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Just want to say thank you to the people who extended a little sympathy on here.
Kidnapping being a "horror trope" doesn't mean it's okay to make child abduction, and let's be real, assault, into a joke.
You never know who could have a history with CSA (hi *waves*) or other childhood trauma that you're throwing under the bus.
It will all be over soon. We'll have our ordinary little banner again~
Until the holidays, of course, where we will be greeted by a sleigh offering free presents instead. Just, please, no Zipper/Jack/Jingle manbearpig monstrosity...
It will all be over soon. We'll have our ordinary little banner again~
Until the holidays, of course, where we will be greeted by a sleigh offering free presents instead. Just, please, no Zipper/Jack/Jingle manbearpig monstrosity...
It will all be over soon. We'll have our ordinary little banner again~
Until the holidays, of course, where we will be greeted by a sleigh offering free presents instead. Just, please, no Zipper/Jack/Jingle manbearpig monstrosity...
I might be wrong, but I think they just meant that we're going back to the normal banner tomorrow but we'll have another special/custom banner in a few weeks (for thanksgiving or christmas), rather than making a reference to the van
I might be wrong, but I think they just meant that we're going back to the normal banner tomorrow but we'll have another special/custom banner in a few weeks (for thanksgiving or christmas), rather than making a reference to the van
I might be wrong, but I think they just meant that we're going back to the normal banner tomorrow but we'll have another special/custom banner in a few weeks (for thanksgiving or christmas), rather than making a reference to the van
Besides it being in bad taste, it's just not funny. Idk about you all but I expect jokes to be funny. I don't even mind dark humor sometimes as long as it's funny.
If my post was sort of controversial, I'm really sorry for saying something insensitive I understand how some are bothered by the van on the and their experiences with it. I wasn't trying to offend or bother others here.
don't mean to prolong this but i had another thing i wanted to add after seeing some of the staff responses in another thread. again, i understand that there was no malicious intent, but the responses have felt a bit dismissive. i'm sure it wasn't on purpose, but...
... It may not always be clear what should be displayed on the site due to differing opinions, but one helpful tool can be comparing ourselves to other types of media that are accepted in society. ...
what's accepted in society isn't always harmless. yes, this is the kind of joke that most people probably wouldn't bat an eye at, but it should be kept in mind that there's a lot of inappropriate jokes people don't think twice about. from stuff like "p bear" mentioned by another user to the subtler "would you trust me with your drink", which i didn't even know was about something serious until i was told the meaning of the joke. nobody is ACTUALLY going out and abducting kids because of jokes like these, but it's harmful in the sense that some people with trauma are reminded of their experiences.
... With this being said, the candy van won't be parked under the tree for much longer and I would like to ask everyone to please lighten up and enjoy this event.
i understand you don't want to change the header, and i realize nothing was meant by this, but i think the least that should be done is an apology to those upset by it instead of asking them to lighten up. i know it might seem like people are being overly sensitive to those who aren't affected by these jokes, but they can really hurt those who are. i also know some people can be overly dramatic or "too online" but i really don't think this is one of those cases. everything is going to upset at least one person out there in the world, but this is something that affects more people than you'd expect.
i apologize if this comes off silly, condescending, or demanding. i don't mean to re-explain stuff you already know, i don't want to force anyone to make another official statement if they don't want to, and i don't want to disturb the peace or anything. just felt the urge to respond.
You should have been here for this one Easter event, I remember it was raining Easter eggs and it was purely chaotic. They should've down that but with Candies.
Just to very quickly address the post from Wix, clicking the image grants 20 free bells, so in essence it does give out a free candy. Kudos to the couple people who found it prior to now!
It will all be over soon. We'll have our ordinary little banner again~
Until the holidays, of course, where we will be greeted by a sleigh offering free presents instead. Just, please, no Zipper/Jack/Jingle manbearpig monstrosity...
I have read through almost everything related to this topic. Instead of just liking comments, I decided to leave a comment about it as well.
I appreciate the forum to have threads like this. I think it is important to have a place where people can express their opinions in a constructive and respectful way. @luckytrait 's post here has reached out to me the most. beautiful comment you have all my respect.
After this issue has been brought up, I think it would have been wiser from the staff to have simply removed the van. I think the risk of triggering a person who has CSA is enough to justify it.
I'm going to be honest, seeing staff (and some user) reaction to user feedback, much of which was expressed in a thoughtful manner, has been extremely disappointing to me.
From what I have been reading, the general staff tone (that has also been expressed by some users) seems to be to advise members to simply telling people to just "lighten up" and move on. This is despite people politely explaining legitimate concerns with the potential for the banner to be triggering due to the RL connotations of the imagery, and to simply be inappropriate on an Animal Crossing forum of all places, which isn't only used by legal adults. To me, this is an extremely dismissive and tone deaf response.
Just because a trope is found across media platforms does not make it funny, nor does it make it appropriate imagery. Just because one individual finds a joke "widely accepted and harmless" does not mean that others do. Just because you claim that you meant no harm from your action doesn't mean that others cannot be harmed by your actions.
Before giving my opinion on the issue, I’d like to mention that I’m fairly new to this forum. As such, I’m not that familiar with previous jokes that appeared on the TBT banner or official threads. I’m not one who usually comments much but after reading through all of the comments in both threads and seeing the outcome of this heated discussion, I felt compelled to express my thoughts even though I’m quite late to the discussion table; the event is over after all – better late than never though!
While I am very grateful that the staff members organized yet another event (albeit one just ended not long ago), I felt uneasy with the banner design. I recognize that it isn’t easy to put everything together in such a short period of time with all the logistics involved. I don’t believe that there were any ill intentions behind this “joke”. I also believe that the staff didn’t anticipate the repercussions that this image could have on some members of this community. Perhaps they wanted to make a joke that most TBT users would understand, and it might have been their way of using a bit of humour in these trying times.
However, I find it quite unfortunate how staff members addressed the issue that followed. Despite not being a place to preach, by giving out a more holistic vision of the situation, I saw tremendous potential for addressing grievances and delivering an instructive message to the wider community. This is not to say that I’ve never laughed at dark comedy before; however, I try to be conscious about the issues at play. Thus, I perceive the outcome of the debate as a missed opportunity; hence this thread was created. Perhaps an apology for any perceived offenses would have been appreciated. It is one thing to joke as an individual (with no affiliation), and it is another as someone who’s responsible to oversee the smooth running of a forum/event. It is also different when it is put in the forefront of the forum (i.e., the banner) because of the message it may deliver; interpretations can vary.
To consider the image/trope as a harmless joke misses the points of some critical views. On a macro level, I see pros and cons to dark humour: it has the potential to raise awareness and/or challenge unfortunate situations in a less condescending tone, but it also runs the danger to trivialize those serious issues. Surely, laughing at these kinds of joke doesn’t necessarily mean that these individuals are insensitive to those topics. Likewise, not laughing at these jokes (and considering them offensive) doesn’t automatically translate into these individuals lacking a sense of humour or taking things too seriously. As such, it can be difficult to know where to draw the line at times. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, recognizing the potential wider impacts of these types of jokes could have been a step towards reconciliating opposing stances.
Like they say, “with great power comes great responsibility” (French National Convention, 1793; Spider-Man). Moving forward, I hope this incident can offer a moment of introspection for each one of us.
