A step away from "Mantan"...

[ageofscience]

How Obvious Is It That I Feel More Intellectually Isolated Than Ever Before In My Life? Also, Some Stuff About Race

Comments

[mrmcgrath]

it seems like given the time frame of when it was published it was actually kind of progressive. Could it be that people are just responding to the positive associations they had with the book as children? I'm partially playing devil's advocate here but it seems kind of harsh to denounce everything that had a partially racist undertone when it came from a blatenly racist time. I mean we still teach freud in any basic psychology class even though he had totally backwards views on women. and you could make a similar argument for almost any other historical figure. I feel like maybe the book is being reprinted now because most people really aren't racist and maybe we've gotten to a point were we can accept the good with the bad parts of history and not feel like we're walking on eggshells.

[ageofscience]

Certainly it is less offensive than a lot of other things published around the same time, but even so, I'm very hesitant to refer to something so much a case of... least worst of the worst as, in any way, progressive. Unfortunately that sentence probably made no sense and I'm really sleepy and can't phrase it any better

[mrmcgrath]

yeah, I totally see your point. And I definitely don't see racism as something that's dissapered. I guess I just feel like that book being published now is going to make anyone more or less racist and therefore it doesn't seem worth censoring to me.

[abumponthehead]

slightly related: I just found out a while ago that my great grandpa was a vaudeville actor and sang and danced in black face. whaa? so strange. My grandpa has all these pictures but told me he doesn't put them out because they represent an offensive time in history and that he "never cared for that sonofabitch anyway". haha...eh...

[ageofscience]

Aww, your grandpa sounds like an okay guy :)

Maybe if no one in your family wants to see the pictures and feels weird about having them around, there's some kind of museum or something that would be interested in having and preserving them? At least then they could go to some kind of positive use?

[edgecondition]

I think I've watched Bamboozled - if that's that most disturbing reality-based film that doesn't involve masacres?! No jokes there.
I'm basicly replying to nod vicariously at what you said about political correctness. I'm far from perfect there (far far far) but often times mildly mocked for that stand, yet still fail to see how one can imagine any progress ever being made without that starting - normal- position. Things can always head for worse if we don't constantly try harder. :S

[ageofscience]

It's definitely among the most disturbing movies I've ever see. I think it's possibly the only film I've ever seen that I actually had the words knocked out of me and couldn't say or think or do a single thing for about the next hour after seeing it!