Score another one for us

by

Remember Val’s post about Nickelodeon Pimping che guevara?

I know a number of us complained:

In your commercial for the show, Naked Brothers Band, one of the children is wearing a che guevara t-shirt. To say that I am shocked and offended is an understatement. Would you put a Hitler t-shirt on a child? I realize the icon is very popular among some ignorant trendy types who don’t know better, but those in the media have a responsiibility to be informed. che guevara was a mass murderer and along with fidel castro is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and the gulag prison system that Cubans still suffer under. He is indeed not a hero but a villian and his image is painfully offensive especially to Cuban Americans, but also to any knowledgeable person. Surely Nickelodeon is not intentionally promoting a mass murderer.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to receive this response:

Hello,

On behalf of Nickelodeon, thank you for sharing your feedback regarding the Naked Brothers Band Movie.
Though we regret to hear of your dissatisfaction, we truly appreciate you presenting us with your concerns and invaluable information.

This movie was acquired by our network, as it is in line with the family-friendly content featured on our air.

It was not intended to be offensive, nor is it a reflection of personal beliefs.

As a result of your feedback, the content featured in the Naked Brothers Band movie has been modified.

We truly appreciate you notifying us of your concerns and for your assistance in our continued efforts to strive for excellence in programming.

Sincerely,

Viewer Services

15 thoughts on “Score another one for us”

  3. I got the exact same response. I wasn’t sure they were even addressing the issue. I don’t have a TV, so didn’t have a way to check.

    What’s interesting is that my letter to them was very similar to yours! Great minds must think alike. Here’s my letter:

    Dear Nickelodeon,

    I am writing to express my concern about your show “Naked Brothers Band” and the boy wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt. Perhaps the writer of the show is not aware of who Che Guevara really is — a murderous butcher who was responsible for the executions of hundreds of Cubans and for ruining the Cuban economy. You might want to take a look at therealcuba.com to learn more about Che. Start here with Humberto Fontanova’s essay for a quick introduction:
    http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/2/23/171252.shtml.

    If, however, the writer is aware of Che’s background, you might want to dress the kid in a Hitler t-shirt in a later episode.

    Sincerely, etc, etc.

  4. Yes!

    I also remember Mr. Prieto being a little hard on himself for not doing enough.
    This is another small battle won by Babalu and its readership proving that Babalu does make a difference.

    THANKS.

  5. Hi, I’m the one who first e-mailed Val about this and I was just stating to my wife yesterday that I had not seen the commercial on Nickelodion again. I’m so glad that we can at least win some of these smaller battles! Way to go Babalu!

  7. Ziva,

    Thanks for staying on top of these victories! I believe they are revealing in the sense that it shows that all these corporations are being receptive … they are listening.This in itself is a major victory!
    As I had stated before, it’s difficult to defeat a “myth”, but there’s plenty of documented facts showing Che Guevara’s despicable acts and crimes against humanity!

    All of us, as informed individuals, have the responsibility to counteract this common type of “subtle” socialist and communist propaganda! The symbols of the movements are introduced very cleverly in the most unsuspected ways with the aim to make the regular citizen “impervious” to the ugly reality they represent.

    Again, it’s really ironic, considering che’s history, that like the Target CD case … this was also done in a musical context.

    I wish you well 🙂 Melek

    “HATRED of enemies is easier and more intense than love of friends. But from men who are more anxious to injure opponents than to benefit the world at large no great good is to be expected.” ~ Bertrand Russell

  8. Yay! Good job, everyone. 🙂

    Val brought this other boutique to our attention a couple years ago, and they’re still shilling the che crap for kids. Worse yet, it’s a “best seller.” 🙁
    Please continue to educate them:
    http://tinyurl.com/yoyswq

    I wrote to them at the time and got a reply that basically said they were sorry that I was offended. Just look at their pitch for the stuff; they think it’s cute & rebellious. *barf*

  9. This is a typical one-sided responce by a right-wing commentator who ends up shooting himself in the foot.
    Let me ask you have you seen Silence of the Lambs? Were you not competely offended by a movie representing a man who slays and eats other humans? That’s waaaaaaay more disgusting than anything a revolutionary or soldier would do in war (wheather a self-proclaimed war against Imperialistic regimes or being sent into one by an Imperiailistic regime: look what our boys did in Vietnam and in Iraq). Did you write to the film producers and lash out at Anthony Hopkins. Probably not!. Why? Because THAT WAS THE CHARACTER. And the same in this Naked Brothers Band Movie….THAT WAS THE CHARACTER. Some clueless kid wearing a shirt of an icon without knowing anything about the icon. THAT’S ALL. Cast the kid off as a moron if it offends you. But don’t CENCOR entertainment. Whether if was fiction or not it was THAT CHARACTER. Again, don’t try to cencor what comes out of writer’s heads because they are demonstrating life. Understand that and don’t go shooting yourself in the foot by forcing biased censorship!!!!!!!

  10. And please don’t go spinning on me a typo or misspelling. Because that’s straying away from the content of my opinion. Like most biased people do so passionately.

