Hobbes Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...item=6010783174 From the auction: Background of this auction: The entire series began last July during the "Creative Media Jam" in Duisburg. The participants worked on a project of their choice for two days (some more). More info on the website (Mediaartexcursion.de). The sub-project "WAR ON TERROR - As seen on TV" intends to question how the "War on Terror" enters our children's rooms. How do children and adolescents perceive war and violence in the media? How do they handle their impressions? What kind of pictures are generated in their minds? Note: This media art project was not sponsored or supported by TLG. Any thoughts? I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Before I read the background I thought it was just sick. After reading the background - I dunno. The idea seems legit, but do they have to sell it on ebay? Wouldn't displaying and propagating it throughout the internet be enough? Hmmmm... If this is inappropriate, please plonk it.
Zane Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 Heh. That's funny. Fact is, if people don't like it, they won't buy. If people do, they'll buy. Besides, it's just a fact of life that there are people like that.
xwingyoda Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 My first thought *sing* Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool Extremely bad taste humour !!!! I just love it !!!!!!!! And I think like you Hobbes that the behind message seems legit !! Comprehension by bricks and MFs, always a good idea, helps to dedramatized the whole situation ;)
snefroe Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 well... without the message behind it, it would simply be bad taste, but i think the result (message-lego) is rather weak. i'd almost think they just created a message behind it to legitimise the work... as a work of art, if it is just that, it doesn't convince me at all.
KimT Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 Just wait until TLC finds out. We'll have a regular Rick & Steve lawsuit for using the sweet and innocent bricks for something labeled bad taste. And I must say that I agree - no matter how the war is viewed it shouldn't be combined with LEGO. If you want terrorists then build them yourself - this is something megablock would make money on - not LEGO or fans of LEGO. :( KimT
jonfett Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 Lego is not made to create scenes such as these.. it reminds me of the Lego Holocaust project where some guy made some sick concentration camp sets >-| http://www.unpopart.org/artworks/legos.html Jon.
languages Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 This is nearly as sick as the cotton trader set, and as jon says, the concentration camps. How canpeople sell tis stuff, let alone build them?
Kikuichimonji Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 That concentration camp is absolutely sick. There already were 17 bids on the terrorists already...I guess people want them so they can have their "good" MF's defeat them...at least I hope so
Deinonychus Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 I'm impressed, amused, and horrified at the same time (by both the War on Terror and Concentration Camp sets) I guess it goes to show that LEGO is really only limited by the bounds of the builder's imagination...and some people have some pretty twisted imaginations *wacko* And I thought some of my ideas were bizzare
Vader Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 Sick as far as im concerned, a toy should not be used to show how people suffered. Can you imagine what some whos family memeber were in one of these would feel if they saw it????
DoubleT Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 I agree sick..... For me its very simple.. Lego is a toy and should not be connected to terror etc..
xwingyoda Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 I have a new idea: burnt cars and Parisien urban guerilla :D :P And don't forget to view my terrorist SWAT story (ok thats advertising hehe ;) )
MattZitron Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 I agree sick..... For me its very simple.. Lego is a toy and should not be connected to terror etc.. To be fair, Vikings and Pirates are both very violent and nasty. But they're Lego themes. I don't agree with this, mainly due to the racial stereotyping. But people seem to forget that Vikings and Pirate liked to murder, rape and pillage.
