Would this offend you?

[MJ]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/4770800.stm

 

[ovany1]

I just think of the pictures you saw on the bottles of marmalade when i was a kid and the pin badges you could get for them IMO its PC gone mad

 

[Knyght_byte]

i'd be interested to know who it was that complained, or in other words were they someone who actually has the right to be offended by what the dolls represent or were they just someone trying to cause PC trouble?

 

[Abbeygoo]

Short answer, nope! Longer answer, the name 'golliwog' has clearly been misused in the past as an offensive name. Are the dolls themselves offensive? I think absolutely not. The PC brigade seem to exhibit double standards here. If all dolls were white, that would be a problem too, don't you think?

 

[Mr_Wistles]

A complete joke, more evidence that the UK is full of idiots.

 

[MartinImber]

Only a very small town - someone with too much time on their hands

 

[jason5_k]

Offensive? What? I just do not get this at all. How can they possibly be offensive?

May be a real life Golliwogy thing murdered their family and they think the shop owner is taking the p***.

Sort of people I would like to throw through a 31st floor window.

 

[overkill]

Surprise, everyone thinks it's all PC gone mad blah, blah, blah. The Golliwog symbol is stongly associated with racism, and the idea was orginally drawn up (by the authors admission) to send up Negro's.

They don't offend me, but they do offend a lot of people in ethnic minorities - who know what they symbolise.

Still, who cares eh? As long as we're not offended it's 'PC gone mad............'

 

[krish]

No they don't offend me, but I do regard them as a pathetic throwback, and the shop owner probably didn't know any better, as he probably doesn't encounter many "coloured folk" round his parts

Abbeygoo - no offence, but your remark over "white dolls" is meaningless, the Golliwog is and was an ethnic caricature, just like the B&W Minstrels, Al Jolson etc - its not a doll that resembles anyone of African origin, its a doll thats ignorantly sending them up

 

[jason5_k]

Ok, I retract my post I am not a racist therefore I'm against anything that is.

 

[Mr.D]

No they don't offend me, but I do regard them as a pathetic throwback, and the shop owner probably didn't know any better, as he probably doesn't encounter many "coloured folk" round his parts

Abbeygoo - no offence, but your remark over "white dolls" is meaningless, the Golliwog is and was an ethnic caricature, just like the B&W Minstrels, Al Jolson etc - its not a doll that resembles anyone of African origin, its a doll thats ignorantly sending them up

What he said.

 

[The Dude]

Philosophically speaking here, so don't flame too hard..

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but banning.... no, forget that..... the police confiscating anything that MAY be offensive ( politically/emotionally ) to ( minority elements of ) a particular minority... most definitely IS 'PC gone mad'...... is it not???





I dont find 'golliwogs' offensive, and I am 'white'.... guess that probably means I'm a 'racist'...


If this is allowed to go on, 'they' will be telling jokes about tight Yorkshiremen next....



If my opinions offend anybody, feel free to call the Police...

 

[MartinImber]

I would like to know what a sensible ordinary person of African descent thinks. Not some middle class New Labour PC nutter.

 

[Mr.D]

My mate Elroy hates them...not kidding. Lumps them in with the black and white minstrel show.

Remember Noddy? The bad guys were golliwogs , now they are goblins.
Racially motivated depictions of people are only acceptable when its the racial group itself creating the depiction.

I wouldn't hold your breath for a repeat of "it ain't half hot mum" either regardless of how funny it was.

 

[Knyght_byte]

i must admit, TV repeats are a difficult situation.......do you show a early TV show in its entirety, which could offend uneducated people of the group it is in a vague or direct way assasinating, or do you edit it and cut out anything offensive to 'minorities'......

the PC answer is to fully edit out anything offensive.......

however this generally makes the show redudant to rebroadcast......you are taking away from its original formula......it would be better not to show it at all.........i say this not because i condone any point of racism, towards anyone, but because when it comes to TV show, book, play, song, etc, it was written in a time when something was given as the way things work......fair enough from our modern point of view it may be racist, or sexist etc, but its how it was then.....you cant change history from that sense, not when its so systematically recorded......so show it as it was, put a warning up first if you like explaining the nature of this program and when it was recorded etc so people dont just think you (the TV company) are showing it to be nasty........

ok, damnit, i lost the plot again thanx to my lindemans wine...lol

for the sake of kids, fair do's censor things, i can agree with that to an extent........for adults, ***, show whatever it is, we can make our own minds up as to what we want to watch..

i like a lot of the 70's comedies, not because they have some racist comments here and there, but because a lot of the rest of the comedy is damn hilarious in its scripting.....sadly it does contain racist overtones in some places, but thats simply the way things were at the time....nowadays they are not (or if they are its a purposeful plotline to highlight the situation) and i still laugh at the comedies for the same reason, the funny lines are funny...

 

[MartinImber]

The only racist comedy I remember the coloured chap rose above it and was just a better person, whereas the white chap who made the racists comments was made an idiot

 

[Knyght_byte]

u mean Alf Garnett?

that was a comedy ahead of its time, its whole purpose was to highlight the racism inherent in the current society..........unlike other comedies where the racism was often simply an assumed nature in society.....

 

[shadowritten]

Not offensive to white, working/lower-middle-class me, but I can see why those they caricaturise would be upset about these racist throwback toys going on sale again in the 21st century.

I had golliwogs as a kid. Loved 'em, and treated them with the care and respect that I treated my teddies. Not until I got into my twenties did anyone explain to me what they symbolise! Can only assume that, like many parents, mine gave me such toys out of pure ignorance, not any race hate motivation.

 

[The Dude]

we're all different at the end of the day..... skin colour is no more offensive than sexuality or gender in my eyes..?

If golliwogs are so offensive, is it the male, or the female, golliwogs that cause the most offense?

-as far as i know we're still legally (if not politicallycorrectivenesslygonemadly) allowed to tell man/woman jokes ?

A woman joke is only actually funny if it's somehow true, if it strikes a chord with men (and women) who hear it..... so if old shows/old toys contain racist aspects that are no longer relevant, those same racist aspects will be (un)seen as exactly that.... completely irrelevant.... in modern times and by modern people.... unless they are politicallycorrectivenesslygonemadly inclined.

 

[Abbeygoo]

And all this in a country that considers you a racist if you fly the St George Cross or Union Jack on your property ..... give me strength.

When will the like minded take over from the PC brigade?

 

[lovemunkey187]

The only racist comedy I remember the coloured chap rose above it and was just a better person, whereas the white chap who made the racists comments was made an idiot

D'you mean "Love Thy Neighbour"?

What was the one set in the language school?

 

[vizslaraner]

There's some strange folk that live in those rural communities.

 

[shadowritten]

There's some strange folk that live in those rural communities.

Tell me about it! The village I live in swarms with Daily Hatred ... sorry, Daily Mail-reading racists! You should've heard the commotion when one of the (white) locals started dating a (black) girl. Pathetic! And ignorant.

 

[shahedz]

Surprise, everyone thinks it's all PC gone mad blah, blah, blah. The Golliwog symbol is stongly associated with racism, and the idea was orginally drawn up (by the authors admission) to send up Negro's.

They don't offend me, but they do offend a lot of people in ethnic minorities - who know what they symbolise.

Still, who cares eh? As long as we're not offended it's 'PC gone mad............'

i think your post as well as Krish's post sums this up perfectly, it is not PC gone mad, but a golliwog was definitley something made to stir up racism and i can also understand why people would be offended by it, frankly it doesnt bother me but i'm a rather crude person anyway

 

[Garrett]

Would they remove funny looking white/pink dolls?