Safe Space from Safe Spaces

[S_A]

So I read the news about the Burrito in the Wall and got pretty bummed. Neopets, for me, is an escape from judgement, hatred, and petulance that I'm bombarded with on most other forms of media.
I'm a big Pink Floyd fan, and actually had this on my wishlist to get for my gallery, but alas.
This is just a rant I s'pose.
Do any of you folks feel like you wade through rivers made from the tears of the easily offended?

[life_eclectic]

I was just reading another post about this item. Yeah, I instantly got the reference, but apparently not everyone got it.

 

I was listening to The Wall recently because I watched a Family Guy episode where they play part of "Comfortably Numb" and it made me want to hear the whole song and then of course I wanted to listen to other songs on the album.

 

I agree as well, it's frustrating when something is not offensive and others make it out to be.

[jaydeed]

I can see both sides. I know the song well but with the current political situation in the USA it's not surprising some ppl took it as a reference to the proposed wall at the US/Mexico border. Or a dig as an immigrant getting 'stuck' in the wall.

 

Bottom line; Neopets is a politics free zone and that item, whether created in all innocence or not, had distinct political overtones. It kind of had to go. Look, this is a site that bans the word 'grape' on its forums; they've always erred on the side of caution.

[Nielo]

I'd completely missed it, but even as someone who enjoys Pink Floyd, these days, that's not the first place my mind would go.

It's a shame they removed the article completely, instead of just explaining the reference, but that's on Neopets, not on the people who misunderstood the reference.

 

(And no, I've personally never been bothered by people who are easily offended, but I often feel confused by all the people on my FB timeline complaining about them. It's almost like they're offended by the easily offended. There's irony in there somewhere. ;) )

[S_A]

Nielo. Folks complain because we can't have nice things because someone, somewhere, is going to feel hurt. My sister is a little overweight, should I be offended by the hilarious Plumpy? I have friends who are vegan, should I feel bad about the blumaroo steak made by something that bounces and ends up not bouncing anymore? No.
See? I love rock, burritos, and Pink Floyd. That silly collection of pixels that folks who thought it in bad taste, was so wicked cool to me! I really don't like the pieces parts of grundos all over Neopia, but it's a big world...I pick up my personal bubble, and roll along instead of popping others' just because I feel bad. It's not hard.

[Nielo]

Nielo. Folks complain because we can't have nice things because someone, somewhere, is going to feel hurt. My sister is a little overweight, should I be offended by the hilarious Plumpy? I have friends who are vegan, should I feel bad about the blumaroo steak made by something that bounces and ends up not bouncing anymore? No.

See? I love rock, burritos, and Pink Floyd. That silly collection of pixels that folks who thought it in bad taste, was so wicked cool to me! I really don't like the pieces parts of grundos all over Neopia, but it's a big world...I pick up my personal bubble, and roll along instead of popping others' just because I feel bad. It's not hard.

 

I'm not saying people don't occasionally complain about odd things, but, honestly, I've never seen someone get offended in the way you're describing. Getting offended by Plumpy (or other plump cartoons/characters/etc.) when being chubby, or offended by a meat(-like) product when vegan is simply not something I've ever seen happening. If it does happen (and again, I'm sure some people do get offended by these things, but perhaps they've just had a bad day when that happens and they overreact to something that they'd usually just shrug off), it seems to be a rare occurance. (To me, at least. Maybe I'm stuck in a bubble where these things don't reach me? Maybe I just don't care if people get offended, because we all get offended sometimes, even by ridiculous things? Who knows, I've never really given it much thought.)

 

I'm sorry that you missed out on this cool burrito, and, like I said, I don't think they should've deleted it, (but people mistaking a pun about a Mexican dish + a wall for something Trump-related seems like something they could've seen coming) and if they're trying to keep Neopets a politics-free space, I get why some people wouldn't like the item. You yourself describe Neopets as something of a safe space, so perhaps those people were simply trying to maintain that safe space for themselves. They weren't actively trying to pop your bubble. They were just trying to maintain their own. (I'm guessing here, since I'd never heard about the burrito before your post, nor had I seen any complaints.)

 

And, like jaydeed mentioned above, Neopets is super strict when it comes to censoring stuff. This is not something I particularly like (I'm Dutch - we don't censor much at all), but it's the way Neopets is. It's also what keeps it a place where you can escape "judgement, hatred, and petulance". Sometimes their decisions will turn out well for you, this time, not so much. :/

[firaplays]

I think the difference between this burrito and the items you mentioned is that the burrito was potentially referencing real world events. People play games, especially games as silly and colorful as neopets, to escape the real world. Regardless of whether or not the item was "offensive," I think it was a good decision to get rid of it. The last thing I want when I play neopets is to be reminded of how messed up the world is right now.

[lovewillbesafe]

I agree with Nielo on this. Neopets actively tries to make themselves a non-political space. Honestly, probably because it is ultimately a site that is supposed to be completely safe for children, even if a lot of adults play it. And I think deleting the item was the best path to take on their part. Regardless of whether or not it was Pink Floyd reference, people saw it as a reference to immigration and Donald Trump. And Donald Trump is a controversial person. I could definitely understand if TNT was worried about people who were pro-Trump or anti-Trump flooding the NeoBoards with their discourse. Or even say, messaging and attacking users if they had the item in their gallery, shop, trading post, etc. Which could end very badly considering children as young as 13 can use those features. 

 

I mean, its the same reason they have restrictions on what you're allowed to post and board monitors. Like, they're not trying to make Neopets a safe space for easily-offended adults. They're trying to make Neopets a safe space for literal children. And I can completely understand the choice to remove the item, so that children aren't getting yelled at/harassed/stalked/given death threats by pro- or anti- Trump people. Maybe its just me, but I would prefer to protect children from being attacked by adults. So I respect and understand their decision. 

[S_A]

Maybe it's because I was raised by a figurative John Wayne and my mom, to be tough and forgiving, and to seek out the helpers (referencing Fred Rogers) instead of looking for all the bad in the world. I never once thought about the non-wall here, but the song, and later the Berlin Wall after reading the TNT news article lol.
I guess I'm too old fashioned to even pretend to understand why lions (TNT in this case) lose sleep over the opinions of sheep(le). I know I never will, and if some goofball wanted to waste their time trying (and failing) to attack me for having a burrito in a wall (I mean, c'mon lol) in my gallery, they're flushable, erasable, and blockable.