Rewriting, Washing, Scrubbing American Culture

Until yesterday I didn't know the FMJ line (out of many possible FMJ lines) is no longer acceptable the way I used it.

FMJ here has always been FMJ. Times have changed. Live and learn.

 

Kubrick would’ve welcomed getting shunned by polite society.

 

It was never acceptable the way you used it.

 

And you feel the same way about HO LEE FUK, I'm sure.

 

The value of offensive material in art and society must be based on the time the material was produced and it’s purpose. And I give the benefit of the doubt accordingly and appropriately. That’s important. It’s impossible to judge by today’s standards things like Full Metal Jacket. Gone With The Wind is problematic too but it’s time period both in the context of the setting and when it was made makes it a worthwhile movie. Huckleberry Finn is deeply flawed by today but it gives us an understanding of the time. I hate to see how our art of today will be judged later but I hope we are judged by our understandings today and what we accepted today.

What we must do is understand when references should be left alone and not made.

I watched M*A*S*H with very little context for some racist phrases that appeared. So not knowing the history of a phrase, I suggested a kid (before I was a teacher) try the javelin by telling her to be a spear chucker. My editor—who did a full spit take—very kindly informed me what it meant to call someone a spear chucker. I didn’t get mad at him because I was quoting M*A*S*H*. I got deeply embarrassed because I didn’t know and won’t use that casually again. That doesn’t make M*A*S*H* a terrible movie that should be banned but it was a time where I had to admit I was wrong even unwittingly.

You can’t put on black face and excuse it because Al Jolson did it. Similarly, you can’t call women athletes prostitutes because of Full Metal Jacket when their only connection is being Vietnamese. It’s wrong and racist and very sexist. And it isn’t the first time this guy has tried to excuse casual racism against Asians in this board this year.

So this debate isn’t about pop culture or it’s place. It’s about being called out for being an asshole. And comparing a group of women to a Vietnamese prostitute because they are from Vietnam makes you an asshole.

 

Now do the 132 "wrong" and "racist" uses of Ho Lee Fuk here including these 10.

NFL offseason thread

NFL Week 13 thread -- Cold weather calls for Isotoners

Week 1 NFL: The Chiefs march to the Super Bowl begins

NFL Week 17--The Harold Carmichael Edition

The Soccer Thread (Version 10)

2019 MLB postseason thread

NFL Week 3: The Daniel Jones Era begins

NFL Divisional Round Thread: Another Step on the March to the Eagles-Titans Super Bowl

The TV thread

2019 MLB postseason thread



A local Fox affiliate's bid to erase its 'Ho Lee Fuk' gaffe from YouTube

In the wake of the Asiana Airlines plane crash, KTVU is issuing copyright notices to scrub an embarrassingly racist news clip

https://theweek.com/articles/461852/local-fox-affiliates-bid-erase-ho-lee-fuk-gaffe-from-youtube


Intern Fired After Confirming Racist Pilot Names To KTVU After Crash

Intern Fired After Confirming Racist Pilot Names To KTVU After Crash

 

I forgive you.

Can we move on?

 

If you're taking the time to keep count, that might be where a problem lies.

 

Sure, I can apologize for using that line. The intent wasn't what SS huffs and puffs about, but using that line was a mistake nonetheless, and I apologize.

 

Re: M*A*S*H

In the very early episodes, there was a Black character they called Spear Chucker.

 

This is another piece of this issue. When something evolves over the span of 10 years the culture will adapt. I think this discussion over the Full Metal Jacket line is proof of that. Unfortunately, there are ongoing efforts to change our basic understanding of language and terms on an almost daily basis — and you'd better keep up, or you're the bigoted monster who deserves to be destroyed. I think of the LGBTQ+ community, which seems to add three more letters and a mathematical symbol to its acronym every week and then gets angry with anyone who uses a wrong pronoun to describe someone.

When someone uses a term or pop culture reference that has gone out of fashion (for lack of a better term) over a course of years, they should be fair game for criticism. However, there are many terms and pop culture references that have been in common use for years and are suddenly — and by suddenly, I mean seemingly in a matter of days or weeks with no explanation — considered extremely offensive. It feels like an effort to rewrite not just the language, but in some cases basic universal truths.
There was a video that went viral last week, for example, of someone saying they suffered from "time blindness" and it was offensive to them that they should be expected to be on time for work, movies, public transportation or anything else that ran on a schedule. While most people seemed to call her out for the idiot she sounded like, there were a number of articles along the lines of, "Yes, time blindness is a thing, how could anyone not know about this!?"

I don't think the vast majority of people who say something offensive strive to do it. Often, it's just getting harder and harder to keep up with what is and isn't offensive to every single group when the definition of what's offensive seems to change literally every week.

 

I’m not wading into this argument except to say having a functioning memory doesn’t necessarily mean someone is keeping score.