Putting it behind a link makes it less visible, removes it from general discussion and makes it easy for folks who don’t want to talk about race to just skip over that link and get to the “real” discussion. I would call that hiding.
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Others would call it highlighting and creating a venue where a discussion longer than 5 days could take place. But YMMV.
FWIW, it doesn’t matter to me if it is split or not, I just have seen more serious topics given their own home from otherwise largely irreverent posts.
I grew up in the '60s and ‘70s, and I’ve always thought “Tiki Culture” was tacky cultural appropriation of the worst sort. Reducing other cultures’ gods to souvenir cocktail mugs (especially when you have no idea which culture or what god it is) has always seemed somewhere between embarrassingly thoughtless and unthinkingly racist to me
People in the '70s knew that - but many of them simply didn’t care.
Previously, I once questioned Tiki enthusiasm here in BB, and why it gets a pass on the “cultural misappropriation” front, but I was basically told that if you’re just being retro-nostalgic about “Tiki Style and Cocktail Culture”, then it’s okey-dokey, because you’re not the original casually-racist, colonialist, cultural misappropriator – you’re just being nostalgic about the good ol’ days when other white people could be such without fear of censure.
It seems there’s been some shift in attitude since then. Personally, I’m pleased to see it, as I’ve always thought that hipsters reveling in their revival of “Tiki Culture” was one of the most cringe-worthy recurring topics here on BB.
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As someone who’s grown up without any direct exposure to Tiki culture, I’m not quite sure why it’s so important to some people to keep the culturally appropriating aspects. There’s nothing inherently racist about the actual drinks, or about the tropics and beaches, palm trees and sunsets, so why not have a tropical-themed, colorful, rum drink-heavy scene that focuses on the environment and not parodies of the cultures living in that environment? Yeah, Tikis look cool and all (even the fake ones), but they can be appreciated in other, better contexts in a way that doesn’t hurt and exploit.
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I don’t know, but sometimes is genuine interest, like for instance all the Spaghetti Westerns, made in Italy in the '70s.
This movie was totally filmed near Rome, with a fake Western village, and of course all the Mexicans were actually born in Rome.
In Los Angeles there’s Venice Beach that has also man/made canals and some gondola tours, but actually looks more like Mestre or Lido. I don’t think that is a big problem until one doesn’t start to sell fake Murano glassware. If they are sold as Californian glassware there’s no problem…
As I said, I haven’t split it, so feel free to discuss it for the next five days. If your interest continues past that point, feel free to create a “hidden” topic to discuss it further.
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Smuggler’s Cove in SF seems to do this. They went for a theme that feels more like a pirate ship than a faux-Polynesian beach hut, which is a great way to keep the kitsch, fits well with rum drinks, and draws from western cultural traditions instead of appropriating another culture’s iconography.
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That’s a great note. What’s nearly always missing from these Tiki discussions on this BBS, and in many other forums I’ve seen as well, are the voices of people of Polynesian and Pacific Islander background, especially those with strong opinions on the subject. Which is a real shame, because I’d love to hear their thoughts. While it’s easy to understand how appropriating these images for kitschy decor has the POTENTIAL to cause great offense, to date I haven’t seen much evidence that people care that much. Even in this story from NPR specifically exploring the subject the curator from the Smithsonian Pacific Islander Center, and the only actual critical voice in the story, specifically says that “Pacific Islanders have, for the most part, ignored this whole trend.”
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Aloha, there is nothing racist about you enjoying art from around the world. The difference is that unlike the genuine Native American, Asian, and African art that you mention, Tiki culture is not representative of the Polynesian culture it purports to evoke. Rather, it is a trivializing mockery, which is why many consider it racist. Symbols of profound spiritual significance are distorted and disempowered to create an ambience that is “exotic” yet comfortingly bland. Tiki culture perpetuates patronizing stereotypes of Polynesian cultures and people. I don’t mean to be patronizing, but surely you don’t imagine that the homes of Native Hawaiians are filled with this junk, do you?
Bonus info: Hula is not random wiggling and arm waving, and grass skirts are not worn while dancing it.
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I’m not Native Hawaiian by blood; I’m Filipino and European, but was adopted by a Hawaiian auntie as a younger adult. I know my Hawaiian mother felt belittled by Polynesian pastiches like tiki stuff.
From my own experience, I think it’s correct to say that "Pacific Islanders have, for the most part, ignored this whole trend.” Note the phrase “for the most part”. Many Pacific Island folks are simply unaware of the whole tiki thing, or are too busy trying to provide for a family to do anything but shake their heads over what is just one more example of outsider weirdness. In activist circles, tiki is despised, but with so many social inequities to deal with, it’s just not a high priority. But some years ago, when Dodge was talking about bringing out an SUV called the “Kahuna”, a sufficient number of Hawaiians and allies heard about it to send a wave of letters and emails heading Detroit’s way, and the plan was scrapped.
Personally, I dislike tiki stuff a lot, because it distracts from the beauty of genuine Hawaiian culture. People who encounter tiki may subconsciously believe that they have encountered a real manifestation of the soul of Polynesia, and may look no further. More than once, when someone learned that I played traditional Hawaiian music, I would be asked, “Oh, you mean like Don Ho?” (Cue sound of teeth grinding.) And not long ago, I met a couple visiting Hawaiʻi for the first time. When I told them I was on my way to play music for a group at a hula competition, the wife asked, “Oh, can anybody enter?” That one question conveyed a universe of ignorance about hula’s importance, its precise, never-improvised choreography, and the years of arduous training that it takes to master. Tiki conveys the message that Polynesian culture is unchallenging and shallow; low hanging tropical fruit that can be plucked by any casual passerby.
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My impression too. The number of Polynesian-themed bars and restaurants on Oahu has dwindled down to practically none, and are all but one sequestered in Waikiki, where we can ignore them.
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Thank you! That’s exactly the type of nuanced and personal perspective that I think we need more of in these conversations.
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You’re pretty much talking about Jimmy Buffet and Margaritaville.
(I’ve never been, so I might be wrong and it also appropriates cultures like that?)
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