Two British Women Won A Competition Dressed As Flaming Twin Towers

[Fern]

I think context is important here as well: Completely different country, continent and decade. It would be different if these two had pulled this off in NY closer to the actual event (or on an anniversary of it in the same location).
-snip-

^^This^^

They were England, not Manhattan.

Fern

 

[Fern]

Or someone here could dress as a dead Princess Diana in a twisted hunk of car and see how they react.

Works for me.

Fern

 

[mikeford]

The notion that some things should be immune to ridicule merely points out the things most in need of it.

I watched the twin towers go down live and it will always have a visceral impact with me, but I am really fond of freedom of speech and expression, so don't let my feelings stop your being a fool or worse.

 

[WT]

British ??? They both look like Jersey girls to me. Deez broads, I tell ya ...

 

[mikeymikec]

I assume that whole fiasco is responsible for a large part of the dislike I'm perceiving. I also think that they sent their boys off to die in our war mostly because someone in their government thought it was politically expedient to do so. It's the reason our politicians do everything they do. Maybe I'm too cynical though.

I think you are also assuming/perceiving dislike where there probably isn't any. Finding humour in something doesn't mean you necessarily dislike an element involved in that humour. By the opposite rationale, comedians must be the most hateful and bitter people walking the planet.

I expect that if the girls won a couple of tickets to NY as a result of their costumes, they would be pretty happy about it.

The notion that some things should be immune to ridicule merely points out the things most in need of it.

This is an opinion that I hold quite strongly as a general rule (I made some implied exceptions here). The whole "thou shalt not make a depiction of the prophet Muhammad" and people getting killed/threatened for this "heinous crime" as a result is just mind-boggling, and serves as a prime example about taking shit too seriously.

 

[Scotteq]

/shrug

Tasteless? Yeah. But not particularly high on the scale. On average, every month traffic accidents claim roughly as many lives as 9/11. I don't see people being butt hurt about that. It's not like they dressed up like aborted fetus' with coat hangers threaded through their ears, or anything.

 

[rh71]

Not particularly funny or interesting as costumes, but I get so sick of all the outrage and offense by everyone over everything. Ok, so it's not my cup of tea, but I have no problem with someone else using a costume that I might find offensive. Too many people are too sensitive these days.

You mean like the 9/11 families?

 

[z1ggy]

There wasn't really anything sexy about the costume. Or say... scary or cool. Also, there really isn't anything funny about what happened on that day either...So the costume isn't really funny.

I think people should get to do or say whatever they want, however, that won't change the fact of whether or not it is insensitive or cruel to do such a thing. They probably can't sympathize because they are from the UK and didn't experience this first hand like Americans did.

 

[Spungo]

19? WTF the one on the left in particular looks 30

rode hard and put away wet

I would laugh if they did a good job, but this is horrible. It looks like they threw that together in 5 minutes.

 

[dank69]

^^This^^

They were England, not Manhattan.

Fern

You mean our closest ally? I'm sure they'd find the Diana costume someone mentioned above cheeky.

They are free to do dumb shit and we are free to mock them for being stupid and insensitive. People don't have the right to act like assholes and be free from the outrage they leave in their wake.

 

[qtnguyen87]

Well anything against the USA will win...Now a Days

 

[momeNt]

Who else came in expecting them to be dressed up as gay versions of Tim Duncan and David Robinson?

Never forget? I forgot shame on me.

 

[mikeymikec]

You mean our closest ally?

What have the US and UK governments' political leanings got to do with this?

I'm sure they'd find the Diana costume someone mentioned above cheeky.

Once again, the classic "I know what 60 million people think" delusion. Look at the responses on this thread to the costume so far, most of them aren't that bothered by it. Would it be wise to assume that because a handful of people from the same country on a forum agree on something, that's what all/most Americans think?

As I've said already, I'm sure that you'll find people bothered by someone taking the piss out of Diana, but out of all the people I know well enough, maybe one of them might be offended by that?

Think for a second about how many people currently living in the UK weren't even born before Diana died (or old enough to remember her existence, or old enough to have developed any attachment to her considering that they would only encounter her in the news from time to time), the amount of people who are outright anti-monarchy here, the amount of people who have no strong personal feelings about the monarchy, people who aren't fans of (rumoured) marital infidelity, people who got sick of hearing her through tabloid news on a regular basis, the fact that just because some people might be considered "pro monarchy" doesn't mean that they liked Diana, and the fact that she died SIXTEEN FREAKING YEARS AGO, basically leaves room for some Diana fanatics who still gobble up the now-thankfully-occasional tabloid story about her.

They are free to do dumb shit and we are free to mock them for being stupid and insensitive.

Correct (well as far as your perception of stupidity and insensitivity goes).

People don't have the right to act like assholes and be free from the outrage they leave in their wake.

You're mixing two things up here. People do have the right to act like assholes, see the previous statement of yours I quoted. I think your personal outrage will go unnoticed by these two.

 

[pmv]

The whole situation does seem to display a casual but widespread dislike of America that I find somewhat distressing.

