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Bed Bath & Beyond pulls jack-o'-lanterns after "blackface" complaints
- Thread starter Sectorseven
- Start date
To all those quoting me the eyes are very evocative of old cartoons like the one I shared and the white mouth out of old blackface movies n shit like the one I shared second
Yeah, I can kinda see it. I was expecting something in this vein
Yeah it's good that they didn't double down
definitely a stretch but this is how these stories should end. a seemingly innocent thing happens, a group of people speak up and say "hey that could be interpreted in this way and that makes us uncomfortable", and then the people behind the seemingly innocent thing, instead of getting defensive and decrying SJW's or whatever, take a step back and say "we hear you, we're changing the thing"
I wonder if they're glow in the dark- it'd explain using the white paint as that's the classic base version.
I was also expecting red lips, as that's the big thing that would make it go from skeleton to caricature, and this is not really that. But changing them to bright Halloween orange in the future is an easy fix to avoid any issues.
I was also expecting red lips, as that's the big thing that would make it go from skeleton to caricature, and this is not really that. But changing them to bright Halloween orange in the future is an easy fix to avoid any issues.
That's black and white. Look up any color advertisement for minstrel shows for those times and they're rocking the red lips.
Like, if people legitimate felt offended then it's good BB&B took them down. But, even as a black guy, I feel this is a stretch.
Yes, what other highly visible color could they possibly use for a Halloween-themed decoration?
Was it intended to evoke racist caricature? I highly doubt it. But intended or not, it's pretty damn similar, and there's no good reason to keep it. I think BB&B can take the hit of tossing a couple pumpkins.
Nah. I was expected an actual racist caricature of some kind.
It's literally just black with the same eyes and mouth as orange ones.
JFC
It's literally just black with the same eyes and mouth as orange ones.
JFC
Yup.Yes, what other highly visible color could they possibly use for a Halloween-themed decoration?
Was it intended to evoke racist caricature? I highly doubt it. But intended or not, it's pretty damn similar, and there's no good reason to keep it. I think BB&B can take the hit of tossing a couple pumpkins.
Even if you think it's a stretch, I'd still think it'd be safer to pull it. It may not look totally like classic blackface, but it's close enough for me.
If it had big red lips I'd be 1000% in agreement that it's blackface and racist as hell. As it stands...it's a black and white jack o lantern.Literally it looks like this face
If someone was offended then the nice response is to remove it; I'm not saying they should make a big fuss about it and deny that request. But I think someone who is offended by this jack o lantern should consider the possibility that they are seeing something that isn't there.
It looks absolutely nothing like that. I'm all for showing zero tolerance towards racist imaging, but this ain't it, and this ridiculous backlash dilutes the argument.Literally it looks like this face
Yes, what other highly visible color could they possibly use for a Halloween-themed decoration?
Was it intended to evoke racist caricature? I highly doubt it. But intended or not, it's pretty damn similar, and there's no good reason to keep it. I think BB&B can take the hit of tossing a couple pumpkins.
I think what they were going for was scary creepy pumpkin. Orange isn't spooky.
I'm not really seeing it, even with the caricature comparisons. But if somebody from the NAACP takes offense to it, I'm not about to tell them one way or another. I don't think anybody is going to miss black pumpkins with white outlines. Probably best they just remove them the way they did.
No argument from me.
I probably shouldn't have used literally but the eyes are similar and it was the kind of thing that came to.mind when I saw the pumpkin
Granting that, what does that mean about the portrayal of faces using the colors black and white? Like, how restrictive do we need to be to make sure not a single person is reminded of blackface? Because that seems to be the criterion. If it evokes blackface for anyone, then it essentially is blackface? Is that tenable?
I can't see the pumpkins well enough to tell but are the mouths drawn as lips or as toothy grins? It looks like there are words written in there.
edit: you say the eyes are similar but aren't they just white triangles with black pupils? Like, a typical jack o lantern eye shape?
I guess my point is: the human brain is an association machine, and things that are vagely similar are easily grouped together and homogenized. There are a lot of small differences here between the pumpkin's design and prototypical blackface. How much do those differences matter? I generally think they do matter, and in the absence of a reason to suspect malicious intent, I can excuse them as accidental. Just because something reminds me of something, doesn't mean it *is* that thing. And I judge accordingly.
I'm not seeing it.
Seems like they were going for a skeleton look. I can see why BB&B would want to remove it to avoid any potential problems once someone complained though.
Seems like they were going for a skeleton look. I can see why BB&B would want to remove it to avoid any potential problems once someone complained though.
It looks exactly like a regular jack-o-latern face, but white.
It literally isn't blackface though.
There's a real specific minstrely cartoon it made me think of but I can't remember which one it is.
I'm not saying it was immediately intentional but that it's just very evocative of that era
But they're just triangle eyes... those are used in everything. Hell most jack o lanterns use triangle shaped eyes.
I think what's evoking that is the sharp contrast. I don't think any of the features are out of the ordinary at all particularly for jack o lanterns, but also in many other styles. Again if people feel offended it's best to remove it, but I do think it's pretty benign and there was most likely no ill intent at all here.
Came in expecting red lip Jack o Lanterns
I wish there was a clearer picture, why is there something written on their teeth?
Black Jack o Lantern can be done well, maybe the answer lies in just making the eyes and mouth orange?
I wish there was a clearer picture, why is there something written on their teeth?
Black Jack o Lantern can be done well, maybe the answer lies in just making the eyes and mouth orange?
They likely went with white because I doubt these are meant to be lit from the inside. I imagine the reason they're black in the first place is to maximize the contrast and make the faces as visible as possible in any lighting condition. The pumpkins were put up by a law firm in front of their office and the words written in their mouths are the names of the lawyers.
The news article is funny. The anchors say it has residents asking if they're racist, but nobody they interviewed held that view. The first person they interview is a black lady calling the reporters idiots because they're just black pumpkins.
The news article is funny. The anchors say it has residents asking if they're racist, but nobody they interviewed held that view. The first person they interview is a black lady calling the reporters idiots because they're just black pumpkins.
NGL, she cracked me up.
Still, I get people seeing blackface in this and them removing the pumpkins as a result.
These a personalized resin-based pumpkins. If seen this same color scheme/contrast used before such as below:Came in expecting red lip Jack o Lanterns
I wish there was a clearer picture, why is there something written on their teeth?
Black Jack o Lantern can be done well, maybe the answer lies in just making the eyes and mouth orange?
EDIT:
Actually BBB has these items on their site in the same color scheme.
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Ridiculous backlash diluting the argument against racist imagery? So what do you propose the company have done then?
Should've gone for an angry face, I'm pretty sure the grin is part of the issue for people.
I honestly wouldn't have thought anything remotely race-related looking at these, though. To me, they look like pumpkins designed to be black and white, I wouldn't assumed anything more without this thread.
But the almost human lip-and-teeth combo does look iffy, after it's pointed out.
The other black pumpkins posted in this thread look inoffensive and much better though.
I honestly wouldn't have thought anything remotely race-related looking at these, though. To me, they look like pumpkins designed to be black and white, I wouldn't assumed anything more without this thread.
But the almost human lip-and-teeth combo does look iffy, after it's pointed out.
The other black pumpkins posted in this thread look inoffensive and much better though.
If I'm upset about anything its how the issue is framed by news articles. Asking a business to be socially aware isn't something bad or ridiculous, but this article(and countless others) really feels like its framing it as "people getting outraged over the tiniest things."
