It has come to my attention time and time again that people essentially boycott the productions of a certain person or group based on their attitudes about a certain topic. This has made me wonder: should you boycott based on a person or group's attitudes about a certain topic?
First of all, I want to make it clear that it makes perfect sense to me to not buy anything from a group who holds basic beliefs in contrast to your own. For instance, no one I know would buy a book written by the KKK as an organization. It makes no sense to do so, when everything they stand for is in opposition to what we believe. I have no qualms with that.
Rather, what I am referring to is, say, refusing to buy anything that shows Madonna because one doesn't follow her religious beliefs. So, if she played a minor character in some movie, someone would refuse to buy that movie because they dislike her. It is, of course, that person's decision not to buy the movie, and I am not in any way saying that that choice should be taken away.
But really, I don't understand the point. I mean, if I disagreed with Madonna's attitude about religion, would it make any sense for me not to buy The Devil Wears Prada movie because she had a song in it? Now, if she made a movie or a book specifically about her religious beliefs, then I could understand boycotting it.
As another example, Mel Gibson has said some rather offensive things over the years towards Jews. So, some have called for a boycott on all things Gibson. While this makes sense for his movies like Passion of the Christ, would buying Pocahontas (in which he plays the voice of John Smith) really be supporting his attitude towards Jews? I had no part in the decision of who played which part in Pocahontas, but I think it's a good movie for kids. And it certainly doesn't have any of the antisemitic references Gibson has been charged with.
Boycotting things does make a powerful statement, if used in the correct way. But is there a point that it goes from being useful to ridiculous?
I freely admit to boycotting Kanye and all things Kanye. Is it useful? Probably not in the least. But, it gives me a sense of lifting the middle finger to him in a childish "Ha, you egotistical moron! Take that!" kinda way. He probably could care less, but I feel better about it
:D
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I'm kind of the same way, except instead of Kanye West it is Lindsay Lohan.
She's giving lesbians a bad name.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I don't consider her to be a lesbian. She's in her own special category.
Shes a lesbian?!?! /::)
-acertainsaint-
She's never actually said so.
What he actually meant was "George Bush hates wet people" but he forgot and just attributed the hatred to racism as opposed to wet/dry status.
-acertainsaint-
I know people who refuse to watch any Will Smith movies because he's converted to Scientology. I think it's ridiculous. If you don't like Scientology, and his roles promoted Scientology or something, I would understand. But simply boycotting because he's in a movie doesn't prove anything, it doesn't promote awareness of any kind--it is pointless.
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My dad canceled HBO after they aired the James Brady story, because he decided that meant HBO was a socialist network in favor of removing guns from the hands of the citizenry.
Of course, his continuing opposition to HBO did not stop him from renting the entire Deadwood series, another HBO production. Are personal attacks against my father, who is not a member of ProU considered a Terms of Service violation? Because I would like to say that he is a dipsh*t.
I'm sure his staunch activism has really made HBO think twice.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Forget the attitude of boycotting, let's focus on this tidbit of info that I didn't know: Mel Gibson was John Smith in Pocahontas?!
Okay, serious time. I do agree with you mvenus. I find it stupid that a "certain school" won't allow their students to wear particular brands because they promote messages they don't agree with. Apparently Abercrombie and American Eagle are illegal. Sheesh.
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Or so IMDB tells me. I was looking for an innocuous title he played in, and figured Pocahontas was about as innocuous as you can get. Christian Bale, by the way, played John Smith's friend... Thomas. Long before Batman :)
~C
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I think there is a line you can cross in this. I mean, I was extremely angry when radio stations boycotted Dixie Chicks songs simply because they said they were ashamed Bush was from Texas at a European concert. It was a knee-jerk reaction and none of their songs expressed that political view. Boycotting them was childish and ridiculous, especially since it was an institution boycotting it and not just individual citizens.
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Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. --Mahatma Gandhi
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I think it really depends. If it's just one person deciding to boycott in this ridiculous way, it's a little silly but easy enough to ignore (it's their choice, who cares?). However Bridge brings up a good point... This same type of ridiculous boycotting can become dangerous when one person can decide for a group of people. If a school district decides that it doesn't like a certain brand's overtly sexy ads/clothes, and it bans that brand, who's to stop them? As long as they claim it 'interferes with the learning processes' (as my school board has claimed many times over the years), they can get away with whatever they want.
There's a difference between boycotting, which is a choice only individuals can make, and censorship, which is what is happening with the schools. It's not a matter of the schools participating in a boycott... they can't influence the students once they leave the school. A certain organization can call for a boycott, but people still have to choose whether or not to follow it. If it's for a good cause, they generally do (see the civil rights movement).
~C
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