Say That Again - Slowly...?
Monty Python couldn't have invented an improvement on this priceless skit entertaining Germany at the present time. And don't we all deserve a little diversion from time to time, from concerns about such irrelevancies as collapsing economies and terror attacks, joblessness and the truly dreadful double scourge of abortion and condom use?
Indignation over copyright entitlements has created a tiff between a German pastor and Germany's toy company Playmobil producing Klicky figures meant for children. The Reverend Markus Bomhard, an evangelical, used these colourful click-together figurines, the delight of German children, to create imaginative biblical pastiches attractive to children, to bring them to an understanding of biblical characters and events.
He cleverly glued breasts on an "Eve" character, and depicted the Crucifixion by softening the Christ figure's hands with a hairdryer to enable him to mould the hands to a cross. The good reverend even states that he received a missive from Pope Benedict XVI in praise of his imaginative creations bringing children closer to the many stories of Christian belief.
He was proud of his resourceful and imaginative creations and posted photographs of them on the Internet.
Which is when the ever-watchful eyes of copyright legal-eagles discovered his heinous crime and threatened court action unless he speedily dismantled his Playmobil Noah and ark, Mary on a donkey, and Jesus in the manger. Reverend Bomhard does not quite comprehend how his manipulation of these little figurines constitute a sin, given the sacred purpose to which they were put.
But the toy manufacturers are quite serious, he must cease and desist. And since it's too late to qualify as an April Fool's prank, he must accept the reality that the company is comprised of fools. The company, however, is adamant: "We are quite tolerant if this is done in the privacy of the home but if someone crucifies a Playmobil figure, or, as in the case of Eve, glues on breasts, then this is a completely different dimension."
Mind-boggling, truly out of this world.
One must not, cannot, seek to play God with the clever little plastic figures produced by Playmobil. To do so is tantamount to committing a copyright sin. As the company explains, transformation of the figures represents a "massive manipulation of the figures, for example reshaping their arms with a hairdryer or candle to nail them to a cross."
Really, this is absurd to the nth degree. Surely it's time for the Vatican to involve itself?
Indignation over copyright entitlements has created a tiff between a German pastor and Germany's toy company Playmobil producing Klicky figures meant for children. The Reverend Markus Bomhard, an evangelical, used these colourful click-together figurines, the delight of German children, to create imaginative biblical pastiches attractive to children, to bring them to an understanding of biblical characters and events.
He cleverly glued breasts on an "Eve" character, and depicted the Crucifixion by softening the Christ figure's hands with a hairdryer to enable him to mould the hands to a cross. The good reverend even states that he received a missive from Pope Benedict XVI in praise of his imaginative creations bringing children closer to the many stories of Christian belief.
He was proud of his resourceful and imaginative creations and posted photographs of them on the Internet.
Which is when the ever-watchful eyes of copyright legal-eagles discovered his heinous crime and threatened court action unless he speedily dismantled his Playmobil Noah and ark, Mary on a donkey, and Jesus in the manger. Reverend Bomhard does not quite comprehend how his manipulation of these little figurines constitute a sin, given the sacred purpose to which they were put.
But the toy manufacturers are quite serious, he must cease and desist. And since it's too late to qualify as an April Fool's prank, he must accept the reality that the company is comprised of fools. The company, however, is adamant: "We are quite tolerant if this is done in the privacy of the home but if someone crucifies a Playmobil figure, or, as in the case of Eve, glues on breasts, then this is a completely different dimension."
Mind-boggling, truly out of this world.
One must not, cannot, seek to play God with the clever little plastic figures produced by Playmobil. To do so is tantamount to committing a copyright sin. As the company explains, transformation of the figures represents a "massive manipulation of the figures, for example reshaping their arms with a hairdryer or candle to nail them to a cross."
Really, this is absurd to the nth degree. Surely it's time for the Vatican to involve itself?
Labels: Life's Like That, Religion
posted by Pieface | 6:13 PM
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