From the Pirates of the Caribbean “Dead Man’s Chest” collection – 14K gold plated 20″ Noose Necklace.
So, apparently racist iconography is the new couture. Come on, Disney, ARE YOU STUPID? I have no idea what wires got crossed in the company that they could see this as anything but a very, very bad idea. Especially on the wake of the Jenna Six incident.
I’ve had various problems with the company for a long time, but I think I’m with Sara in thinking that it’s finally time to just say “no” to Disney products. Until that company shapes up and, at the very least, stops actively being racist, I’m through with it.
Via Sara Speaking.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:02 am
What baffles me, is that when I think of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, the LAST image I’d get in my mind would be that of a noose. Of all things!
How are nooses pirate-themed in the least?! Gawd, talk about being criminally clueless.
October 15th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I know! I mean, I was thinking, “I’ve only seen the first Pirates, so maybe I’m missing something,” but still.
October 15th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
The only thing I remember, is that Capt Jack was about to be hanged near the end of the first Pirates movie.
October 19th, 2007 at 5:10 am
The entire Pirates of the Caribbean line of movies has been fairly problematic from the start. I pretty much wanted to smash in my television while watching the first movie. Elizabeth, the only female character to have more than a few seconds of screen time, gets threatened with rape twice! It’s not like I’m expecting frigging Disney to revolutionize the world, but just…damn.
Noose jewelry, maybe Disney is trying to reach out to their consumers in Jena. I’m sure a lot of anxious white dudes would love to show off how “edgy” and anti-PC they are. Money talks I guess.
August 24th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
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August 25th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I can see how a noose ornament could be an example of unintended racism, in much the same way that a Confederate-flag lapel pin (even if it were for a movie set during the Civil War) would be racist.
I have trouble seeing how this is an example of being actively, racist, however, since it’s clearly meant to be an example of a pirate-noose, and not a Deep-South-lynching noose. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t a bad idea, but it just seems like a corporate gaffe. The goal with a lot of Disney products is to be a bit macabre, and I can see how they could cross a line without realizing it, or necessarily meaning to.
Although the Pirates movies were sexist and kind of silly, I enjoyed the fact that an interracial relationship between was presented without attention being drawn to the races of the characters involved.
The problem with boycotting a company like Disney is that there are so many other groups urging a boycott of Disney products that it’s unlikely that your reason for not buying Disney products will really be felt or heard by the people who are making the bad decisions that you disagree with.
August 30th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
It’s only ‘clearly’ meant to be a PotC charm IF YOU SEE IT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE AD. In the real world, anyone seeing someone wearing this would only see -a person wearing a noose-, and the cultural meanings it would imply in that context is impossible to just ‘brush off’.
August 31st, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Pietoro,
Your point is well taken, unless someone was wearing other PotC gear to contextualize the charm. The most likely explanation for this seems to be that the people responsible for the decision to make a necklace like this just didn’t think about its implications. Does anyone think the most likely explanation is that the folks at Disney (or elsewhere) who approved the design were intentionally creating a racist symbol?
September 7th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Phil said:
No, but given the amount of money and resources Disney has at their disposal there is no excuse for not being aware of the racist implications.
July 12th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Okay, I could understand being angry with how Ms Swan is portrayed, but seriously people, you are ranting about a peice of jewelry. And how exactly is this necklace racist in the first place? Is this some sort of extremely vague lynching refrence? The noose is just a peice of rope, and was used to kill people of all backgrounds. It sounds to me like you people are just trying to pick a fight.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to call anybody out or get you mad, but I see NO relation to fancy knot jewelry and racism. You need to either prove a valid point or find something actually meaningful to rage against.
July 16th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Dez’s comment really isn’t appropriate, per the Discussion Rules, but I approved it so that I could point out that I nearly got Bingo! ^_^
July 24th, 2009 at 4:44 am
There is a mass pirate-hanging scene at the beginning of the 3rd movie, and a lot of other references to hanging pirates throughout all three. It was kind of a standard way of executing people back then. So in the context of the PoTC movies, I don’t think it’s racist BUT there is nothing about the necklace at all to provide that context. It’s just a gold noose. In the US, the default context of the noose is in terms of lynching blacks. I think when companies are making things like this, they need to ask some people what they think of the product without providing any of the marketing pitch or really any explanation at all of what it is supposed to be. B/c in real life, people aren’t going to give everyone they meet the marketing pitch about their jewelry.
I don’t know why any Pirates fan would want a gold noose anyway. It’s not in a very piratey style, for one, and the redcoats (who did all the hanging) were the bad guys. Wouldn’t you (hypothetical Pirates fans) rather have a charm of a magic compass, or a bottle of rum, or a wooden eye or something? I am a big fan of the movies (despite its flaws) and I don’t see the appeal of this at all.
(The item you have selected is currently out of stock. Yeah, I doubt it, considering that the hype around the movies seems to be pretty quiet atm. The last movie came out a few years ago, and the next one’s not coming out for a few more. I think they pulled it.)
July 24th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Oh goodness, lol. I’m so sorry, I just kind of surfed in, I wasn’t actively checking dates and only noticed the dates on most recent comments (while I was writing mine), so some of the things I said don’t make much sense, especially in that last paragraph! I thought the post was much more recent than it is.
I think I need a nap or something.