pop culture such as this contribute to an attitude of segregation, separation, discrimination....but another part of me just wants to not only laugh but make it one of my own rings. Because it is funny and I honestly believe these activists have much larger, more important, more influential issues to deal with. How about the portrayal of Mexicans as always illegals? How about the portrayal in Fun with Dick and Jane where Jim smurfing Carrey gets deported because he "looks" Mexican...and the further stereotypical moment where Jane waits just across the border for a number of illegals...a LARGE number...Mexicans pile into a pinto or whatever the tiny car was...so you have about 10 illegal border crossers piling in to one car...nope, doesn't sound like any stereotypes I have ever heard of, he lied...
How many people saw Fun with Dick and Jane? Several million. How many downloaded the ringtone? 8. Good to see the efforts going where they are needed.
And for the record...I laughed at the border crossing, too, because, I like to believe, I understood the way it was intended...and it was funny. Do I believe I set the civil rights movement back? Nope. But I could be wrong. After all, I am a guy.

1 comment:

Riot Kitty said...

But I could be wrong. After all, I am a guy.

:)