Winnie the Pooh banned from Polish playground - "inappropriate hermaphrodite"

[Gori the Grey]

I remember Uszatek! He was awesome. He never took off his pants.

But.. so.. this was all just a sensationalized news article that's full of holes? Who wrote the piece - Fox News or one of those British tabloids? Or is all "journalism" now so crappy we can't even get honest plush bear news anywhere?

Happens in Polish town of 7000 people that even Poles haven't heard of.

Recorded by participant, because we're all walking around with recorders now.

Reported by Croatian Times, because sensationalist.

Picked up by The Independent, because sensationalist.

Spreads around the world, because internet.

Posted for discussion on internet discussion board, becaus lulz.

(Semi-)seriously discussed on internet discussion board, because people have too much time on their hands.

Honestly, could any of you pre-1985 people have imagined that we would spend days discussing what the members of a town council in a Polish town of 7000 residents think of Winnie the Pooh?

Is this the promised end? Or image of that horror?

 

[warpus]

Poland is a meme these days, people are going to jump on anti-Poland bandwagons because it's popular. But in 1985 I would not have guessed that Poland would become a meme.

 

[Kyriakos]

Afaik the Poland/meme issue started with some people from Poland spelling english in an atypical manner (and probably also saying that Poland #1 and so on). Eg the "i know that feel" meme is tied to a polish poster's bad english.

*

This was more crucial, though:

 

[warpus]

(and probably also saying that Poland #1 and so on).

I think they were just making fun of USA#1

Poland and USA, more similar than you might think.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Happens in Polish town of 7000 people that even Poles haven't heard of.

Recorded by participant, because we're all walking around with recorders now.

Reported by Croatian Times, because sensationalist.

Picked up by The Independent, because sensationalist.

Spreads around the world, because internet.

Posted for discussion on internet discussion board, becaus lulz.

(Semi-)seriously discussed on internet discussion board, because people have too much time on their hands.

Honestly, could any of you pre-1985 people have imagined that we would spend days discussing what the members of a town council in a Polish town of 7000 residents think of Winnie the Pooh?

Is this the promised end? Or image of that horror?

In 1985 I was largely unaware of Poland, outside of a few forgotten mentions in history classes, some vague knowledge of ethnic food, and whatever else turned up at the annual Folk Festival.

A couple of years later, a novel called The Cross-Time Engineer, by Leo Frankowski, was being passed around my SCA group. It was about the adventures of a Polish engineer who went to buy some flower seeds for his mother, went to a tavern for a drink (or several), got drunk, blundered into the basement, and accidentally found a time machine which transported him to 13th-century Poland with nothing but the clothes on his back and the contents of his backpack. Knowing what awaited Poland in the future, he decided to give it a boost of modernization and skip a few centuries' worth of technology.

So my knowledge of real-world Poland is actually rather scant. It does surprise me that anyone would care what Winnie the Pooh wears, given how many other cartoon/comic animal characters don't wear pants, either.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Poland is a meme these days, people are going to jump on anti-Poland bandwagons because it's popular. But in 1985 I would not have guessed that Poland would become a meme.

Poland was a meme before there were memes. In my youth jokes about blacks and hispanics became unacceptable in my little slice of the world, because we all had to get along...which we did by swapping Polish jokes. It was a full decade later that all 'ethnic humor' was equally frowned on and lawyer jokes became the norm.

 

[luiz]

Poland was a meme before there were memes. In my youth jokes about blacks and hispanics became unacceptable in my little slice of the world, because we all had to get along...which we did by swapping Polish jokes. It was a full decade later that all 'ethnic humor' was equally frowned on and lawyer jokes became the norm.

Really, national jokes are now unacceptable in the US? I thought they were still reasonably PC.

In Brazil jokes about blacks became socially unacceptable in the late 90's, but national jokes are still quite popular (though I suppose in the last couple years they have faded a bit). Portuguese jokes are a Brazilian staple (they are supposed to be stupid), but there are also many jokes about the Japanese (revolving around their supposedly small penises) and Turks and Jews (revolving around their supposed cheapness - note that in Brazil "Turk" is a term used to describe the Syrian-Lebanese immigrants).

 

[warpus]

Poland was a meme before there were memes. In my youth jokes about blacks and hispanics became unacceptable in my little slice of the world, because we all had to get along...which we did by swapping Polish jokes. It was a full decade later that all 'ethnic humor' was equally frowned on and lawyer jokes became the norm.

Funny Polish jokes are fine, but most of them aren't. Most Polish jokes are just blonde jokes, with the word "blonde" taken out and "the p word" put in. They're lazy.

I remember watching south park with friends one day and saying: "How come South Park doesn't ever do any Polish jokes?"

5 minutes later.. Funny Poilsh joke on south park. Amazing timing and funny joke. But yeah, most of them just aren't.

 

[Domen]

Poland was a meme before there were memes.

Poohdobear approves!

In my youth jokes about blacks and hispanics became unacceptable in my little slice of the world, because we all had to get along...which we did by swapping Polish jokes.

