Neutralisation
It finally happened. I received the first ever complaint about my conduct in 40 years of employment. It involves the photo above. Can you spot the thing that would cause a homeowner to take the trouble of trying to dob me in with an estate agency? Probably not. On the right hand edge of the frame is a bookcase, and I digitally removed something from that bookcase.
The “golliwog” is a doll that depicts a black person, using hugely exaggerated physical characteristics. I’ll not bore you with the history of the item so I’ve linked to a couple of articles to save some typing:
Another article about the dolls
Needless to say, they are a throwback to times when white folk deemed racist tropes to be a bit of harmless fun, but have since become a symbol of things that need to go away now. I tried to find an article that defended the item, but short of visiting sites that would put me on a domestic terrorist watchlist, it was impossible.
Whenever I visually scan an image of a room for imperfections, or things to edit out during the post-production process I look for hanging cables, things hastily shoved under beds or tables, wall adornments that have nudity or swear words on them, family photos depicting identifiable faces, and things that just don’t add to the vibe of the space. These are then blurred or removed to neutralise the image so that it doesn’t offend or draw attention to anything negative. Personal items can put people off or draw attention which deters would-be viewers. just visit one of the “spotted on Rightmove” forums to see what I’m talking about. Here’s another article, and another.
A doll with racist undertones meets my criteria for something that has the potential to offend others. The homeowner (who lives around the corner from me) didn’t agree, and considered my act of editing as “censorship” and “blatant revisionism” whilst “removing his right to free speech”. I had to look up some of that (not being as intelligent as most people and all that), only to find that the word “revisionism” describes some Marxist doctrine. Fancy that?
Luckily, the agent took the view that it wasn’t an unacceptable action to remove the potentially offensive item digitally, which is fortunate as I’d be prepared to die on that hill. Boomers need to be a bit more Marxist as far as I’m concerned.
