a teachable moment?

[nostatic]

So a colleague at work was all excited the other day. They are doing construction next door and had 4 large scrapers lined up nose to tail on the dirt lot. From our building it is roughly the same angle as the famous "tank man" photo from Tiananmen. He was running around with a camera and wanted to get someone to take a photo of him standing in front of the row of scrapers.

I took him aside and said that original image is pretty serious and using it as a meme, especially with him in the photo, was insensitive at best, and for some, rather insulting trivialization. I asked my wife what she thought - she was at Tiananmen as a student activist when the shooting started, and is working on a new edition of a book that she and another dozen or so of the students wrote following the massacre. She said the proposed shot would be pretty insulting.

So a few days after we had the conversation, said colleague posted the photo without him on his FB feed talking about the "threatening site". Then someone mentions Tiananmen and he got excited that someone "got it." Then another friend photoshopped Tank Man into the scraper picture.

So for the peanut gallery:

a) is being somewhat disturbed/annoyed by this an over-reaction?

b) is this a teachable moment to bring it up to him - I was going to post a link to a google image search of tiananmen square massacre so he could see part of what the meme actually means.

For the record, this colleague is a late 30's white male with a phd - i.e. not a clueless young kid. But evidently firmly in geek status imho.

[Rikao4]

pretty sure his response will begin with..
Dude...

Rika

[GWN7]

Just because someone has a phd doesn't make them smart.

[stomachmonkey]

It shows incredibly poor taste and a lack of good judgement.

You should have the wife come by for lunch and let him explain to her why it's funny.

[Seahawk]

Interesting take here: Weibo users play cat-and-mouse (and duck) with Chinese censors on Tiananmen anniversary – Quartz

And here: Chinese evade censors, as HK journalists stopped at Tiananmen | South China Morning Post

I didn't know that the man in front of the tanks had not been identified.

[sammyg2]

On the fence on this one.

I see the point that his actions were definately not PC and could and would O'fend people with any type of link to the original event.
So that would make his actions in really bad taste and out of common courtesy he should know better.




On the other hand ...........




I'm so sick of the PC police trying to regulate and outlaw EVERYTHING that might offend someone else who's skin is too thin, it's made me even less empathetic. I know, as if that's even possible.

I grew up in a world where sticks snd stones might break my bones but names would never hurt me.
Where there was all sorts of distasteful stuff said and done, but I was taught just to "consider the source" and ignore it. Don't let it bother you. Thick skin.

That ozzie and harriett world is gone forever, but people sure were allot toughter then and didn't get O'fended at the drop of a hat.

I liked that world better.

[HardDrive]

We live in a crass world. I think your initial admonition was well placed. I very much doubt whether saying anything further will change his mind. Hopefully someday, someone or something will find its place in his heart that shows him his error.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I grew up in a world where sticks snd stones might break my bones but names would never hurt me.
Where there was all sorts of distasteful stuff said and done, but I was taught just to "consider the source" and ignore it. Don't let it bother you. Thick skin.

You didn't grow up in a world where tanks rolled over your friends who were fighting for small bits of freedom.

It's not about being PC. It is about having some degree of awareness and empathy.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I took him aside and said that original image is pretty serious and using it as a meme, especially with him in the photo, was insensitive at best, and for some, rather insulting trivialization.

You tried to teach him once. Teachable moments involve a) a capable teacher and b) a student able to learn. You have one half of the requirements.

He is a jerk, and you should be annoyed. And you should accept that you can't fix this any more than you can fix the original situation.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by GWN7

Just because someone has a phd doesn't make them smart.

This bears repeating.

Todd, there are some that cannot be taught.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Interesting take here: Weibo users play cat-and-mouse (and duck) with Chinese censors on Tiananmen anniversary – Quartz

And here: Chinese evade censors, as HK journalists stopped at Tiananmen | South China Morning Post

I didn't know that the man in front of the tanks had not been identified.

