bloodyrosemccoy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodyrosemccoy) wrote2011-12-13 04:53 pm
bloodyrosemccoy) wrote2011-12-13 04:53 pm
Entry tags:
Who Are We Listening To?
Wow. The more I read about this Lowe's debacle, the more disgusted I get. It's yet another of those times when my SIWOTI complex slams headlong into the fact that tackling everything wrong with what people are saying would take weeks and likely just piss off the idiots who hold those opinions anyway.
I mean, look at this--according to a marketing executive, the first mistake was advertising during the show at all: "For a big national brand like Lowe's, they've always got to be incredibly careful when advertising during any show that could be deemed controversial." Because a) ordinary Muslim people are CONTROVERSIAL, and b) it's all about money.
And don't get me started on the rest of the Florida Family Association's bullshit. I can't even bring myself to link to it; you'll just have to google it.
This kind of controversy really pisses me off. It's a sign of sloppy thinking, to assume that all Muslims are like the ones you see on the news blowing shit up. I know we're wired to think anecdotally, and that causes a lot of misconceptions. That's something we can work to get past, though.
Trouble is, a lot of people don't. All-American Muslim seems to be trying to fight psychology with psychology--if we're going to go by anecdotes anyway, they present us with some new anecdotes about Muslims doing their everyday stuff. Admirable, cool, and apparently too late for the Florida Family Association people, who haven't got room for any more anecdotes.
Which is a crying shame. I am not a Muslim, but the ones I have met have all seemed like, y'know, normal people to me. In my dumb white American experience with Muslims, not one has tried to terrorize me. They've shown me Bollywood movies, played good-natured tricks on their students, gone completely nuts over birthday cake, played Super Mario, yelled back at Dora the Explorer, discussed philosophy, raced boats, learned to draw manga, rassled their kitty cats, given to charity over holidays, shared recipes, saved me when I had malaria, cheered for Stevie Wonder at the Paralympic opening ceremonies, and confessed to an unconditional love for Babysitter's Club.
That's the kind of thing they're showing on All-American Muslim, from the Muslims' point of view. And that is the kind of thing the Florida Family Association seems to find so objectionable.
Remind me why Lowe's listened to them, again?
I mean, look at this--according to a marketing executive, the first mistake was advertising during the show at all: "For a big national brand like Lowe's, they've always got to be incredibly careful when advertising during any show that could be deemed controversial." Because a) ordinary Muslim people are CONTROVERSIAL, and b) it's all about money.
And don't get me started on the rest of the Florida Family Association's bullshit. I can't even bring myself to link to it; you'll just have to google it.
This kind of controversy really pisses me off. It's a sign of sloppy thinking, to assume that all Muslims are like the ones you see on the news blowing shit up. I know we're wired to think anecdotally, and that causes a lot of misconceptions. That's something we can work to get past, though.
Trouble is, a lot of people don't. All-American Muslim seems to be trying to fight psychology with psychology--if we're going to go by anecdotes anyway, they present us with some new anecdotes about Muslims doing their everyday stuff. Admirable, cool, and apparently too late for the Florida Family Association people, who haven't got room for any more anecdotes.
Which is a crying shame. I am not a Muslim, but the ones I have met have all seemed like, y'know, normal people to me. In my dumb white American experience with Muslims, not one has tried to terrorize me. They've shown me Bollywood movies, played good-natured tricks on their students, gone completely nuts over birthday cake, played Super Mario, yelled back at Dora the Explorer, discussed philosophy, raced boats, learned to draw manga, rassled their kitty cats, given to charity over holidays, shared recipes, saved me when I had malaria, cheered for Stevie Wonder at the Paralympic opening ceremonies, and confessed to an unconditional love for Babysitter's Club.
That's the kind of thing they're showing on All-American Muslim, from the Muslims' point of view. And that is the kind of thing the Florida Family Association seems to find so objectionable.
Remind me why Lowe's listened to them, again?