Friday, July 24, 2009

politics and censorship

it seems the powers that be are trying to bring the man down. and than man is me.

i head into work for what should be another day another dollar and the moment a step into the store i hear over the loud speaker.. "ben to the managers desk.." my immediate thought was.. ohhh maybe my mac has arrived.. and i was wrong! once again it seems my reviews for movies have gotten me into trouble!

horton hears a who

"this anti-abortion film has its message cleverly hidden beneath the brilliant animation and hilarious jokes about an elephant with a mission" 4 1/2 stars

now i thought this was a positive review, and with the trouble i got into last time about bad-mouthing two and a half men, surely this was a glowing review about a product i liked!

NOOOOO

shit no... this was SO unacceptable and totally inappropriate for work! seriously? have a fucking laugh.. i guess putting in the kids section was a bit risky, but i could've just moved it to the a-z wall where all the other dvds are!

then came my review for crash- the 2007 film that beat brokeback mountain and won the oscar.

"this oscar winner delivers drama in tonnes as its all star cast delivers some racially profiling cliches and great performances"

doubt

"any actors wet dream, doubt stars meryl and phillip seymour hoffman as they go head to head in the catholic church. great performances and an ending that will leave you floored"

anyways... basically i had to go around the store and pick up any other reviews that might be considered "risky" or whatever! so, i took a quick trip around the store and took down any reviews that some loser might take offense to. it turns out that there were quite a few, maybe 20 or so that were deemed NSFW.

cut to:

2 months later?

i'm on the floor putting out stock and my software manager approaches me and asks to talk. oh, here we go.. he pulls out a review; twilight

"any young girl or gay guys fantasy, twilight might not have the best story but it does have a hot leading man that will have you glued to your seats." 3 1/2 stars

fucking hell! i cant write anything... i'm being censored at work and it's fucking pathetic.

and what shits me the most is that i was warned that next time it would be a written warning and there are people at work who do shit all and treat other staff members like shit and just fly under the fucking radar!

where is the justice? so apparently i cannot have any sexual references or jokes or anything remotely funny in these reviews! grrr it gets me so angry that in this day and age, and in a store like blah blah hi-fi i am being refused my right to express my opinions and thoughts?

the funny this is, that when i was taking some of my reviews down, a customer actually asked me why i was doing it. i told her why and she expressed her views on how pathetic and sad it was that i had to remove my reviews.

what a world we live in!

1 comment:

Lil' Leila Lee said...

Omigosh, Ben!!!!! Love the post! But remember your review on Battlestar Galactica and even Hitler had a following? They are uber hilarious, I must admit, but seriously... If I were a fan... I may get offended.
You need to work somewhere where your voice will not be silenced! You have a great sense of humour and it's just a fricken staff store review not a Rolling Stones review!