You do realize that there are also some Black Poles and some Hispanic Poles? So you continued to joke about Blacks and Hispanics!:


Link to video.

No, no, no! Not all Poles are White. Even in the Parliament we have two Blacks! So you can't be racist towards Poles anymore, it's now Non-PC.

I remember watching south park with friends one day and saying: "How come South Park doesn't ever do any Polish jokes?"

It does!


Link to video.

 

[Domen]

And here a German joke from South Park:


Link to video.

Spoiler :

BTW - can you tell me why is German word for "pride" the same as Polish word for "motion" (aka "turd" or "poop")?

Stolz is German for "pride" and "proud", while Polish word for "turd" or "poop" is stolec (spelling is almost the same as stolz).

 

[Angst]

Aside from 'Pooh' looking dumb as a brick, it seems to also have that 50-year old pedo thing going..

 

[aelf]

Oh, I managed to summon the Domen at last

Poland is a meme these days, people are going to jump on anti-Poland bandwagons because it's popular. But in 1985 I would not have guessed that Poland would become a meme.

I'd say that it's not that being anti-Poland is cool to begin with. Rather, it seems to me that Poland is uncool, and hence it's cool to make fun of it.

And I think we have people like our friend here to thank for this trend.

 

[Borachio]

I don't agree. I think Poland is über cool. How many countries do you know that have had such fluid borders and blinked in and out of existence so frequently?

Also Chopin, Copernicus, Curie, Luxembourg, Conrad, et al.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I don't agree. I think Poland is über cool. How many countries do you know that have had such fluid borders and blinked in and out of existence so frequently?

Also Chopin, Copernicus, Curie, Luxembourg, Conrad, et al.

When I was in grade schools one of my close friends was a Pole. Nowadays he's a slightly weird, uber-smart uber-healthy uber-manly sort of guy.

Also in grade school there was this cute and friendly girl who was a Pole. She was one of those extroverted people who weren't annoying.

I think that's enough to prove Poland's worth to me.

 

[Kyriakos]

Poland=Beksinski

 

[aelf]

I don't agree. I think Poland is über cool. How many countries do you know that have had such fluid borders and blinked in and out of existence so frequently?

Also Chopin, Copernicus, Curie, Luxembourg, Conrad, et al.

Historical Poland may be cool. It may even be cooler than Germany at times. I was referring to contemporary Poland, though.

CDPR and Polish sausages are still their best cultural exports.

 

[Domen]

that have had such fluid borders and blinked in and out of existence so frequently?

Usually in history once a country blinked out of existence, it never came back again. Poland is among the exceptions.

BTW - "so frequently" is when exactly? Poland "blinked out of existence" once, in 1795. Of course we can argue that it came back as the Duchy of Warsaw, transformed into the Congress Kingdom of Poland, then blinked out again in 1864, and then returned in 1918. This is still not "frequently".

1939 - 1945 was illegal military occupation, which according to international law is not equal to "blinking out of existence".

Chopin, Copernicus, Curie, Luxembourg, Conrad, et al.

Curie was Skłodowska, but she married a French guy and adopted his surname. Conrad = Korzeniowski, Conrad was just his nickname or pen name.

Copernicus is a Latinized form of surname Kopernik (which is still a frequent surname in Poland today).

Róża Luxemburg was rather famous as a devoted International Communist (despite her Polish ethnicity), not as a person of merit for Poland.

German-sounding surnames are frequent in Poland. My mother is de domo Meller, for example. Though it is Dutch rather than German.

How many countries do you know that have had such fluid borders

England, France, Germany, Russia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Denmark, Spain, China... and many more.

Britain has perhaps the most fluid borders, for example British borders once included India.

Polish borders contrary to myths were quite stable.

There were plenty of minor or major but temporary changes. However, major and long-lasting changes were relatively few.

If not counting not-fully independent "Polands" of the Partitions Perod (1795 - 1918), then distinct shapes of Poland were 5 in history: 1) since the beginning until the 1300s; 2) since the 1300s-1400s until 1569; 3) since 1569 until the Partitions; 4) since 1918-1922 until WW2; 5) since 1945 until present.

These are the five "recognizable shapes" of Poland.

Minor - or major but temporary - border changes were of course more numerous (all in all ca. 180 border shifts during 1000 years).

Modern Polish borders are pretty similar to those of the early Polish realm until the 1300s.

 

[Domen]

Historical Poland may be cool. (...) I was referring to contemporary Poland.

Poland is Poland, there is only one, not two Polands. It has its history that is an integral part of its present, you can't separate the two.

But I know that you strange Anglophone people who for some reason believe that you are direct continuators of prehistoric Stonehenge-builders always like to give your strange lessons about continuity / discontinuity to other peoples. With the conclusion that continuity is only on your small island.

 

[Borachio]

<snip>

I take it all back. Poland isn't cool at all. You're quite right. Thanks for putting me straight.

 

[Domen]

As if I even care what you think. Stick to your island please, and I'll stick to my plain.