Rape Me Elmo
All week long, people have been asking what makes kids grow up with such profound disrespect for the lives of others and such an unhealthy ambivalence towards violence. Meet "Rapist Number One":
"A doll of Quentin Tarantino portraying a rapist in his new film is reportedly being sold in US children's store Toys R Us.
"The director has a small role in his new Grindhouse film, Planet Terror, playing a character called Rapist Number One. And a lifelike miniature of Rapist Number One is on sale at Toys R Us stores across America where, unsurprisingly, there's been a few complaints..."
Toys R Us??? And Amazon, for fuck sake. I'm not suggesting this *cute little action figure guy* may be responsible for the next VTech or the next slew of missing women from the streets of Vancouver. In fact I adore Tarantino's movies, as politically incorrect as that may be, but I probably wouldn't let kids watch them. Regardless of what movie it comes from, I question the wisdom of producing an action figure, something targeted at kids under 12, of a rapist. I'm not saying this is the cause of all society's ills, just that it's Not Helpful. The portrayal of movie bad guys in the form of action figures should stop at Darth Vader. Or Preznit Chimpy McFlightsuit.
Toys R Us??? And Amazon, for fuck sake. I'm not suggesting this *cute little action figure guy* may be responsible for the next VTech or the next slew of missing women from the streets of Vancouver. In fact I adore Tarantino's movies, as politically incorrect as that may be, but I probably wouldn't let kids watch them. Regardless of what movie it comes from, I question the wisdom of producing an action figure, something targeted at kids under 12, of a rapist. I'm not saying this is the cause of all society's ills, just that it's Not Helpful. The portrayal of movie bad guys in the form of action figures should stop at Darth Vader. Or Preznit Chimpy McFlightsuit.
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