Swastika in LBP2? D:

Hitler... ruining religious symbols and moustaches one war at a time.

It's a pinwheel.... next topic please?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sehven

Given the context: this is meant as a propaganda poster from an evil government portraying itself as the good guys; and the general resemblance, I would say that it was indeed intentional. Obviously Mm isn't about to put a swastika in their game, but they wanted a symbol that would represent the general idea (like what one guy say about Norsefire's symbol in "V for Vendetta.") I saw a similar approach in the comic book "Danger Girl" where the evil empire's symbol was a bent hammer against a red background.

As for the actual swastika, I'm of two minds on the issue. On one hand, it's just a symbol that's been around basically forever and has been used by various religions or other organizations and doesn't categorically represent evil (at least I don't think it does--for all I know it could have originally been an evil symbol that others picked up later, but whatever). On the other hand, the most prominent use of the swastika was by the Nazi party which is widely considered to be one of the most evil groups in recorded history, and it's the first thing most people think of when they see a swastika. I also believe the skinheads use the symbol to this day. In that way, it has become a symbol of hatred and atrocities in many people's minds and displaying it can be seen as extremely offensive. So whether you agree that a symbol can be defined as evil, is it more important for one group to be able to freely display it than it is for them to be considerate of the group who are hurt or offended by it? I don't think it is.

Having said that, I don't believe there's a problem with using symbols that vaguely resemble the Nazi swastika (such as the one in the lbp2 artwork) to convey the idea that this bright sunshiney government is not what they claim to be. I think this thread is a case of making a mountain of a molehill.

---

I could not have said it better. The Nazi party used it to make it look like they were the "good guys". Very well put, Sehven!

I also thought I should post this image from a promotional poster of the Sonic Costume DLC in LittleBigPlanet. Note Media Molecule said "Charlie Chaplin (in The Great Dictator)"...which is a bit politically correct. They very blatantly therefore meant Hitler, but figured just the name could cause controversy. This is the closest bit of stuff I could find related to this situation in the world of LittleBigPlanet.

http://www.littlebigplanet.com/image...ches_lbp_3.jpg

Yep... that movie is a direct satire on Hitler, so they are definitely acknowledging him. Weird! Even weirder in that poster is the mention of Ron Jeremy... considering the games intended audience and all.

The 'swastika' quite similar to the japanese kanji symbol meaning temple, or o-te-ra.

More of a reverse swastika, and that one's turned on its side.

Everyone was surprised in Japanese class too.

For the 'charlie chaplin' picture above.... I don't think it's a direct reference to Hitler. More of an accidental one.
Charlie Chaplin's moustache would have been that length in the film.

BREAKING DISCOVERY/NEWS: The Official Image in the Game Has Been Changed! Note that the one I posted was from the Fan Kit, which may need an update. I am in the Beta and was going through some level someone made full of story items they grabbed using a glitch, and one of them had this sticker on it. I wanted to examine it so I took it off the object and blew the sticker up really big to see that the Windmill Gear Piece now looks a lot more square/circle-ish. Since this has probably been this way since at least the v1.01 patch, the sticker probably wasn't changed as a result of this thread, but it's possible they realized this problem early on and changed it, as it is the only noticeable change from the Fan Kit Image.

Like I had said before, it wasn't too big of a deal. But I'm glad it got changed. And it reduces the risk of any controversy or last-minute recalls. :)

Also, I will try to post pictures from the Beta of its new look later.

Everyone instantly moans about Hitler, but I bet if there was a Mao Tse-Tung image, you'd get no reactions.

No offense, but this is kind of rediculous.

I took me a good five minutes of staring at the picture, and when I gave up, scrolled down, and saw where you pointed it out, I was like "Oh... that..?"

It looks nothing like that.

Cut the guy some slack. He admitted he might be over-thinking things. Everyone's a little paranoid every once in a while.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tap Dat App

square/circle-ish

---

Isn't that a contradiction?

I don't see a swastika ,it looks more like mac and cheese to me.http://www.sleevetown.com/images/45insert.jpg http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...ocpyUY1cpZ4M8g


On a more serious note, Just because something doesn't disturb you does not mean it's not disturbing. Besides speech, symbols are the way we communicate with each other so when a symbol is created out of hate it means more than just some squiggly lines.


Edit: I completley missed the first page of posts, I thought this "pinwheel" was the offending symbol.

Well this is just rediculous. No offense, but I think it's just stupid that all the, and I mean ALL the people think that swastika signs point at germans. Sure they used it but so did many other people before and after them. It's not only a GD nazi symbol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FreeAim

Well this is just rediculous. No offense, but I think it's just stupid that all the, and I mean ALL the people think that swastika signs point at germans. Sure they used it but so did many other people before and after them. It's not only a GD nazi symbol.

---

In sehven's defense, he did mention that it was used before the Nazi's took it over. Whatever it was used for before the Nazi's took it over has almost no bearing anymore. It's polluted with Negative thoughts and feelings now and forever.



Edit: Again, I missed the first page somehow.

The swastika has had some prior history - however, it has been polluted as far as what it means goes. I thought it was nice that TapDatApp pointed this out: if it were released in the full game, it might cause a delay (like the last time, when the lyrics were removed from Tapha Niang), even though it isn't obviously a swastika, but can be seen as one.

Anyway, I thank you for bringing this to our attention. It appears Mm has already determined that it could cause controversy, and have taken appropriate action. Hurrah!

Speaking as someone with jewish blood who had many relatives put to death in Nazi death camps, my view is this. The swastika should be frowned upon only where it is used as a contemporary propaganda tool to promote neo-nazism, but is quite acceptable when used in in films, tv, games, etc. to objectively portray that period of history.

I seriously doubt that Mm are trying to start a nazi revival here.

Interesting tangent to this topic (though still almost on topic)...

Swastika banned in user generated content in Black ops.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ungreth

Speaking as someone with jewish blood who had many relatives put to death in Nazi death camps, my view is this. The swastika should be frowned upon only where it is used as a contemporary propaganda tool to promote neo-nazism, but is quite acceptable when used in in films, tv, games, etc. to objectively portray that period of history.

I seriously doubt that Mm are trying to start a nazi revival here.

---

I think to prove themselves, Mm should come out with Hanukkah DLC complete with yamika, Menorah, and a hair piece with peyots. :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KILLA_TODDZILLA

I think to prove themselves, Mm should come out with Hanukkah DLC complete with yamika, Menorah, and a hair piece with peyots. :p

---

...and hold a community briss where players can have their sackboys ceremonially circumcised?

Ummm... Sure. I'm going to go play "Stiff Pistons" now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ungreth

...and hold a community briss where players can have their sackboys ceremonially circumcised?

---

I'm not exactly sure how to reply to this..