WTF? In the bright moon of the crisp night in the wannabe cool streets of Minneapolis, on Halloween, I come across this apparition: a lovely little creature, somebody's daughter, maybe a sister, niece, even an aunt already, standing arms folded, fingertips under the armpits, concealing not Glocks ... in fact, hiding nothing ... but posing that way, because someone misguidedly told her, "That's cute!"
In our disgusting 'Honey Boo Boo' world, in which white is the new black and "ghetto" is "fabulous", we ask little Heather in pigtails to pose like a "gansta", as if we're encouraging her to say Cheese.
Buffoonish. Cartoonish. "Safe", and acceptable even for Grandma to digest (hell, it was probably Grandma who suggested the pose) ...
The inevitable co-opting and dumbing down ... the Sex Pistols to Green Day ... the Tupac to Snoop Dogg, Snoop Dogg to Snoop Lion ... the death sentence leveled on Salman Rushdie, to the international barrier of entry and panty dropper -- the party door and legs wide opener -- it seems to have become for him (lucky satan!) ...
Buffoonish. Cartoonish. Now "safe".
But acceptable?
Walking through downtown Minneapolis, in the crisp night and bright streets and Halloween moon, I am spooked by this fiendish apparition. Little pig-tailed Heather, forced to say Cheese and strike a ridiculous pose from before she was born - one of late '80's / early '90's old school rap videos - the picture missing only gold teeth and a clock around the little girl's neck.
In our disgusting 'Honey Boo Boo' world, in which white is the new black and "ghetto" is "fabulous", we ask little Heather in pigtails to pose like a "gansta", as if we're encouraging her to say Cheese.
Buffoonish. Cartoonish. "Safe", and acceptable even for Grandma to digest (hell, it was probably Grandma who suggested the pose) ...
The inevitable co-opting and dumbing down ... the Sex Pistols to Green Day ... the Tupac to Snoop Dogg, Snoop Dogg to Snoop Lion ... the death sentence leveled on Salman Rushdie, to the international barrier of entry and panty dropper -- the party door and legs wide opener -- it seems to have become for him (lucky satan!) ...
Buffoonish. Cartoonish. Now "safe".
But acceptable?
Walking through downtown Minneapolis, in the crisp night and bright streets and Halloween moon, I am spooked by this fiendish apparition. Little pig-tailed Heather, forced to say Cheese and strike a ridiculous pose from before she was born - one of late '80's / early '90's old school rap videos - the picture missing only gold teeth and a clock around the little girl's neck.
I'm not sure why the image above seems so jarring, if not downright offensive, to me. In our vile Honey Boo Boo world, one of insta-"celebrity", endless vulgarity, crass exploitation and hopelessly tasteless images broadcast of what might happen to you if you smoke ... not to mention "Abby & Brittany" (on The Learning Channel, what??) ... Is a little blonde girl in an inoccuous rap pose really worth getting so worked up over?
If she's five or six years from now 'backing that shit up' ... or pregnant ... in a gang, say, or mispronouncing the word "ask" ... then yes. It's patently offensive to see a young girl, blonde or otherwise - white or otherwise - put in a stance and told to smile, when she's got no idea why Dad thinks it's so "cute" ("cool", "hot", "fleek" (?) or "fly"):
If she's five or six years from now 'backing that shit up' ... or pregnant ... in a gang, say, or mispronouncing the word "ask" ... then yes. It's patently offensive to see a young girl, blonde or otherwise - white or otherwise - put in a stance and told to smile, when she's got no idea why Dad thinks it's so "cute" ("cool", "hot", "fleek" (?) or "fly"):
She's got no idea what she's emulating, and probably doesn't know why she's standing that way.
Dad (or Grandma) should 'learn what time it is': to let their own younger images of themselves R.I.P., and their princess pose, smile and grow, naturally.
Dad (or Grandma) should 'learn what time it is': to let their own younger images of themselves R.I.P., and their princess pose, smile and grow, naturally.
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