KimT Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 And have too disagree - it is the common perception that the vikings loved to rape and plunder - this however is as true as the helmets with cowhorns. Yes the vikings did a lot of plundering, but no more than any other nation at that time. The vikings survived by being expert tradesmen building trade stations as far as deep into the European part of Asia and on the northern shores of the American continent. They were not dirty and violent but highly skilled and very adept at integrating themselves in alien cultures and nations. ;) KimT [decendant of the Norse]
Deinonychus Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 No, I see the point about the Vikings and Pirates... And also the Cavalry and Indians, Knights, Aztecs, Samurai, hell, LEGO had a line of Ninjas and they were assassins...ASSASSINS! It seems the non-violent nature of LEGO only exists from 1918 onward to the modern era and excludes "Sci-Fi" type themes like Dino Attack and Star Wars (I've said hundereds of times, what's more violent then a battlestation that can destroy an entire planet) Their goal seems to keep "modern" and "real" violent influences out of the play realm of kids, and that's fine, but it's sort of silly to say that something is un-LEGO just because it is violent. Plus, I've gotta keep my hopes up...the Sopwith Camel came out a couple years ago so I'm hoping for a 1920's era Chicago Gangster theme any year now
Aredhel Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 I think such things should not sold. In my opinion it is tasteless! :/
snefroe Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 i gues the lego company is just a little bit to blame as well, as some indicated. they very often produce conflict based themes, and the element of violence is always there, even tho they're often trying to create monsters to play the bad guy, not MFs... The innocent stuff of the 80-90's is gone... So in many ways , they follow the new tv-series, movies,... The concentration camps was, i think, promoted by the company. However, instead of turning it into a commercial product, they should have just put it in a museum on the holocaust with an explenation why they created it... the purpose was to educate, to teach people, to tell people to be critical about what happens in the world... if i'm not mistaken, we discussed this a while back: http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...l=concentration
JINZONINGEN73 Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 There's a certain "humor" to it despite it's often grisly reality. But that's why it's good. You get to lose the seriousness but for a second and chuckle. And they're not so graphic as to be accused of being gory. It's an interesting way to cut through the drama and excess baggage of details while getting down to the basics of a situation.
MattZitron Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 No, I see the point about the Vikings and Pirates...And also the Cavalry and Indians, Knights, Aztecs, Samurai, hell, LEGO had a line of Ninjas and they were assassins...ASSASSINS! It seems the non-violent nature of LEGO only exists from 1918 onward to the modern era and excludes "Sci-Fi" type themes like Dino Attack and Star Wars (I've said hundereds of times, what's more violent then a battlestation that can destroy an entire planet) Their goal seems to keep "modern" and "real" violent influences out of the play realm of kids, and that's fine, but it's sort of silly to say that something is un-LEGO just because it is violent. Plus, I've gotta keep my hopes up...the Sopwith Camel came out a couple years ago so I'm hoping for a 1920's era Chicago Gangster theme any year now And of course back in the day aquatic sponges claimed the lives of many surfer. So Spongebob is just tasteless.
Vader Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 :-D indeed matt i bet alot of people would make that connection
SuvieD Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 LEGO has always involved violence. Child's violence. The knights jousted and had duels but no one ever died. The pirates robbed the imperials but no one died. The ninja assasins pinned down there enemies and captured the shogun but no one died. Hospitals, fire trucks and police vehicles all show that there is danger or violence in LEGOLAND but no one dies. Why do you think there are so many jail cells in castle, pirate and police sets? What about the adventurers all carrying guns, yet the bad guys always escape. Same with the Alpha team. How many times do they have to blow up Ogel's hidden lair? What about the witch's in the belville line, they are obviously the enemy why no death for them? Stuggle, danger, and competition are some of the primary functions of LEGO and they always have been. When I was a child my friends and I played with He Man and GI Joe. They would fight and battle for hours, sometimes getting wounded near death or captured. They lived to fight another day. It was not until I got older that they started killing one another. LEGO makes themes with a level of conflict in them because their core audience is 6-12 year old boys. Boys thrive on conflicts. Races, competitions, video games, cops and robbers, hunting, anime cartoons or just about anything else that they like to do involves a level of conflict. Boys don't like tea parties, shopping or chatting with friends like girls do. So to say LEGO is violent, you are correct. To say LEGO is hate filled, murderous, fanatical or evil is a different story. I am glad they removed it. LEGO belongs to the imagination of a better life not to the retelling or acting out of hate and brutality. I am not saying that people shouldn't be able to build or display what they want. But I would like if they didn't slap it all over the internet for everyone else to see.
languages Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 If you didnt mind the sickness of the idea.....you could buy the sets (if they were still around), because they had a few good parts in them....
Norro Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 To be fair, Vikings and Pirates are both very violent and nasty. But they're Lego themes.I don't agree with this, mainly due to the racial stereotyping. But people seem to forget that Vikings and Pirate liked to murder, rape and pillage. The lego themes, if you read the accompanying cartoons and character bios, are based on the romanticised version of pirates, knights, etc. Not the rather bleak historical one... Back to offensive lego. What makes me real sick about this is that people try to make money out of an opinion (I don't care if you call it art). This is just profitering...much like selling plackards at live aid.. God Bless, Nathan
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