I doubt this costume is intended to be 'anti-American', any more than the Boston Marathon one was. I would bet that doing it to be 'Anti-American' would involve more thought than they actually put into it.

Quite a few British people died in the Twin Towers, after all.

Its just deliberate tastelessness from people who would have been toddlers when 911 happened. And, yeah, those are also technically very poor costumes. The fact they had to resort to writing on them what they are supposed to be says something about how perfunctory they are.

Mind you, the whole 'dressing up for Halloween' is itself a bit of an American import. In my youth nobody in this country paid much attention to Halloween - it was completely overshadowed by the tradition of accidentally blowing yourself up on "Idiots with Explosives Day" a.k.a 5th of November (formerly known as "Sell Lethal Devices to Small Children Day" before the killjoys got hold of it and changed the law).

And if someone did a Princess Di costume the main people to be outraged would be the same people who are reporting this one - the Daily Mail.

 

[dank69]

What has the US and UK governments' political leanings got to do with this?



Once again, the classic "I know what 60 million people think" delusion. Look at the responses on this thread to the costume so far, most of them aren't that bothered by it.

As I've said already, I'm sure that you'll find people bothered by someone taking the piss out of Diana, but out of all the people I know well enough, maybe one of them might be offended by that?

Think for a second about how many people currently living in the UK weren't even born before Diana died (or old enough to remember her existence, or old enough to have developed any attachment to her considering that they would only encounter her in the news from time to time), the amount of people who are outright anti-monarchy here, the amount of people who have no strong personal feelings about the monarchy, people who aren't fans of (rumoured) marital infidelity, people who got sick of hearing her through tabloid news on a regular basis, the fact that just because some people might be considered "pro monarchy" doesn't mean that they liked Diana, and the fact that she died SIXTEEN FREAKING YEARS AGO, basically leaves room for some Diana fanatics who still gobble up the now-thankfully-occasional tabloid story about her.

Just so we're clear, I'm not offended by this, just like i'm not offended by extremist Muslims burning the US flag. What I am saying, however, is that this act is roughly the equivalent of extremist Muslims burning the US flag, except it is done by people in a country that are supposed to be our closest allies, cheered on and awarded by people in a country that are supposed to be our closest allies. Timeframe has nothing to do with it. It would be just as bad if they dressed up in costumes glorifying the Pearl Harbor attack or if they dressed up in Fat Man and Little Boy costumes to make fun of Japan.

Correct (well as far as your perception of stupidity and insensitivity goes).



You're mixing two things up here. People do have the right to act like assholes, see the previous statement of yours I quoted. I think your personal outrage will go unnoticed by these two.

The "and" is there for a reason. Everyone has a right to be an asshole. Nobody has the right to be an asshole AND be free of criticism for it.

 

[pmv]

Just so we're clear, I'm not offended by this, just like i'm not offended by extremist Muslims burning the US flag. What I am saying, however, is that this act is roughly the equivalent of extremist Muslims burning the US flag, except it is done by people in a country that are supposed to be our closest allies, cheered on and awarded by people in a country that are supposed to be our closest allies. Timeframe has nothing to do with it. It would be just as bad if they dressed up in costumes glorifying the Pearl Harbor attack or if they dressed up in Fat Man and Little Boy costumes to make fun of Japan.

But you could say the same thing about the Boston Marathon costume - arguing that Michigan is supposed to be an 'ally' of Boston! I think that would misinterpret the event in the same way.

The reality I suspect is this is just apolitical tastelessness and it could just as easily have been by airhead Americans as by airhead Brits. A great many British people also died on 911, don't forget.

 

[crownjules]

You mean our closest ally? I'm sure they'd find the Diana costume someone mentioned above cheeky.

They are free to do dumb shit and we are free to mock them for being stupid and insensitive. People don't have the right to act like assholes and be free from the outrage they leave in their wake.

The problem is people get outraged over the smallest shit. Bad things happen in life. We all die eventually. Live your own life rather then get upset over how other people are living there's.

 

[dank69]

But you could say the same thing about the Boston Marathon costume - arguing that Michigan is supposed to be an 'ally' of Boston! I think that would misinterpret the event in the same way.

The reality I suspect is this is just apolitical tastelessness and it could just as easily have been by airhead Americans as by airhead Brits. A great many British people also died on 911, don't forget.

I'm sure it's possible and even probable that the costumes themselves weren't done out of malice, but that is pure conjecture. You know there is a lot of animosity between states and even cities in the US, right? I mean who really knows, maybe the marathon chick was pissed that the Red Sox were winning the World Series. Ignorance doesn't excuse insensitivity.

All this incident does is really highlight herd mentality, which every single one of us is guilty of at certain points. Had these two chicks first arrived to the party and been met by people with close ties to the 911 event they would have been ridiculed and derided, and that action would have grown to the point that they would have left in disgrace. Instead, they were met with acceptance and praise. That action grew to the point that they won the damn contest.

This happens all the time with threads here, the first few posts set the overall tone for the rest of the thread. It's happening even in this very thread.

