My Two Cents About 50 Cent
Recently there has been a controversy over a billboard for 50 Cent's movie Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. Now I am not a fan of the guy or his music but all of the loudmouth activist groups are coming out of the woodwork to complain that the billboard for the movie promotes violence and will be a negative influence and this annoys me. In the wake of the protests Viacom, the owners of the billboards, have pulled the ads from Los Angeles and are going to heavily scale down the amount of billboards here in New York. Now this pisses me off because I feel that a form of art (even if its one that I dislike) is being censored; the movie is about street life and guns are a part of that so if the movie makers want to portray their creation that way so be it, there were many other movie and TV ads with guns in them in the past so what makes this one so different..... take a look at this and tell me if this ad is so horrible:
Now being the wiseass that I am I decided to make my own billboard (image by ram2600) to pay tribute to this situation on violence in advertising..... maybe my ad is a bit more appropriate, you be the judge:
Now being the wiseass that I am I decided to make my own billboard (image by ram2600) to pay tribute to this situation on violence in advertising..... maybe my ad is a bit more appropriate, you be the judge:
posted by Antek on 11/04/2005
7 Comments:
Weeeeeeellll, as much as I believe in the First Amendment, I hate Fiddy and his violent lyrics and sexual videos (Candy Shop) so I'm glad the billboards are down. However it's not really censorship because Viacom and whoever else are corporations not the gov't so I think it's great if they listen to their consumers - or at least the consumers' parents. :)
-my two cents.
I respect your opinion Monique, and i too hate 50 Cent. Censorship does not necessarily have to come from govt either. Although freedom of speech does not give one the right to scream fire in a crowded building it should protect those trying to get a message across. The world is not perfect and I feel that just because you disagree with a person it does not give you the right the make them say or do what you want. (thats a hypothetical you. I am not singling you out Monique). In this life we must have the strenght to do whats right and an even greater strenght put up with the stuff we disagree with. Look at movie posters from the past (The Last Action Hero) there are plenty of guns in them I just feel that 50 is bieng singled out because he is black and he is a rapper, and I just can't agree with that mentality.
Now, you've introduced an additional component to this, that being race, and there I can agree with you. I'm more sure than ever due to recent events in my life that racism, prejudice, bigotry, etc, etc are alive and thriving as an undercurrent in our society, which we only see when people slip up and forget I'm standing there or they think no one is listening..I digress. Are they singling 50 out? Probably. As a mom of two boys, I can't help but want fewer characters like 50 on display, white, black, or orange. But the wonderful thing about our country is the little people like me, you and millions of others have a place to dissent or agree or protest, even if it's in own our little bloggy blog worlds. :)(And BTW, I was a big Snoop Dogg fan in high school, but don't tell my boys that!)
I transposed "our" and "own" and it's bugging me, "..even if it's in own our little bloggy blog worlds. :)"
You know what I meant...
you see, now I can get down with the D O double G, heck, I still like Snoop..as for the 50 cent thing... Im just touchy when it comes to media issues (and part of me is way too liberal at times) I just get annoyed at stuff like this because I fear that it will lead to bigger more important issues and that one day I wont be able to read a book I like or hear a song I wanna listen to, I am just afraid of the snowball effect and once certain groups get too much power they might want to inflict their own values and Im not cool with that. As for the racisim thing, its sickening to think how far we have evolved as a society yet still we cant conquer racist views, its really sad actually.... now if you will excuse me I am gonna take my guinea ass to go get some eggplant parmesian and some ravoli, than after that I will go watch The Godfather
After our talk, I still agree with you Tony.
It HAS to be racially motivated. I'd love to know how many complaints there were when Stallone had his machine gun on his arm, for the Rambo posters. Probably none... And then there's Arnold! I just looked it up on IMDB.com, and back in 84, the poster was him holding a gun.
It drives me crazy when people single something or someone out just because they don't agree with it or them. It doesn't and shouldn't be removed if it's something that was displayed before. So those assholes who don't like 50 Cent's billboard...tough shit. Live with it, like we lived with Arnold's and Stallone's billboards.
There's no difference.
I have to put my two cents or fiddy cents for that matter. This is a combination post in regards to comparing it to Rambo, Terminator, etc. Someone else said it is comparing apples and oranges and I couldn't agree more. Fiddy sends the wrong message to kids. It is not a secret that he has been involved with drugs, being shot (fairly recently) and just basically not a very good role model. We put up a billboard that promotes his lifestyle and frankly kids, today look up to that crap. I am glad the billboards are down too. I would feel the same way if he was white. Racism is alive unfortunately not only because of whites but because of blacks...it's not just a one way street but that's another post all together.
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