The arms and back of this gentleman’s shirt also bore the above iconography and repeated the "Genuine White Boy" title. While I have little doubt over my own perceptive capabilities, I pointed out the shirt to a friend of mine who was also horrified to think that somebody would actually wear something like that in public.
After I got home that night, I googled “Genuine White Boy” and various permutations there of, in an attempt to find the clothing manufacture that would have the chutzpah to sell something like that. Granted it was not an extensive search, but I could not track down the culprit. In telling this story to others, somebody suggested that it might have been a skater line of clothing. I restrained the urge to throttle said party, settling, instead, for a stern glance of contempt. While I don’t claim to be an expert on skateboarding, I’m relatively certain that the accepted skater norms of flouting the establishment and their “no skateboarding” signs does not extend to passive endorsements of fascism.
Hopefully the guy wearing the shirt, probably a member of the same dinner club as Prince Harry, does not really comprehend how ignorant he is truly being. On the other hand he might be a Jew hating, Hitler loving Aryan youth counting down the days until hate and intolerance assert a chokehold over the world – spare me any commentary on “America is already like that man, open your eyes.” No it isn’t, go read a book you hippie.
Hate for the sake of hate. That was the modus vivendi for Germany under Nazi rule. Sixty years later it seems that we have come to terms with the legacy of fascism enough that clothing can now be sold to the ignorant such that they can proudly wear about the town square. If that’s the case, and taking inflation into consideration, then the Copyright Adam Durrant line of “Go Saddam Go” t-shirts should be in stores by Christmas. Irreverence aside, the message this shirt conveys is one of fascism being trendy and hip and that, my friends, is simply something I will not stand for. I might not have had it in me that night to go up to that guy and punch him in the face, or tell him off for his ignorance – considering he was six feet tall and look like an angry Manchester United hooligan I stand behind my decision – but at least I can make my thoughts known in this forum.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Das Boot in the Mouth
Movie night: Is it possibly the greatest night that has ever come to pass? Methinks the answer is yes. From the popcorn romantic comedy starring generic white actor #1138 and generic white actress #451, to the indie art picture so laden with nuance and subtext that it demands of its viewers doctoral degrees in both political science and metaphysics, North Americans love their movies. Do we simply want to be entertained? Or do people find something more intrinsic about an evening out watching a talkie? Arguably, movies have always been a communal experience. Everybody seated in the theatre has at least one thing in common, they wanted to see that movie and were willing to exchange the fruits of their labour, money, to sit in the dark for ninety minutes to four hours.
In a world where individualism is its own means to an end – a global community where people struggle to stand out from the masses and not simply be a product of institutional entanglement vis a vis university student numbers, a drone in a large corporation or any number of modern environments that reduce the individual to a kilobyte of information in a spreadsheet, it strikes me as interesting that so many of us choose to sit around in the dark with strangers on such a regular basis. Furthermore, not withstanding irreverent teens, we all abide by a set of unspoken rules while watching the film. Courtesy, communalism and a life affirming plot on screen, what more could a person ask of a night out on the town?
Last Friday night I stood in line waiting to pay for over priced popcorn contemplating this very notion. Then I saw a Nazi. No, I am not talking about a poster featuring Mel Gibson and his upcoming movie that will no doubt beat me over the head with his moralistic sermonizing approach to cinematography.
In truth, I am fairly certain that this gentleman was not an actual member of the National Socialist party. However, his dress clearly indicated that he venerated a certain organization; let’s call them the SS-Waffen for argument’s sake. Adorned with a red shirt upon which the words “Genuine White Boy” were embossed above the SS lightening bolts, this individual proudly ordered an extra large fountain drink. Still not sure what an SS lightening bolt is? Then here is a picture for you.
The arms and back of this gentleman’s shirt also bore the above iconography and repeated the "Genuine White Boy" title. While I have little doubt over my own perceptive capabilities, I pointed out the shirt to a friend of mine who was also horrified to think that somebody would actually wear something like that in public.
After I got home that night, I googled “Genuine White Boy” and various permutations there of, in an attempt to find the clothing manufacture that would have the chutzpah to sell something like that. Granted it was not an extensive search, but I could not track down the culprit. In telling this story to others, somebody suggested that it might have been a skater line of clothing. I restrained the urge to throttle said party, settling, instead, for a stern glance of contempt. While I don’t claim to be an expert on skateboarding, I’m relatively certain that the accepted skater norms of flouting the establishment and their “no skateboarding” signs does not extend to passive endorsements of fascism.
Hopefully the guy wearing the shirt, probably a member of the same dinner club as Prince Harry, does not really comprehend how ignorant he is truly being. On the other hand he might be a Jew hating, Hitler loving Aryan youth counting down the days until hate and intolerance assert a chokehold over the world – spare me any commentary on “America is already like that man, open your eyes.” No it isn’t, go read a book you hippie.
Hate for the sake of hate. That was the modus vivendi for Germany under Nazi rule. Sixty years later it seems that we have come to terms with the legacy of fascism enough that clothing can now be sold to the ignorant such that they can proudly wear about the town square. If that’s the case, and taking inflation into consideration, then the Copyright Adam Durrant line of “Go Saddam Go” t-shirts should be in stores by Christmas. Irreverence aside, the message this shirt conveys is one of fascism being trendy and hip and that, my friends, is simply something I will not stand for. I might not have had it in me that night to go up to that guy and punch him in the face, or tell him off for his ignorance – considering he was six feet tall and look like an angry Manchester United hooligan I stand behind my decision – but at least I can make my thoughts known in this forum.