    Whether Che murdered people for his adrenaline rush or not or whether he did as various people have indicated can only be left to speculation. You judge a person by what he proclaimed and what was obvious (the rest of his story). His intentions were to fight the big bully of imperialism. And fighting was the only way. To fight for equality. The only problem is that equality can not be part of the human condition. We are destined to be ruled by Imperialist power. And we are headed in that direction. And the sad situation is that we have been divided. The progressives are hoping to bring a fair and balanced system, but out of fear and bias; conservatives are fighting for them. This will only turn onto them when we all realize that corporate greed has fastened a noose around our necks and turned us into consumers. But do not fear completely – because the results will go undetected by the simple minded people which consist of the majority of us. We’ll be consuming food that will kill us, entertainment that will further dumb us down, products and toys of every fancy that will leave us asking questions and only shrugging our shoulders. But the smarter folks will live in hell – having to put up with all this junk and be labeled dissidents and taken away. And finally the real powers that be: the ELITE will have achieved the victory they have longed for.

    But on an optimistic side: the internet and all the blogs and all our fighting with each other through words and videos will bring us together to understand what’s really going on. And to stop the ELITE from controlling everything. Let’s hope so. Let’s not let the internet be taken from our control either. Though the elite corporations have already been poking their fingers into us. This, I think, should be our biggest fight.

    So, I hope all conservatives, Republicans, Cubans in Miami begin to see the light and understand that today’s Republicans are not the Republicans of the old school of thought. Today’s leaders are placed there by corporations (more than ever) and they are there for their benefit and not for the people. Everything they have done have been crimes to the people. Stop blinding yourselves.

    Not all sides are completely right or wrong. But we should start recognizing that we need to stop fighting and learn to understand each other.

  11. but out of fear and bias; conservatives are fighting for them.

    FIGHTING FOR THE COROPORATE POWERHOUSES, THAT IS

  12. Tillie:

    I am unclear as to exactly what che’s contributions to fighting the “imperialists” were. Did he achieve this by helping to run the Cuban economy into the ground? Did he do this by NOT actually fighting in his own battles? Did he do this by putting to death countless people who did not believe the same way as he did? Was his theory so weak that the only way he could keep people in control was by killing those who dissented? Was what he was touting not good enough or convincing enough for people to follow him? As for equality, I’ll give you that one. Cubans are now all equally destitute, equally oppressed and live equally in what che and fidel have made a run-down, destroyed country. That is, except for the non-existent “elite” like fidel, raúl and their comrades, who dine on lobster, wear name brand track suits and are driven around in modern cars. I guess there are two types of equality in Cuba, one for the the castros and one for everyone else.

    Keep drinking the Kool Aid, man.

    Claudia

  13. Tillie,

    You dont judge a person by what he or she proclaims. You judge a person by their actions. In che’s case, he murdered or ordered the murder of hundreds of Cubans and others simply because their opinions were different than his.

    This isnt a right or left side of the political spectrum issue. This is a right or wrong issue and having some innocent kid wearing a che guevara tshirt on television is akin to having him wear a hitler shirt or stalin shirt.

    if you dont know the real history of che guevara and have gotten your information from Motorcycle Diaries or some adulating, ignore the hard truth book and all praise che book, then I suggest you do some homework before coming to this blog, where people not only know the hard truth but LIVED it, and spewing your ignorance for all to see.

  14. Tillie, based on your above comments, I’d say your mind is filled with so much trash that you are not presenting a coherent enough idea for a response. I’d suggest reading the “Black Book of Communism”, Armando Valledares “Against All Hope”, Enrique Encinosa’s “Unvanquished”, and everything written by Humberto Fontova for starters. While you are reading these books keep in mind that it’s not a movie, that the books are about real events that happened to real people, and the crimes detailed were committed by real criminals like che on a massive scale and that there is no justification for those evil crimes. The practice of Communism is not an intellectual exercise, but a repressive genocidal political system responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths. Contrary to popular belief that the danger from this ideology ended with the “cold war”, it is alive and well and threatens our freedom and ultimately our lives. I understand this well, and have no desire to “get along” with its proponents. Fighting is the only way to stop this threat, and likewise the threat of “radical” Islam.

  15. Tillie,

    I had a hard time following your comments because of your spin on the subject. This post was on educating people about the che myth and not on corporate greed and imperialism. However, you are entitled to your opinion and I respect it.

    Moreover, to compare censoring Hannibal from Silence of the Lambs with wearing a che t-shirt by the kid in The Naked Brothers Band,is to compare content versus context.

    Content: subject matter: the various issues, topics, or questions dealt with in speech, discussion, or a piece of writing.

    Context: surrounding conditions: the circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place.

    I failed to see any parallels between your examples. Silence of the Lambs was a movie about a man who prey, killed and practice cannibalism. Although disgusting and maybe offensive to some, it was all in content. We can express a dislike and exercise the choice of not watching the movie … that’s part of the freedoms we enjoy in this country.

    However, with every freedom, there’s an implied responsibility. To be aware of the real che and see his image in the context of a kids musical production, and dismiss it as you stated: “Some clueless kid wearing a shirt of an icon without knowing anything about the icon.” is apathy and indifference to the truth! If you know a little about the Cuban revolution, you should know about che’s position on music … so you may not agree, but you should understand and respect why those who know better feel compelled to create awareness and educate those who do not know better.

    I wish you well 🙂 Melek

    “Ignorance, apathy, and lethargy cause the most problems in our world. People don’t know what’s going on, they don’t care, and they’re too lazy to find out.” ~ Masukawa

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