rolling "Is This Racist?" thread

none of that has much to do with this piece, though. which i think is interesting and a fairly engaging read. i like the way he leads you toward certain conclusions, then undercuts them, keeping his larger point in doubt.

That TopShop SS thing made me think of that Mitchell and Webb skit. "are we... the BAD GUYS?"

Seems entirely in-keeping with Slayer's aesthetic - to the point where i'm wondering whether it's not a reproduction of one of their own designs. Topshop are idiots for carrying anything connected to the daft Nazi fetishists in the first place.

yah tbh i would have had no idea it was explicitly the SS skull and crossbones (as opposed to, like, every other cliched S&C?)

i have an old fuct johnny cash t shirt i bought over a decade ago with that skull on it... the wwii re-enactor i sometimes work with pointed out the source with glee and i don't wear it anymore.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VwebD70TL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Different company sells the same design as a computer skin.

That's the exact same image that Death in June used on a lot of their stuff and no-one ever accused them of being nazis oh wait

sorry,, I thought it would be apparent to many here that Slayer is a band who have been known to have troubling problem with nazi iconography. The weird thing to me is that the article doesn't make any mention of the band Slayer.

To everyone involved here, Slayer is just "a design", "a motif".

I'd be pretty surprised if anyone putting a Slayer logo on a shirt didn't know about their consistent use of Nazi imagery, tbh. The management might not have but the designers of the shirt surely would.

always felt like that skull was a little too cuet to be effective SS iconography

its expression says it just wants everyone to be cool

heh, now that you mention it, it kinda reminds me of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdvAuzIheFU

Wal-Mart got in trouble a few years back for selling Totenkopf shirts. It was one of the reasons I quit reading The Consumerist. It felt like their day was
- Totenkopf shirt at Alexandria, Virginia Wal-Mart (122nd Wal-Mart found to sell shirt)
- Cell phone pic shows clearance price tag with a three cent discount
- Best Buy asked me to check my receipt when I left the store with a swimming pool-sized TV
- Cell phone pic showing a three-pack of peanut butter with a higher per unit price than a single jar of peanut butter
- Totenkopf shirt at Lesotho, Ohio Wal-Mart (123rd Wal-Mart found to sell shirt)
- Best Buy tried to sell me a bad warranty

the wiki page for totenkopf is worth a read

btw, Death in June have definitely dealt with a good deal of controversy over their use of Nazi imagery: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_June#Controversy . and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

I think you missed the "oh wait" at the end of NickB's post

ah so! sorry nickb, i am overly caffeinated.

Totenkopfs predate the Nazis, though, right? Weren't they worn by some Prussian cavalry unit back in Frederick the Great's time?

Nazis ruined swastikas for everybody too

xp, yes but i think the one Slayer use is specifically an SS variation on the theme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totenkopf

the Wikipedia page specifically mentions Death In June, Laibach and The Melvins, but nothing about Slayer

The Melvins def aren't shy with that stuff tho

http://www.popsike.eu/pix/20081202/150313668169.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jHNgZ.jpg

xp

oh Melvinspaws

this is the page you want for the SS totenkopf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_SS_Division_Totenkopf

one diff between Slayer's use of fascist iconography & Death In June's is that Slayer's interest probably ends at the water's edge, so to speak. Images that are associated with widespread death & cruelty & horrific human behavior are badass; they have the ability to elicit a reaction just by being there, and that reaction is one of fear & revulsion, and that's wicked. That is a sort of metal mindset. Death In June have an almost identical position backed up by a lot of intellectual foofaraw about symbols & iconography & the distance between artist & narrator, some of which has some pith to it but much of which ends up at "there is something totally wicked about fascist iconography"

imo

but most dudes who pretend the resonance they're copping from these symbols isn't largely or wholly due to the symbols having been adopted by the nazis, those dudes are posing. sure boyd, it's just that you find the swastika interesting, has nothing to do with hitler

"they're the good swastikas"

love you, melvins, but a giant fucking swastika ranks high among the things i do not want on my turntable

people finding something interesting/controversial in transgression? well, I never!

xpost picture discs sound like shit anyway

I have a couple of swastika cufflinks that I found in a theatre drawer. Don't think I would ever wear them, obv.

The distinction between a "Nazi band" and a "band that has consistently, unapologetically used Nazi themes in their artwork and lyrics because they think it's cool" is sufficiently small for me not to waste much time thinking about.

Not that i have ever bought the idea that's where Slayer's interest in the far-right ends.

when i was a young stoner, i had a picture of ron asheton in a nazi uniform on my wall -

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cEScrKlFg24/SWa9--f-4tI/AAAAAAAAALk/RYqQn4i33YM/s400/229715159_l.jpg

- yeah, that one, and an SS totenkopf sticker on my (homemade) bong. the asheton picture came from a copy of metallic K.O. and the sticker came from i dunno where. someone gave it to me, i think. i didn't even know what it meant. can only imagine what people thought...

The distinction between a "Nazi band" and a "band that has consistently, unapologetically used Nazi themes in their artwork and lyrics because they think it's cool" is sufficiently small for me not to waste much time thinking about.

― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Friday, July 6, 2012 3:02 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah there's no difference between Quentin Tarantino and Leni Riefenstahl either

You don't think spending an entire career doing it puts them on the Riefenstahl end of the spectrum?

thoughts on lemmy?

i'd say that it's worth making a considered allowance for bands - like, say, laibach - who consistently and unapologetically use nazi themes in their artwork in order to make interesting art

Absolutely, but Laibach parody authoritarianism, they don't fetishise it.

"laibach and think of slovenia"
10 results (0.07 seconds)

lol

Detractors have accused Death in June of harboring neo-Nazi sympathies. Pearce has said, "At the start of the eighties, Tony and I were involved in radical left politics and beneath it history students. In search of a political view for the future we came across National Bolshevism which is closely connected with the Sturmabteilung hierarchy. People like Gregor Strasser and Ernst Röhm who were later known as 'second revolutionaries' attracted our attention."[11] The Sturmabteilung (Stormtroopers) were a paramilitary unit of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), and Strasser and Röhm were Nazi leaders who vyed for Adolf Hitler's power.

Protests have been staged and some performances have been cancelled due to these accusations.[12] Justification for the cancellations stem from strong aversions to the Nazi inspired symbolism of Death in June coupled with an interpretation of select lyrics as containing deliberate Third Reich-era imagery and tropes. When questioned about his interest in the Third Reich, Pearce responded:"I've an interest in all aspects of the Third Reich. It has had such a huge influence on the world, who could fail to be intrigued by it? However, I've still read more pages of Das Kapital than Mein Kampf!"[13]

lol, paging jonah goldberg

Nazis ruined swastikas for everybody too

You'll still find swastikas in Asia

Is there a thread where anybody's posting about how butthurt ppl got by Chris Rock's tweet on July 4th?

what did he say?

卍

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/07/chris-rock-fires-up-controversy-with-fourth-of-july-tweet/

Chris Rock’s July Fourth tweet has some people in a decidedly un-celebratory mood. On Wednesday, the comedian tweeted, “Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren’t free but I’m sure they enjoyed fireworks.”

hahahahahahahaha

http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/chris-rock-tweet.jpg%3Fw%3D420%26h%3D316
people being easily wound up there

I wonder when @chrisrock became so mean-spirited? Or has he always been and I’ve just not noticed. Color means NOTHING to me.”

chris rock otm