50 Cent sells his skin for money

You might have heard that 50 Cent is making a change. It seems that the bullet magnet is dropping one of his more notable marketing points in his effort to become less 'ghettofabulous'. What might this be? His tattoos.

Now most people of my age or older got tattoos because there was a meaning for them. Each of my 4 tattoos is a symbol of an event or moment in my life. But the meanings of tattoos changed over the years and now are just a common fad, with the majority of people getting them just because it's a popular thing to do. Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) is among that latter group.

50 Cent is removing his tattoos with laser removal to improve his chances of getting film roles. Which says 2 things clearly. The first is that the tattoos have little true meaning, which begs the question why place such a demonstrative and ideally permanent image on his body in the first place? The second is that Jackson (50 Cent) believes that the tattoos somehow interfere with his ability to act.

Personally I believe that a tattoo is a statement for life. No one should ever place something on their body that has no meaning to them. Unlike a hairstyle or clothing, a tattoo is not something that can be changed on a whim. Tattoos are not fashion but a declaration of a person in a manner that announces itself to the world - if it can be easily seen. Given that now such importance is not given to tattoos, sadly.

But as for the conflict with the acting ability of Jackson... well that is another matter. 50 Cent has stated that sleep is more important to him than the tattoos. That the time in make-up to hide the tattoos is detrimental to his film career. Likely there is also the thought that his marketability among Hollywood is higher when tattoos are not prominent.

Generally I find this to mean that 50 Cent is even more of a sell-out than ever before. If the tattoos were more than a statement of his desire to just be popular and follow a trend, then he would keep them. So it implies that he is weak willed in that respect.

His removal of the tattoos in an effort to receive monetaty gain implies his willingness to conform for a price. he is willing to enact extremes just to get a dollar. Which is not too suprising for a person willing to sell drugs for a living. Such an individual is little more than a whore for money, in my opinion, and obviously a sell-out given the chance.

But the thought I really find amusing is the thought that the tattoos in any way might influence his acting ability. One must have talent first, to have anything affect it. Thus far there is no hint of his ability to act, execpt if you include his minstrel act as acting. Therefore tattoos or not, he is rightly relegated to the standard D-class of acting that virtually all rappers-turned-actors deserve.

How good is 50 Cent acting? Well there is the upcoming film Twelve, where he has to stretch his abilities and reach to play a murdering drug dealer. Who knows if he can get into that role. Not that he has life experience there.

The film Get Rich or Die Tryin' was so impressive Samuel Jackson stated he did not want to lend credence to what he believed was an inexperienced and unproven actor. It also promted the quote from film critic Roger Ebert,

"Like Bill Cosby, Jackson is arguing against the anti-intellectual message that success for young black males is better sought in the worlds of rap and sports than in the classroom".

It also was a film that demanded immense acting skill, with 50 Cent playing a drug dealer that hoped to be a rapper.

All in all, lack of tattoos will not improve his lot in gaining roles. He is regarded as he should be, a drug dealer that got popular for being a minstrel. Hollywood has yet to have a reason to treat him better.

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British chaplin wants to use tattoos like Nazi stars

I was considering taking a look at some news on tattoos and happened to do a search on what has been happening. There of course was news on Angelina Jolie getting tattoos for her twins, and that was kind of interesting. I considered speaking on that until I saw something that really made me stop.

In a flash I read the title of this article and saw the Nazi’s forcing Jew’s to wear yellow stars and gays to wear pink triangles. I was reminded of the horror of small minds acting in the most horrific manner to eliminate anyone that was not just like them.

The title was

Homosexuals should carry warning tattoos, says chaplain

Upon reading the article I found that Rev Dr Peter Mullen, who is titled as chaplin to the London Stock Exchange (a hobnorary title it seems as the LSE claims), wrote in a blog interview

“Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH and their chins with FELLATIO KILLS."

The blog was uncreditied and it seems that the entire post was removed. Still that does not change the fact that the comments were made. Rev. Mullen defends himself essentially stating that this was just English humor, and if readers were smart enough they would recognize this and get a chiuckle.

I’m sorry Rev. Mullen, I am familiar with and enjoy English humor. I love the bawdy nature of it, and the often dry delivery. I have lived overseas and had many friends from Britian. I understand British satire well, and those statements are not humorous.

Rev. mullen has also written in that blog post on homosexuals

“clearly unnatural, a perversion and corruption of natural instincts and affections, and because it is a cause of fatal disease.”

So that comment coupled with his wish for branding is supposed to be a joke? I suppose that a KKK member in a white hood burning a cross on my lawn and calling me the N-word in the middle of the night would be a belly-aching raucous laugh riot.

Bollocks!

