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.
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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
[...] gaming… ORLY? Who’s the butt of the joke? For male gamers and readers, something embarrassing Here’s a noosey-noose to go with your Klan robe Japanese women are the biggest users of Wii and DS… ORLY? Debunking rumours: Chinese MMO’s [...]
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.