10/9/2003: Ghettopoly

This news image turned up on the wires today, and news-googling on it suggests that we have here a rising controversy. Some people seem to have steam coming out of their ears over it.

It's "Ghettopoly", and it looks pretty hilarious. The official website says "Buying stolen properties, pimpin hoes, building crack houses and projects, paying protection fees and getting car jacked are some of the elements of the game. Not dope enough?...If you don't have the money that you own to the loan shark you might just land yourself in da Emergency Room." And the game pieces: Pimp, Hoe, 40 oz, Machine Gun, Marijuana Leaf, Basket Ball and Crack.

And as expected, some people are throwing fits -- in this news image, it's Philly black clergy. Amongst other things, they're unhappy with the intentionally-misspelled "Malcum X" and "Martin Luthor King Jr." They want Urban Outfitters to stop carrying the game.

Quite predictably, this is the most and best publicity that the game could ever hope for. How else would it have made the IotD, for example? It's not funny or striking enough on its own. But with the controversy it becomes interesting.

This controversy reminds me of the Cellar thread where Nic Name could not stand certain tasteless humor. The "Ghettopoly" maker also intends to bring out "Redneckopoly" so it's certainly not a very simple racial matter. My first take is that it's more important to have a sense of humor about one's situation than anything else and that it's important for us to do away with meaningless political correctness, and so I am on the side of "Ghettopoly" at first glance. If we laugh at our stereotypes, we are at least being open about them, which just might allow them to fall away more easily over time.

Redneckopoly? This is an outrage!!

No doubt Geekopoly is next. ("YESSS!!! You landed on the Opteron 64 with a gigabyte ethernet card! You owe me $1000 rent!!")

"And the game pieces: Pimp, Hoe, 40 oz, Machine Gun, Marijuana Leaf, Basket Ball and Crack."

(Don't know how to quote single lines)

Ok - how many gansta's do you know that instead of saying "weed, chronic, bud, etc." would say Marijuana leaf??!!

Does anyone else think that people getting all pissed off about this is sort of a defacto admission that the things being parodied actually do exist, and they'd just rather not be reminded of it?

When were you around crack?

You have to wonder if there would be this much of a stink if it was Honkytown....

Quote:

Originally posted by sycamore He lives in Houston...I hear that whole town is a shithole.

Using "shithole Houston": 1090
Using "shithole Philadelphia": 928

Nyah!

Statistically insignificant.

Kinda like you syc, since, while you are in the 18-35 demographic, you sure as fuck ain't typical!

It's a good thing!

Read the actual Google blurbs at least, only one on the first page calls Houston a shithole, and he's from France.

Dammit!!

Urban Outfitters isn't carrying the game anymore, and the manufacture's website says it's backordered through November 27 ...

Go back and click on these!

<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=shithole+philadelphia+philly&btnG=Google+Search">Shithole Philadelphia Philly</a>

<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=shithole+Houston+Htown&btnG=Google+Search">Shithole Houston Htown</a>

Haaaaz!!!

Re: Go back and click on these!

Quote:

Originally posted by Nothing But Net Haaaaz!!!

Quote:

Originally posted by SteveDallas So buy one off of ebay! some copies were bid up over $100.... in spite of the fact that other auctions were "buy it now" for as little as $36.