Tank Man is likely long dead. Thousands of people were put on lists and can't return to China. Hong Kong sent a plane to Beijing to pick up their student groups but my wife refused to get on the plane as she knew she'd definitely be blacklisted. Instead she found her own way home via train, blown up bridges, small plane flight with German businessmen, and ship passage. Crazy especially considering she was 20 at the time.

The Tank Man image is symbolic of a heroic act in the face of crushing tyranny. The government killing their own people. For a random person to photoshop themselves into the image/meme is indicative of a combination of hubris and cluelessness imho.

[VaSteve]

Everything and everyone is fair game for ridicule, emulation, etc etc. The pope, mother Theresa, starving children in Africa, people with aids, the challenger explosion, on and on. Especially in a world of billions of people. That doesn't make it right, it just "is".

Whats funny to one person may not be funny to others. Especially now that people can be more interconnected.

You had the opportunity to head off what you thought was in poor taste, you did your part.

Had I seen the image in more random pics without this back story, I probably would have laughed and moved along. Just like I did with that Hitler movie meme. Though I have seen that movie used as a goof on an internal process....for a large accounting firm.

[bivenator]

I think your relationship with somebody who was actually there has turned up the sensitivity meter a bit. Understandable.

I don't think he was too far out of line. This observation comes from a person who still giggles at the fake pilot names from the San Fran crash.

[scottmandue]

Have him lookup this link:

Kent State shootings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[nostatic]

I get the dark humor - I've made plenty of gallows references. And this certainly is close to home so I'm more sensitive. I think what made me scratch my head was not the original interaction but him going ahead and posting like a giggling teen. But such is life...everyone has their own compass.

[VaSteve]

Like the "obamacare girl" I'm not sure I'd want to be part of a meme. Maybe he thinks he'll get some web redemption on tosh.0

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by nostatic

So for the peanut gallery:

a) is being somewhat disturbed/annoyed by this an over-reaction?

Not at all. Beating the coworker senseless would be an over-reaction. Or making things crappy at work because he doesn't share your sensitivities on the subject would be as well. He has the right to be a close-minded buffoon. But I'm guessing he's just goofing off. Nothing malevolent. He should read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", that would've been a better event to reenact.

Originally Posted by nostatic

b) is this a teachable moment to bring it up to him - I was going to post a link to a google image search of tiananmen square massacre so he could see part of what the meme actually means.

It certainly is a teachable moment. The degree of it's success depends on the student's willingness to learn. As you know, trying to instill empathy is extremely difficult at best.

I grew up in East Tennessee and when that happened I was in the Navy. Some folks have a negative perception of people from the south. Sometimes it's accurate, sometimes not. I was on the phone with my Mom while it was going on and she was in tears. I'll never forget that. Here's this lady on the other side of the planet, in the hills of Tenn, and she was genuinely saddened, and crying for the protesters. She would've loved to have met your wife. I can almost hear her words...
"Mrs Nostatic, Darlin', I'm so sad you had to go through that. Must've been just awful. Do you want to tell me anything about your experience?" and she'd hold her hand and listen.

[wdfifteen]

Ironic that his intention was to appear clever and the result is just the opposite. I can't see why this was so important to him that he would risk annoying or insulting someone over it. It's just not that clever.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by nostatic

For a random person to photoshop themselves into the image/meme is indicative of a combination of hubris and cluelessness imho.

I'm on your squad, Todd: It is a shame the guy in question doesn't have enough self-awareness to realize what is a cleaver meme to him has distinct import to so many others.

But, as E,W&F wrote, that is the way of the world. There are some well intentioned posters here that write responses in threads that send me into paroxysms I keep to myself. So it goes (another tip of the hat).

BTW, I have read and studied a lot more concerning China in the last year or so. While I am certainly no scholar, I do know that the bravery exhibited by your wife and others in the face of certain retribution by the central government is exemplary: I would like to think I have a smidgen of the bravery of those people resident in me.

I hope I don't have to find out.

[sammyg2]

Original content deleted.

It's a kobayashi maru, I think I'll just spectate a while.