WIX Archives
Tell the PC'ers what they can KISS...the TAIL !!!
Posted by Michael on Wed Sep 18, 2002 09:43:02 AM
In reply top Authenticity vs. Political Correctness posted by Ryan Keough on Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:00:26 PM
: For over twelve years we have been touring the B-17 "Nine
: O Nine" and the B-24 "All American / Dragon and His Tail"
: across the United States to over 135 cities a year. In tha
: t time, our B-24 has taken on several paint schemes... ori
: ginally painted all around as the "All American"... then g
: etting the right side redone for sponsorship as "Golden Gi
: rl". In its most recent scheme it is painted as a 5th Air
: Force veteran, the "Dragon and His Tail" of the Joseph Pag
: oni crew in the 43rd BG, 64th BS and commemorating what ma
: y have been the last scrapped USAF surplus B-24 as it stoo
: d in Kingman AZ. The nose art is one of the most memorable
: of WWII as it features a full fuselage design of a dragon
: clutching a bare-breasted woman (in cartoon form).
:
: Though we have had the design on the plane for over two ye
: ars, recently we have started drawing criticisms from a ca
: mpaign by a few people to get the nose art changed, citing
: many opinions based around what can be considered some mo
: re right-wing moral thoughts. In this campaign, it has bee
: n called "public pornography" and "a gateway to further de
: gradation of morality leading to deviant behavior". Though
: some claims are very hard to believe, I respect their opi
: nion and am one of many in the CF that have been rethinkin
: g the future of that paint scheme.
:
: My question is where does one draw the line? Ever since ai
: rcraft have been saved from the scrappers torch, private c
: ollectors and museums have applied authentic nose art to t
: heir aircraft regardless of whether the model has clothes
: or not. The owners simply sought to recreate the aircraft
: as it would have been during WWII. The nose art as it was
: applied in WWII was a symbol of the freedom our men were f
: ighting for, and yes, they expressed that freedom by paint
: ing whatever they wanted on their planes. Our warbirds tod
: ay are historic museum pieces cataloging the history of WW
: II or any other conflict... should they not be painted as
: they were?
:
: When hearing recently that John Ashcroft demanded that an
: antique sculpture of a nude which could be seen in the bac
: kground during press conferences be covered or removed, I
: started to wonder how far we have come. Do we now change h
: istory in reaction to a party political moral code? Are we
: to lock down Renaissance sculpture galleries? Will Nation
: al Geographic now be considered pornographic because of an
: article on a tribe in Africa? What are we to do as warbir
: d owners and enthusiasts... do we pick only nose art that
: shows "lighter" subjects or change existing ones by adding
: bikinis or shirts or burlap sacks to them?
:
: Opinions?