Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, April 28, 2009
Media So Cute You'll Puke
Posted by David Schmader on Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 4:21 PM
...and be happy to have done so.
One question: What's up with the "colorblind" message? Are these kids not the same color? Does "colorblind" mean something else in the world of magically adorable children?
Thank you, Videogum.
1
I think maybe that girl was Indian or something?
Lady should've left out the cliched message and just left it at cute kids...
Lady should've left out the cliched message and just left it at cute kids...
2
Here, they're the same color, but evidently not there. YouTube comments say she's Malay and he's Chinese.
3
Malaysia has a history of racial strife between ethnic Malay and ethnic Chinese. Presumably that is the point of this commercial, not to make you say "awww..."
4
Thanks for the info, 2 & 3, I figured there was something there my western brain wasn't understanding.
5
Jesus Christ sometimes I think if these Slog people were in charge our lives would all be one long, never-ending PSA.
TV ads that sell you stupid crap you don't need? Those work, because they depend on the viewer's bottomless supply of greed, lust, pride, envy, gluttony, and so on. TV ads that tell us to act like better people than we are? No, they don't work. Because of... well, you know.
TV ads that sell you stupid crap you don't need? Those work, because they depend on the viewer's bottomless supply of greed, lust, pride, envy, gluttony, and so on. TV ads that tell us to act like better people than we are? No, they don't work. Because of... well, you know.
6
Colorblindness is not the answer to inequality and racism! Uggggghhhh. I hate that this message gets propagated everywhere. Colorblindness does way more harm than good. Colorblindness inherently favors whites, so of course this (most likely white) British woman is able to make this claim with ease. We shouldn't have to ignore race to be able to live together harmoniously and equally. Denying people of their racialized history & lived experiences by being "colorblind" does not allow us to address actual racist structures and actions that continue to persist in our world. BLARGH.
< /rant>
< /rant>
7
@6. Switch to decaf. Someone's is trying, not just typing cynical posts on a rag's comment section. (Props Dave!) Colorblind is the goal, but we have damage to repair in the meantime. Although we agree on that, I imagine you, even when we are all truly equal, will still be throwing rocks from the sideline because that is all you want to do, instead of actually helping people. We should do a PSA for sad, cynical people like you. Someone alert the BBC.
8
They are so adorable, seeing this makes you believe that their is still hope for the future (amidst all the current depravity, racism, abuse, an immoral behaviors), even if it's not here in the US. Long live innocence and true love!
9
sorry #7 but I agree with 6. It's easy to say colorblind if you belong to the race in power. But this is about power dynamic. Colorblindness is a myth and propagating that terminology does not help anyone. It's not about being cynical, it's about being accurate and actually thinking about how we better equalize the power dynamic between racial and ethnic groups in a society. "Colorblind" is a term that needs to be retired.
10
"(most likely white) British woman is able to make this claim with ease"
Errrr, plenty of Malaysians have thick British accents. I know several, and how many of you understand the power dynamic between ethnic Malays and Malay Chinese? Come on hands up?
Sorry, white people have nothing to do with this rather charming PSA. Now, run along to your pass/fail Sociologism Class at Evergreen State College.
Errrr, plenty of Malaysians have thick British accents. I know several, and how many of you understand the power dynamic between ethnic Malays and Malay Chinese? Come on hands up?
Sorry, white people have nothing to do with this rather charming PSA. Now, run along to your pass/fail Sociologism Class at Evergreen State College.
11
How dare this presumably white brit woman try to help these non-white kids! SHAME ON HER FOR PERPETUATING WHITE PRIVILEGE!
12
"Colorblindness inherently favors whites"
No doubt you'd all want to drag little Tan Hong Ming to a 'Chinese-Malay privilege class' so he can be forced to sit through hours of reeducation lectures on how fair-skinned Chinese in Malaysia dominate over the darker skinned ethnic Malays and have perpetuated a racist, class structure that has allowed Chinese to control much of the Malaysian economy.
Then, don't forget to remind little Tan about the ethnic attacks on Chinese in Malaysia in the 1960s, when hundreds of thousands of Chinese were slaughtered in race riots by ethnic Malays. Remind him that at any moment, the love of his live, Umi Qazerin, could turn on him and stick him with a knife for his ethnic group's historical, racist domination of Muslim Malays.
Wow, could you imagine how much better off little Tan would be if he was 'steeped in critical thinking'? Could you imagine how much happier he'd be?
No doubt you'd all want to drag little Tan Hong Ming to a 'Chinese-Malay privilege class' so he can be forced to sit through hours of reeducation lectures on how fair-skinned Chinese in Malaysia dominate over the darker skinned ethnic Malays and have perpetuated a racist, class structure that has allowed Chinese to control much of the Malaysian economy.
Then, don't forget to remind little Tan about the ethnic attacks on Chinese in Malaysia in the 1960s, when hundreds of thousands of Chinese were slaughtered in race riots by ethnic Malays. Remind him that at any moment, the love of his live, Umi Qazerin, could turn on him and stick him with a knife for his ethnic group's historical, racist domination of Muslim Malays.
Wow, could you imagine how much better off little Tan would be if he was 'steeped in critical thinking'? Could you imagine how much happier he'd be?
13
Before society's expectations ruin you, other people are just interesting or not. It's not about being colorblind, it's about being accepting of people for their individuality, not their group characteristics.
@11, if you're going to mock The Evergreen State College and the people that attend, you should at least get the nicknames and political positions of the school accurate. Reading your comments is like hearing a Californian mocking "the U of Double-U" as a "cow college." It's pathetic.
@11, if you're going to mock The Evergreen State College and the people that attend, you should at least get the nicknames and political positions of the school accurate. Reading your comments is like hearing a Californian mocking "the U of Double-U" as a "cow college." It's pathetic.
14
@13 oh waaaah I'm a whiny liberal and someone made fun of my schoool waaaaah I can't believe how insensitive you are waaaaah
15
"it's about being accepting of people for their individuality, not their group characteristic"
Except for white people. We're all rich, racist and randy.
Except for white people. We're all rich, racist and randy.
16
"you should at least get the nicknames and political positions of the school accurate. "
Yes, you wouldn't want to mock Evergreen, where apparently its political positions are more important than any kind of academic rigor.
Yes, you wouldn't want to mock Evergreen, where apparently its political positions are more important than any kind of academic rigor.
17
FYI, being the 'steeped in critical thinking' you learned at Evergreen State ain't gonna help you in the only job you'll be doing with that diploma: trying to figure out 8.75% tax on a latte for a customer the day the register breaks down.
18
"Before society's expectations ruin you, other people are just interesting or not. It's not about being colorblind, it's about being accepting of people for their individuality, not their group characteristics. "
Nothing like a bunch of white liberals telling Malaysians how to think and behave.
Nothing like a bunch of white liberals telling Malaysians how to think and behave.
19
@6, @9, I think you're missing the point by getting caught up in the terminology. All they're saying is try to stop making arbitrary decisions about other people based on their ethnic background, and stop pushing those prejudices on to your kids. I don't think that's wrong.
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