Tattoos are meant to be an expression of the person with the tattoo. A piece of body art that highlights the essence of the person tattooed. They are NOT a means of branding, discrimination, or persecution.

The outright evil that statement embodies is almost unmentionable. It is difficult to accuately convey in words the anger this evokes in me. And I have to wonder who else is on the list of greatest jokes Rev. Mullen might have. Short people, those of different races, different religions?

Humor is a fine line in many cases. Some jokes don’t translate countries or other demographics. That being a given there is an obvious and dramatic point at which you know you have gone so far as to be just vile. And I often find those who go that far are more expressing their own personal bile and miniscule thoughts than anything else.

In Britian there are calls for the Rev. Mullen to resign or be fired. That is at least what should happen. I would love to see Rev. Mullen explain the humor and “satire” of his comment to Holocaust survivors on British television live.

This is not the light or popular post on tattoos I intended. But I think it is far more, it is vital and potent. Because if this were taken by anyone as a joke, as something of a trifle, then we all start on the road that leads to Auschwitz for any number of people that don’t meet the racist, bigoted, small-minded, irrational, fearful, disgusting standard of some twisted gene pool reject.

Body piercing, tattoos and business stigmas

22 years ago, outside of 29 Palms – a Marine Corps based in the desert, I got my first tattoo. Today I have 4. I don’t have any body piercings though I have often considered a couple of options. Unless you count the ear piercing that I got years ago and occasionally still use.

When I got my first tattoo only military personnel and convicts generally had tattoos. Ear piercings were not totally uncommon, among college students and a few die-hard Navy members (an ear piercing was meant to signify that a sailor had traveled the 7 seas, each additional earring represented an extra trip of 7). Still it was viewed as an oddity to have either, and many a job could be lost if anyone could notice either. The same thing was a problem when I returned to the East Coast in 1995 with my hair braided.

Today 40 percent of those between 26 and 40 have a tattoo and/or body piercing. 36% of those under 25 also have one or both of the body art options. And still it’s possible to lose a job because of the individual choice to enhance their body.

Now I understand that a doctor with multiple facial piercings might be problematic in say surgery. I can understand how body piercings might affect work with heavy machinery or construction. But I don’t understand how this affects researching which stock is best for an investor, or how it prevents a lawyer from quoting applicable law for or against a defendant. It’s the same argument I was faced with when I was a stockbroker and decided to get my cornrows back in.

The owners of the firm were aghast; they feared all my clients would abandon me. That somehow I would run clients and brokers from the office. Mind you that I was the only Black broker in the firm and had been there for 3 years at that point.

I put in the cornrows and not a single client or broker left the firm. Not a single client of mine complained – though a few did make comments (positive and negative) to me directly. The world did not end, and business went on as usual. And not a single person was worried about my 4 tattoos – if they knew I had them.

I say all this because of an article I noticed at The Orion - Sweet body art can affect job offers

In this article it notes that college students going off to start their careers or just get jobs should seriously consider the effect that their body art might have. Far too many businesses still have a problem with hair styles, tattoos and body art. Which is insane.

Yes a person with tattoos covering their body might mean they are obsessive-compulsive, or they could just be Samoan. Yes a facial body piercing might be different unless you might happen to be from or know about India. In a world, and more importantly a nation, where cultures from everywhere interact everyday how can we still hold onto values that are solidly defined by the values of the racist, segregationist 1950’s?

My tattoos have meaning to me. My hair style is an expression of my self-image and at times heritage. Piercings are equally as sentimental and as much an expression.

Hearing that such diversity is still burdened by the stigmas of a part of America that was the most repressed and ignorant is saddening. Yes the younger generation of America should keep a thought to what businesses demand today, but they should also keep an eye to when they own and manage their own businesses. Stigmas only exist as long as we give them power. We are now in the 21st century, I think it’s time we let the stigmas of the 50’s die the death they deserve.

What's the big deal about body piercings?

Time and again I have read about the horrors of body piercing. The stories warning people tend to come out most during the summer months. I suppose that this is the time that most vanilla types (normal non-pierced people) notice piercing the most.

But the hype is really way over the top. There are millions of people with piercings, and they range from business owners to the kid on the skateboard down the block. While those who are younger tend to be flashier with their piercing don’t believe this is only a young kid’s fad. I have known lots of friends that go to the office, proudly knowing that their piercing will never be notice except by the most perceptive of people.

But what I’d really like to know is this. Why are so many people offended or fearful of piercing? It’s not the people with piercing (or tattoos for that matter) that tend to write most of the stories or spreading rumors of horror and pain. And I notice that people without these body enhancements are the most concerned about them.

Since a piercing or tattoo on one person has nothing to do with anyone else, where does the concern come from?