Wednesday, January 9, 2013
quicko: not taboo?
A friend was recently telling me about a work Christmas party in Australia -- an 80s theme I think? -- where the boss had come dressed up as Michael Jackson (as he started life) and had accordingly painted himself black. I was shocked that this was simply taken as a matter of course, as if he'd come dressed as a cowboy or vampire. Neither my friend, nor apparently, anyone at the party saw the slightest thing wrong with this, while I sat in stunned silence and made a mental note to blog about it.
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2 comments:
Could it have something to do with the sorry American history of how we treated African Americans, and how this used to be done in a derogatory way? Maybe Australia doesn't have quite the same sordid past in that regard, so don't have the same connotations that go along with it.
There have been a few situations where this has happened on tv where it has shocked people - but I think it's mainly an American reaction. The most famous one was on a variety show where there was an American judge.
It's not exactly considered PC, but nor is it shocking in the way it is in the US as it hasn't got the derogatory history it has in the US.
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