Foolish Curiosity

I never made a post about this story, but it is likely that most people who read this blog received the link from me at some point. For those of you who did not, here is a quick summary.

There is a guy in Marietta, GA (near Atlanta), who decided it was a good a idea to sell T-shirts depicting Curious George eating a banana and the words “Obama in 08.” When asked to respond to protesters, he actually said “If that offends them, they are hunting a reason to be offended.” Furthermore he suggests that the only similarities he intended to suggest were in the character’s and Senator Obama’s hairlines and ears. What’s even more disturbing is that orders for the t-shirts have apparently come from as far away as New Jersey, and demand was such that he sold out of the t-shirts.

Needless to say, that was a discouraging story, but today someone sent me a follow up that made me smile. This story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the owners of the rights to Curious George are considering legal action against the vendor.

I am very glad that of all the countless simian images he could have chosen for his blatantly offensive shirt, he chose one that was copyrighted. Perhaps this is too vindictive, and would accomplish nothing as far as inspiring meaningful dialogue on race relations, and it might even make me a mean person, but I sincerely hope that publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is able to take the maker of the t-shirt for everything he has!