I love British TV!

[fightingthecage]

...specifically, commercials.

I'll be the first to admit, I have a bizarre sense of humour. Or perhaps it's just typically British. But either way I'm glad of it because it means that I find some things side-splittingly hilarious that others don't.

There's a commercial for Tango on at the moment, which I don't believe y'all have in the States. Kinda like Fanta but slightly different, it's made by the Coca-Cola Company anyway. It involves a woman sitting in her office getting buckets of water thrown over her by random guys (whose job it is to throw said water) every time she has a drink of the new flavoured water drink. As she explains to her perplexed male boss, it's a metaphor. At which point, she has a drink, more water is thrown and a female colleague of hers walks in and says,

'Oh! Nice metaphor!'

The look on the wet!woman's face when she says, 'Thanks!' is nothing sort of genius. I die every time.

Although I do think the 'Women get it and men don't' subtext a little rude. But in this case, possibly accurate. Men don't always get the metaphors in my experience. The fact that I have yet to find a male friend who finds this commercial offensive for that reason is possibly proof of this - or perhaps they're sensible and just don't care. Ho hum.

Second - an internet car insurance company that likens telephone car insurance people to chickens wearing little headsets. By, uhh, having a commercial filled with chickens wearing little headsets. Again, I die.

And third - a magazine advertising a feature with the '160 hottest chicks in the world!' that's running this week in said publication...by having two blokes snogging passionately on a sofa. Yes yes, OK, it's just so that their girlfriends can come in and catch them and dump them, thereby leaving them free to puruse aforementioned hot chicks - but that's not the point. Men snogging! For a long time! On primetime TV and to sell a girly mag! Bwhahaha! I love my country.

Although if I was one of the girlfriends, I totally wouldn't dump the bf. I'd just watch.

So. Yes. This pointless update has been brought to you by Me. We now returned to your scheduled LJ flists. :D

Comments

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, any amount of racism is too much.

On the other hand, I think we're doing pretty good considering my MOM can remember schools not being segregated, and I've been in schools where the black and white kids don't mix, and I've been in a school where I was one of two white kids in my class (for the record, I never spoke to the other -- he was weirder than I was), and I graduated from a class that had only one black girl, who I spent HOURS of every day with since she livedso close to me.

An interesting tidbit is the only black girl in the grade below me was Maya Keyes, who either quit or got kicked out of the school and has recently come out as a lesbian in a very public news thing.

I'd tell you about the school I graduated from and the shit they did to me because they THOUGHT I was gay but that's a loooooong story and I may have told you before.

As far as I know, my parents would have no problem with me dating or even marrying a colored man. They were perfectly fine when in middle school I had kind of a Thing with this guy from Angola. Whether that was natural lack of racism or because his dad was the president of the country, though, I'll never be sure. At any rate my best friend in kindergarden was an asian girl, and my mum and hers got along swimmingly. So I doubt it's a problem with them.

Also... yeah, black guys are totally hot. XD So are Indians, as in from India.

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

You did tell me about your school! It sounds...both horrifying and bizarre. But also, I am slightly envious that you managed to have a place where you could totally get back at them by having your secret underground army of fellow students. *wants own private army a la Fight Club*

The high school I went to only had one black kid ever and he was three years older than me. So when he left, there were no other black/asian kids at all. And apart from my friend, I'm still to find one racist person among those I went to school with. I guess it has a lot to do with popular culture and parents influence - football is like a religion over here and so many of the top players are black and from every country in the world etc, it seriously wouldn't occur to many kids these days to be racist. Same for other athletes/musicians etc. It can only be a good thing I reckon.

You dated the President of Angola's son? *falls over* Bwhahaha! Good goin'! :D

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

Not dated. Just hung out exclusively with because nobody else in the school could stand either of us. There is a difference. It was a quasi-romance of necessity.

Besides, he was about as openly, flamingly gay as it is possible to be at the age of 14. And I would NEVER have fit into his world. I'm about as perpetually casual and scruffy as it is possible to be. I went to his place ONCE and I think his aunt thought I was there to be a gardener or something.

big, BIIIIG culture gap. IMMENSE culture gap.

And yeah, these days it's hard to consider being racist in a lot of ways. Although what you DO get around here is a very definite seperation of cultures. The black people act different, talk different, and for the most part kind of group themselves apart. I hold that it's not something at least MY generation is forcing them to do. There seems to be a widespread victim complex among the blacks in my city. It kind of annoys me. I will admit it's possible there are things going on I don't see because I'm naive or I'm in the wrong part of town or something, but I just... DON'T SEE IT. Don't hear it. Don't experience it. I dunno if a lot of it is carried over from their parents who remember when there WAS widespread racism or what. In my experience, racism in my generation is 100% learned from PARENTS or peers who learned it from parents. On very, very rare occasions I've seen it learned from a media source, but in truth those ones I've only heard of in passing from friends of mine.

In a lot of ways, it almost seems to me as if racism is more a problem among the blacks than whites. Like they're beating THEMSELVES down, or holding something against us that we're not doing.

