Walgreens sells "illegal alien" costume
Via Women's Glib, we find out that Walgreens is selling an "illegal alien" costume. Seriously. Even worse? It's so popular, that it's sold out.
You can contact Walgreens here.
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I'm not as horrified by this (and other stories about "illegal alien" costumes) as a lot of people seem to be. I always thought these costumes were designed to be a mockery of the concept of an "illegal alien" -- basically saying, "come on, immigrants aren't terrifying creatures from outer space! See how ridiculous this is?" In that context, and from that angle, these costumes strike me as being a positive form of social commentary, a way to combat racism and nativism with humor.
Am I missing something? Are people actually wearing these to make fun of immigrants? Or are people horribly offended by them for some other reason?
Satire can always be read two ways. In college my liberal friend loved the t-shirt he saw one guy wear which said, "Join the Army. Travel the World. Meet interesting people. Kill them."
He liked it up until he spoke to the guy & he said no irony was intended.
Sigh. There are certain people who will NEVER understand irony or satire. For instance, there will always be idiots who think that The Simpsons or Family Guy actually encourage stupidity and they proudly revel in being stupid, when both shows are actually mocking stupid people.
I don't know...I don't really consider Walgreens a bastion of irony and satire.
I can definitely see where people object to this - but to me it comes off as a joke. Satirising the kerfuffle around "illegal aliens".
If I analyse it - the prison-like jump suit, in particular - I can see where the damaging stereotypes come in. But, at first glance, it seemed like a silly jibe at the panic about illegal immigration
I'm with Lily. I see this on a play on words by calling non documented workers illegal 'aliens'.
It's possible I'm obtuse. I have been before, but I don't see it as offensive, when they have an extra terrestrial in an orange jumpsuit to play off the words.
I don't think anyone is saying that undocumented workers or whatever minority you want to plug in is an extra-terrestrial or is from another planet and is involved in wrongdoing.
I'm offended by peoples' complete lack of creativity when it comes to Halloween costumes these days. Most of them seem to either set out to shock people or seduce them. Bo-ring.
They've already pulled it.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-talk-illegal-alien-costumesoct20,0,508626.story
At first I thought it was hilarous and ironic, because I knew it was a play-on with the words.
I didn't even realize this was considered offensive...
I'm not really sure what to think, to be honest.
To everyone who thinks this is witty commentary and not directed at Latin Americans:
As an option, you can also buy the "Illegal Alien Mask" to go with the costume. The mask has the black handlebar mustache of the stereotypical "Mexican movie villain."
"Illegal Alien Mask"
This isn't an ironic play on words.
It's disgusting.
Also, just because something is a play on words doesn't mean it's not racist.
There has been a lot of advocacy going on the past few days to get these costumes off the shelves. Walgreens pulled it a few days ago, which is probably why it's showing up as "out of stock." Check out United Farm Workers' action: http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/halloween2009
I believe it's still available on Amazon, so more advocacy is needed! Not to mention the ongoing work of ensuring people treat other human beings with basic respect, regardless of their immigration status.