August 08, 2006

Film Director in Trouble Over Swastika T-Shirt A German film director (of Turkish descent) is being investigated for wearing a "Bush" t-shirt with a swastika instead of an "s". In Germany, the swastika symbol is illegal even as an intended insult. Apparently, it's even illegal for Der Spiegel to show a picture of the T-shirt!

Why does this remind me of the convolutions of various digital copyright laws? ThoughtCrime, here we come.

posted by orococo 18 years ago
  • Why on Earth would Germans be sensitive about swastikas? I mean, four 7s, that's got to be lucky, right?
  • Freedom of speech is a good thing, and only a nazi would prevent someone from wearing a swastika.
  • I thought everybody in the world knew you can't display a swastika in Germany. This guy is an attention whore. *exits stage right, goosestepping*
  • If God was s'posed to play a dead leopard at tennis and the leopard didn't show up, do you think God wins by default?
  • It depends if they were playing the Oxbridge Circle Rules or the Newt-Variant By-Laws.
  • Ah, interesting this is the guy who did "Gegen die Wand".
  • Lots of WWII videogames have had to change or remove nazi stuff before being released in Germany. If you have the Steam version of the original Half-Life, you can change your language settings to German and you can see where they had to change the enemy soldiers to robots.
  • HA Ha Ha Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Germans as robots? Someone was having a laugh.
  • Another one of those laws that stop making sense in light of the internet. Do German ISP's filter all web transmissions for swastikas? Tut, tut, I think not. I can just see some fifteen year old late at night in his bedroom bringing up US neo-nazi sites, thinking he's getting away with something. You know what would have been a lot more effective? Filling every schoolbook with swastikas, swastikas on the front cover, on the flyleafs, at every chapter heading. No German kid would grow up thinking the swastika was cool because it was forbidden.
  • I feel sorry for the poor little German kids born with facial birthmaks. Swastika birthmarks. On the face. Makes me cry it does.
  • Did I ever mention the time I had insomnia but had to get up really early to get to a first-thing-in-the-morning work meeting, and showered and shaved very quickly, in a very bleary-eyed state? I was already off the Muni (SF's subway) and walking along Market Street before I realized I'd forgotten to shave an inch-long patch just beneath my nose--yes, THAT patch. Luckily, I was able to duck into a corner store, purchase a disposable razor, and do a quick dry shave.
  • That's actually how Hitler, the Third Reich and WWII ACTUALLY started. kitfisto history trufax!