I also think part of it is people trying to overcompensate for wrongs that haven't been done. It's getting to be a real problem in schools these days where if you get into a good university, people will often say "it's just because he/she is black" and it will often be TRUE because universities are required to accept a certain percentage of culturally diverse students every year. Same with jobs.

Plus a thing I heard is that employers, even though lawfully required not to consider race when hiring, will often not look as closely at resumes of people with obviously racial names like Laquisha, which you get a lot of around here.

Apparently it's cultural. I dunno. Find me an African named Laquisha and I'll believe you.

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

*stares* Yes. Yes, we have the same arguments here. 'Only employed because of their colour' etc.

Thing is, I never see that. Just like you. I mean, I'm not immersed in the black community obviously. Hell, I'm not immersed in the white community at this point. But...yeah.

Man, I feel like I should know more. I just don't.

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

Yyyyyyep.


I talk a lot tonight too obviously. :P

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

We win! *high fives*

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

*dances with you*

How did we get from racism to cybertango?

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

Woot! *dances too*

Ummm...because we're ace?

*dips you*

Started off with metaphorical buckets of water and snogging men in commercials actually, but racism clearly needed to be discussed as well. And now I think I might go and Google the President of Angola's son and see if he's been caught in any random gay strip joint or anything. Heh.

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Eduardo_dos_Santos


That's his dad. He has the same name. I haven't found MY Jose yet, and I never met his dad, but his mum was really nice.

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

Rarr! Brilliant. He's still President then? That's awesome. You should totally go see him mum and get matey again, and then try and Influence the country. That would be so cool!

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHA. Yeah maybe. The article says he's stepping down though. Also, it looks like Angola is one of those wary places. I don't think I really want to go there.

I'd help him with his gardening if he wanted, though. That's about the extent of my cultural snootiness.

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

*nodnod* I can see your point actually. Although...I'm someone who'd totally go to Iraq right now so perhaps I don't really.

Gardening? Man, you toff. I don't know one end of a spade from the other. My garden relects this.

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

People occasionally pay me to help them with gardening. It runs in the family. There's a place in Italy named after my ancestors who had a plantation there. :D

What's a toff? I probably admit to being one proudlky. ^^

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

Really? You have a prestigious family indeed. Which links nicely to the answer of your question - a toff is a posh person. Like, one of the gentry. Nowadays it's used mainly by Cockney people who say, 'Yer a toff!' if you do something cool like help them with their shopping on the bus or similar.

But yes. Aristocrats are toffs.

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

*LAUGHS* Whut. I am so unaristocratic I'm practically... ah...

...American.

o.o

XD

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

HEE! But dude, American does have aristocrats. They're just different. Like - the Kennedys. And some people would say the Bushes but obviously that's ridiculous. And the Rockefellers etc. Not like ours, but still. And you have a great-grandad with that smoked fish recipie thing and now a place in Italy named after y'all...that makes you prestigious, HA!

*points and laughs*

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

The Kennedeys and Rockefellars kinda died out.

And the Bushes might be but I thought to be an aristo you had to... like... SPEAK THE LANGUAGE and have the ability to not constantly make a jackass of yourself. Unless you're Freddie and you are played by Jeremy Brett, in which case it's okay.

Right, my ANCESTORS might have been. But now I'm just a scruffy gardener whose father is a paranoid narcissist with delucions of grandeur.

He er... seriously, honest to god thinks I'm a princess of somewhere. That really weirded me out and I'd really like not to go into it. o.o

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

0_0!!Fucking hell. He does? That's....odd.

Unless you are of course, in which case, brilliant! :D :D

That's the great thing about being an aristo. You can do whatever the fuck you like and you're not mad, you're 'eccentric'. Look at Prince Harry! An officer cadet in the Army and goes out getting drunk and high on the weekends. Or did before he went in anyway. And everyone loves him! Can't be bad. :D

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

I am happy to look at Prince Harry.

I will look at Prince Harry ALL DAY LONG. XD

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

BWHAHAHAHA!

Oh God, me too. HEE! Although I kepp having dreams where I marry his brother, it's most odd. 0_0!

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

....QUEEN WRITE.

YOU COULD TORMENT THE BIG FURRY HAT GUYS ALL DAY.

THAT ROCKS.

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

YES! YES I COULD! AND SECRTLY OGLE HARRY ALL DAY, BWHAHAHA!

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

AND YOU COULD ORDER PEOPLE AROUND.

AND WEAR SHINY THINGS.

LIKE THE TACKY ROYAL JEWELY THINGIES.

America does not have royal jewely thingies, tacky or otherwise. OR a nifty tower to keep them in. We lose. :(

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

YES! I'D BE ALLOWED TO ORDER PEOPLE AROUND! BWHAHAHA!

AND THEY ARE NOT TACKY, THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!

*has been to the Tower to see and OMG they're stunning*

YOU DO LOSE!

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

Woe. WOE for us. FUCKING WOE.

We have Dolly Parton, though.