The arms and back of this gentleman’s shirt also bore the above iconography and repeated the "Genuine White Boy" title. While I have little doubt over my own perceptive capabilities, I pointed out the shirt to a friend of mine who was also horrified to think that somebody would actually wear something like that in public.
After I got home that night, I googled “Genuine White Boy” and various permutations there of, in an attempt to find the clothing manufacture that would have the chutzpah to sell something like that. Granted it was not an extensive search, but I could not track down the culprit. In telling this story to others, somebody suggested that it might have been a skater line of clothing. I restrained the urge to throttle said party, settling, instead, for a stern glance of contempt. While I don’t claim to be an expert on skateboarding, I’m relatively certain that the accepted skater norms of flouting the establishment and their “no skateboarding” signs does not extend to passive endorsements of fascism.
Hopefully the guy wearing the shirt, probably a member of the same dinner club as Prince Harry, does not really comprehend how ignorant he is truly being. On the other hand he might be a Jew hating, Hitler loving Aryan youth counting down the days until hate and intolerance assert a chokehold over the world – spare me any commentary on “America is already like that man, open your eyes.” No it isn’t, go read a book you hippie.
Hate for the sake of hate. That was the modus vivendi for Germany under Nazi rule. Sixty years later it seems that we have come to terms with the legacy of fascism enough that clothing can now be sold to the ignorant such that they can proudly wear about the town square. If that’s the case, and taking inflation into consideration, then the Copyright Adam Durrant line of “Go Saddam Go” t-shirts should be in stores by Christmas. Irreverence aside, the message this shirt conveys is one of fascism being trendy and hip and that, my friends, is simply something I will not stand for. I might not have had it in me that night to go up to that guy and punch him in the face, or tell him off for his ignorance – considering he was six feet tall and look like an angry Manchester United hooligan I stand behind my decision – but at least I can make my thoughts known in this forum.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Most interesting post this week, Adam. Great to see you taking a stand and expressing your feelings. It's too bad there are still people like that out there, but like you once said "people are stupid"
Now, about your shirts, can they be pre-ordered??
I'd like to throw in a request for a t-shirt emblazoned with "Marrying Brains" (as opposed to "Marrying Rich").
I wonder at this young man's behaviour. I cannot fathom that our school system could have failed this badly to lead to him being IGNORANT as to the symbolism of what he's wearing. So, my only other thought is to try and hurt him.
I'm usually not one to resort to violence and I would think I'm usually quite tolerant of some unpopular world views. *ahem* commie boyfriend *ahem*. And, when faced with disagreement, I would argue with the best of them; this case, however, is different. Something in his behaviour violates something that is so inherently and explicitly against my moral understanding that I can't think of how to reason with him. There's no reasoning here. That he's out wearing that abominable shirt is evidence enough of that. Fetishizing mass murder is wrong.
Still, how much should we let this shock us? [Insert "typical St Kitts" joke here.] This is trash behaviour that is taking up our valuable thought-time and sucking away our happiness into indignation. His behaviour is offensive to those who are in direct relationship to him (parents, neighbours, victims, etc) and now he's further victimizing the rest of us -- strangers, unless someone knows who this pile of human effluent is -- by intruding on our thoughts. I'm not saying that we shouldn't think on this sighting of neo-SS-trash as awful, but really, we should just throw hot coffee on him and then forget about how meaningless his contribution to the human race is.
BTW... I wonder if this is the same guy that my friend Gabe sees on the bus on his way in to Brock U every day?
I’m not sure if the sloping brow and non-opposable thumbs that this character possessed would qualify him for higher education. Yet, this instance raises an interesting question in how a ‘civilized’ people can deal with blind hate. Suppose a most zealous belief in neo-fascism within the heart of the shirt wearer; can there be reasoning with such a creature? World War Two would suggest that the answer is no when it comes to dealing with true believers.
One person in a stupid shirt might be nothing more than the exemplar of a broken educational system which is in a polygamous relationship with failing social structures that neglect to stress the message: Fascism isn’t cool. But, on the other hand, it only takes one wingnut to concoct an explosive in their basement and blow something up in the name of their misguided cause.
That being the case, I have no choice but to elevate the threat level in the Copyright Adam Durrant fiefdom. We are now at threat level Baldwin. I repeat, threat level Baldwin: Which, as you all should know, is one threat level below Connery but more serious than Redford. Citizens are advised to buy a Copyright Adam Durrant t-shirt and wait for the day when we can return to threat level George W. Bush press conference or as it’s more commonly known, jokey joke time with the liberal media.
Copyright Adam Durrant shirts now featuring the following fall lines,
“Your discourse is weak”
“I am not your fetish”
“Better than scientology”
“My arrogance does not negate your stupidity”
“Branson for president of the Moon”
And of course,
“Adam Durrant approves this shirt”
Copyright Adam Durrant, it makes a great present for the annual December holiday of your choice. Available in all sizes and several colours.
Post a Comment