John Bates
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GregIt’s been a while but it seems the Bonsai Kitten is back. Or at least those people who for some reason can’t see that the site is a joke, and who fervently forward emails demanding that ‘something’ is done about the ‘cruelty’ What cruelty, it’s not real! I hate to cast doubt on the intelligence of another person, but how can anyone not see that this is a work of satire? I could understand if people were complaining that the joke was in poor taste, but to take it literally! I admit, I am a cat lover, I have always owned cats, and I would be the first to stand up and complain if I thought cats were actually being harmed, but they aren’t.
Anyhow, after discovering that this was still a hot topic, I gave some thought to the motivation behind the protesters. Firstly, I noticed that the ‘blame’ is laid at the door of a Japanese person, which makes me wonder whether there are elements of xenophobia about the complaints. Sadly, there are still people who believe that foreigners are capable of anything and can’t be trusted. Maybe that is a motivation, maybe not, but, even amongst people who understand that the Bonsai Kitten is a joke, there is still the belief that this could influence unsuspecting web users into trying to create their very own bottled cats. How dumb do they think we are? This ‘we know what’s good for you’ attitude was very common in Britain in the 1980s – early 90s and led to a great degree of censorship of film and televisual media. Fortunately, it no longer exists, and surprise, surprise, we haven’t turned into a nation of violent, devil worshipping nymphomaniacs. Who’d have guessed?
I find it rather worrying, although not surprising that this vocal minority group have now found their way onto the internet. Having failed to convince us that we don’t have the sense or self control to choose our own entertainment offline, they have turned to unchartered territory, where they seek to convince a global audience that deep down, they need someone to guard their moral welfare. Ironically, what they actually do, is give the objects of their protests a kind of glamour, and a level of publicity that is often out of proportion.
Oh well, that’s my opinion on the matter, I’ll get off my soapbox now.
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