 

[mkrohn]

Get over it, we all know it was OUR government that setup 9/11 by now don't we? This wasn't the brown people

 

[dank69]

The problem is people get outraged over the smallest shit. Bad things happen in life. We all die eventually. Live your own life rather then get upset over how other people are living there's.

Here's some outrage for the smallest shit:

THEIRS

 

[SlitheryDee]

But you could say the same thing about the Boston Marathon costume - arguing that Michigan is supposed to be an 'ally' of Boston! I think that would misinterpret the event in the same way.

The reality I suspect is this is just apolitical tastelessness and it could just as easily have been by airhead Americans as by airhead Brits. A great many British people also died on 911, don't forget.

One difference between this and the boston marathon costume is that the girl who did that received pretty much universal disapproval from everyone who heard about it. She lost her job, received hate mail and death threats, and had lewd pictures of her dug up and spread around the internet. There can be no doubt about what people thought of her decision to wear that costume.

Not only did the twin towers girls not receive any disapproval that we know of. They won an award. They were rewarded for their tastelessness because in some small corner of their mind, many people at that gathering shared a little anti-American sentiment.

The only point in comparing the two costumes and the events surrounding them is to demonstrate just how radically different situations they are IMO.

 

[SagaLore]

What happened to women just using Halloween as an excuse to dress up like sluts?

They're naked under those flaming towers.

 

[WelshBloke]

Or someone here could dress as a dead Princess Diana in a twisted hunk of car and see how they react.

The kind of people who would get offended by that definitely wouldn't be in a shitty nightclub in Chester.

They'd be at home, reading the daily mail, lamenting about funny coloured people living in their town and the fact that the only plumber they could find was Polish.

 

[mikeymikec]

Just so we're clear, I'm not offended by this, just like i'm not offended by extremist Muslims burning the US flag. What I am saying, however, is that this act is roughly the equivalent of extremist Muslims burning the US flag, except it is done by people in a country that are supposed to be our closest allies, cheered on and awarded by people in a country that are supposed to be our closest allies.

Again I ask: What is the relevance of the political positions of the US and UK governments?

If you read up a bit more about this particular bit of news, you'll find that in the UK, the Students Union have come out against the award being given to the two girls, and the organisation responsible for hiring the DJ who gave the award to the two girls has apologised for it, so again you've been making assumptions about what British people think about this situation.

This is the article I've just been reading:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24835322

Timeframe has nothing to do with it. It would be just as bad if they dressed up in costumes glorifying the Pearl Harbor attack or if they dressed up in Fat Man and Little Boy costumes to make fun of Japan.

(In your opinion) Really? I can't really argue with your opinion, but presumably if someone made fun out of something that happened 10, 50, 100 or more years ago it doesn't make any difference in your opinion, I don't know. I don't think your opinion is logical, because IMO for someone to take offence at something, they ought to have witnessed (or someone very close to them did) the event that is the subject of offence. The "Diana fanatics" likely fail on both counts. Eventually the witnesses have died as well as those very close to them, at which point who is left to be offended.

The "and" is there for a reason. Everyone has a right to be an asshole. Nobody has the right to be an asshole AND be free of criticism for it.

I don't think the two girls in question (or anyone else) have said otherwise? Just who are you arguing this point with?

 

[dank69]

Again I ask: What is the relevance of the political positions of the US and UK governments in this?

If you read up a bit more about this particular bit of news, you'll find that in the UK, the Students Union have come out against the award being given to the two girls, and the organisation responsible for hiring the DJ who gave the award to the two girls has apologised for it, so again you've been making assumptions about what British people think about this situation.

This is the article I've just been reading:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24835322

Oh good everyone found a conscience when the booze wore off. All is forgiven. Seems even they agree with me that it was tasteless and should never have gotten to the point it did. The relevance of the political positions of the US & UK governments is that I would expect this sort of behavior from the fucking Taliban not our friends from the UK. Is that clear enough for you?

(In your opinion) Really? I can't really argue with your opinion, but presumably if someone made fun out of something that happened 10, 50, 100 or more years ago it doesn't make any difference in your opinion, I don't know. I don't think your opinion is logical, because IMO for someone to take offence at something, they ought to have witnessed (or someone very close to them did) the event that is the subject of offence. The "Diana fanatics" likely fail on both counts.

All I have is my opinion. If you can't really argue with my opinion then why do you immediately begin to do so right after saying that you can't? Probably because people can and do argue about opinions all the time. My opinion isn't logical because (in your opinion) "for someone to take offence at something, they ought to have witnessed (or someone very close to them did) the event that is the subject of offence"? Your opinion in this case is painfully stupid, unless you think I can't think holocaust jokes are offensive even though I am not close to anyone who was affected by it? Unless you think I can't find racist jokes against black people offensive since I am not close to any black people? No? Maybe you need to rethink your opinion and get back to me.

I don't think the two girls in question (or anyone else) have said otherwise? Just who are you arguing this point with?

You started arguing with me. I clarified a point for you which you misunderstood.