Having a long commute has lead me to listen to radio stations that I probably never thought I would, I find that I am very lenient now on what I consider “entertaining”. Since Eric and Kathy were getting pretty run of the mill for me, my new morning routine has been to listen to the 103.5 morning show with Drex. It’s trashy and pretty salacious but it gives me a laugh and keeps me awake. This morning they were discussing a story that had just broke and I found it pretty interesting, I am not sure how many of you had heard about this already, so sorry if it’s old news.
At Penn State some college students have recently had some pictures surface on facebook of their Halloween costume from a party earlier this year. They decided to be “controversial” (their words) and dress as the Virginia Tech shooting victims. Their costumes consisted of Virginia Tech t-shirts and fake bullet wounds. It was a small party and someone took pictures of their costume. The pictures got into the hands of someone who was not a friend and that person then posted them on facebook. The result of this has been extreme anger and hurt. The students that dressed up have received lots of attention, most of it negative, they even have received death threats.
Now the part of this story that interested me was that I felt like it could have easily happened to someone I know. Halloween costumes are getting more and more outrageous each year. It has become commonplace to see people dressed as celebrities or current event situations. I can recall a past party that I attended where 2 people dressed as Siegfried and an injured Roy after his attack from a tiger. Now I am not commenting on the tastefulness of such costumes, I am just saying that this could have easily happened in our group of friends.
The radio DJ Drex was very upset about the whole situation and felt that Penn State should expel the students because of their actions. He claimed that since they were enrolled in the university and the pictures were posted using the university’s network (remember that someone else posted the pics without their consent) that the university had an obligation to reprimand these kids. Drex took some calls from listeners. They ranged from outrage that the students weren’t being prosecuted for their actions, to people feeling sad that this was even considered “news”. Several military personnel called in and thought it was absolutely crazy that that these kids were getting away with this. Drex did play a portion of an interview with one of the costumed students, and I have to say he showed no remorse, was very crass in his description of the costume and how it affected others, and felt that he was innocent and covered by freedom of speech.
Well he’s right, much to people’s disappointment Penn State was unable to do anything to these students because of their right to free speech. However now that they are in the public eye and people know who they are, who’s to say they won’t be harmed?
I found it interesting that individuals within the two groups of people I thought would be most pro freedom of speech (a radio DJ, and military personnel) had such a problem with this. What do you think?
5 comments:
You know what is even more disturbing than that is people who dress up like individuals that they will never be, like when Adam dressed up as Mr. Clean! Not that is just wrong!
Unfortunatly it just comes down to a matter of taste. Yes, these kids are despicable, but they didn't actually do anything wrong. They broke no laws, they committed no crimes.
I feel this is very similar to seeing KKK guys on the news all dressed up in their hoods and robes. So long as they are not encouraging or advocating a crime there is really nothing anyone can do.
Granted, I get the same, "What the hell are you thinking?" feeling when I see a 12 year old girl wearing short shorts that say "slut" on the ass. Unfortunatly it comes down to a matter of taste.
It also makes me think of the Jena 6 case. White guy hangs a knoose on a tree. Black guys beat him within an inch of his life. Black guys go to jail, white guy walks away with only the beating. The prosecutor in the case, when answering calls for criminal charges from black officials and protestors, said something like "This guy is a creep, but he didn't break any laws."
One year for Halloween I went as a beaten and bleeding Steve Bartman(sp?) right after he (allegedly) cost the Cubs that playoff game. I had fake cuts and open wounds on my face and a knoose around my neck. The costume didn't work very well mainly because while I mimicked his clothes from the game down to the last detail, there still wasn't a very good identifying trait identifying me as him and people kept thinking I was just a generic beating victim. My point is: no one thought that was in bad taste (at least not that they said.) I think that if he had been beaten and hung the costume would have been in bad taste, but even though he got death threats and had to go into hiding, no harm came to him which made the costume OK.
I was at that party with the ripped open throat of Sigfried/Roy and thought it was funny. There are two reasons I think it was funny and not obscene.
1. They are public figures/celebrities and knowingly open themselves up for public ridicule. A costume of Paris Hilton in a prison uniform being led around on a leash by a large man-like lady prisoner is funny because she is a public figure.
2. He didn't die.
To get back to the original story though, I know from personal experience that Universities make students sign some sort of morality code. In college I was arrested for underage consumption of alcohol. I went to court and had to do 50 hours of community service (in leiu of $250.) I thought everything was good and over, until I was notified that I had to see a disciplinary advisor for the university. Turns out the police notify the school when a student breaks the law. So in addition to my community service I also had to attend a 2 hour class on alcohol and the dangers of it, and write a 5 page (I think) paper on the irresponsibility of underage drinking (which I did no reasearch for, made up sources, and completely bullshitted.)
Universites have a back door to punish students whenever they want. In this case, however, I think the university population will police itself and berate these kids until they drop out or transfer schools.
In summation, the costumes were tasteless, but it is a matter of taste, not a crime.
I saw the interview video of the student on CNN. He was definitly one of those students that was too smart for his own good. The idea of the costume is awful b/c innocent families were destroyed and they mocked that. But I do agree that no legal law was broken, so they can't get in trouble from the law. But common sense was not used and had I been at that party I would have either kicked their asses, or had them leave. People like this need to have the shit smacked out of them. Otherwise they will continue to go through life acting like this until they mess with the wrong person/group that takes it to the next level and kills them (like what almost happened in that Jena 6 case). I believe in free speech, but I also believe in getting your ass kicked for being a jack-ass.
I once wanted to do an off color costume. I wanted to be superman in a wheel chair. Jill wouldn't let me, using the logic "what if you got hurt one day and were stuck in a wheel chair and people made fun of you?" I countered with the idea that I wasn't making fun of superman to his face, he would never see it, so no big deal. These kids thought the same thing. They thought no one from VT would see it. The power of the net changed that.
I do hope that the student body turns on them and runs them out of town.
"I believe in free speech, but I also believe in getting your ass kicked for being a jack-ass."
Nice.
Balld,
There is a big difference here. For your "Superman in a wheelchair" costume you are not actually mocking anyone. You are not mocking people in wheelchairs or even Christopher Reeves, you are playing on the irony of a crippled Superman (at least thats the way I see it.) But even though you didn't wear that costume I would still make fun of you if you were ever in a wheelchair. Its what I do.
Also, unfortunatly, Jill enjoys the moral ground in that conversation. I looked back at the last 5 years of Halloween, and there is nothing too tasteless. Slutty Bride of Frankenstein, slutty devil, slutty maid, etc... She did have the oppotunity to go tasteless one year, but she just went as a Nun instead of a sluttle nun.
I forgot how excellent your Frankenstein was though. Well done!
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