Comments on: Lego Humvee with instructions

By: meeotch

meeotch — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:34:50 +0000

Did you remember to put the terrorist under the front tire?

By: minininja

minininja — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:23:13 +0000

I made this from the instructions on flickr and my version did’nt turn out the way I hoped.

By: Magnus

Magnus — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:26:09 +0000

Agreed!

And to expand the discussion on LEGO Hummers a little, take a look at what Mad Physicist has been up to. Very interesting piece!

http://militarylego.blogspot.com/2010/02/fist-full-of-hummers.html

By: Thanel

Thanel — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:22:43 +0000

I think the “you’re thinking too much” argument is exactly why I’m uncomfortable with this sort of portrayal. Too many people have an initial prejudiced thought and don’t think beyond it to analyze whether it matches reality or if it’s a harmful bias that can play out negatively in real life. I found *myself* making assumptions without needing to read Tyler’s explanation that it was a pesky terrorist, that troubled me and made me think of all the people I know wont’ put a second thought into it and this will just reinforce their dehumanizing attitude toward other people.

This humvee really is fantastic and it’s awesome that Tyler made instructions for everyone. I’ve also been really impressed with the way he’s handled the furor over it. With class, rather than getting all resentful toward people like me who get our PC knickers in a twist.

By: Cole Blaq

Cole Blaq — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:44:39 +0000

Who is a terrorist? The person being labelled or the person who labels.
Those who control the media and the images are the people at the buttons.

By: The Ranger of Awesomeness

The Ranger of Awesomeness — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:00:03 +0000

@Andrew: For clarity’s sake, it wasn’t -at all- my intent to be dismissive of anyone’s opinions, or be disrespectful, but I can see how it came across that way. Basically, my point was, I don’t think it was meant as more than an off-color joke. And to me the whole thing wasn’t that thought-provoking, but maybe I’m used to a different portrayal of Lego (or realistic for that matter) violence. Thanks for making me aware of my tone.

I apologize to anyone who mistook my post for anything other than an opinion, and as a discounting of other opinions. Carry on. :)

Also – I like the new addition to the header. ;)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:46:14 +0000

@Ranger: I figured it was a device, but I take issue with the intent of that device. You were being dismissive of others’ opinions, and that’s a lack of respect I’d prefer you not make a habit.

By: Magnus

Magnus — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:09:50 +0000

Yeah, it isn’t the fact that a minifig is being run over, it’s the significance of who this particular fig represents, and the idea that this makes it all the more humorous. Obviously if the Hummer was driving over a Stormtrooper or over Joe Vig there woudn’t be the same reaction – but that would be a different picture with a different message.

I can understand that some people who don’t care about this stuff think a big deal is being made of nothing, but this is clearly something that lots of other people do care about. If you don’t care about it, it shouldn’t bother you that does matter to other people. I mean, I don’t care about sports, but I don’t go around telling everyone who does that they are wasting their time getting worked up about some activity where people throw and kick a bag of air around a field. “Live and let live” works both ways.

By: GrosHumainSale

GrosHumainSale — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:41:51 +0000

I think Catsy and Bunbrick really illustrated this well : It’s not about the human being run over, its about the soldier being happy with the result. Its about the fact that this photo show a human being happy with the suffering and death of another one. You wouldn’t digest a U.S. troop under the humvee… its the same thing for others points of view.

By: The Ranger of Awesomeness

The Ranger of Awesomeness — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:32:55 +0000

Andrew, you’re right. That wasn’t really the most well thought out phraseology to use; I read a good chunk of the comments as they stood at about 11 this morning. And I skimmed most of the other ones about half an hour ago. So tl;dr was only partially true. But mostly a device to say “All o’ y’all are thinkin’ ’bout this too much” without all the apostrophes. ;)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:28:33 +0000

@The Ranger of Awesomeness: It seems mutually exclusive to say both “tl;dr” and to generalize the responses of “many people”. Either you read the thread and you’re responding, in which case “tl;dr” was a lie, or you truly didn’t read the thread and therefore have no right to make such generalizations. Which is it?

By: The Ranger of Awesomeness

The Ranger of Awesomeness — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:23:06 +0000

The whole thing=TL;DR.

@BrickArms – Hahaha! Too true. That explains the second photo, they must’ve been unloading cricket bats from the trunk. ;)

What cracks me up is how many people seem to be taking this the wrong way. This is what my thoughts are: Any resemblance to the Abu Ghraib photos was intended as an off-color, satirical joke. The figure in question was used as a prop, to demonstrate the suspension. The ‘terrorist’ was placed there to mock the “Stomp-em-down!” philosophy that has been associated with certain US operations in the middle east, and not as a message of “Hey, isn’t it awesome that he’s laughing at the guy who got run over?” More like “Run ‘em down!”

I just find it hilarious that people are reading so far into this. As has been said, if someone posted a photo of the same scene, but with GI Joes (or space police and aliens, or knights and trolls, etc) there would be no such discussion. The issue here is that current politics are involved, but I don’t see why people need to get so worked up about it.

Maybe it’s just that my generation has been desensitized to ABS violence, but I don’t flinch at the sight of a minifig getting run over by a Lego car. ;)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:33:44 +0000

^ Noone mentioned that because it’s irrelevant to the discussion at hand. ;-)

By: joemerchant

joemerchant — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:18:42 +0000

Yet no one mentioned the fact that GM just announced they are closing down the hummer / humvee line because the deal to sell that line to another corporation has fallen through.

By: wunztwice

wunztwice — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:57:17 +0000

@ Daedalus:

I’d agree with you on the blank, grey fig thing, but darn-it-all, the blank, grey minority of the world just wouldn’t let it go…