Planking

[DrPhil]

Some of you know that an Australian man died a couple of months ago while planking: http://www.mobiledia.com/news/90603.html

So, yeah, I believe that planking is DUMB DUMB DUMB. It is dumb even when not done in a dangerous manner.

In addition, some people believe that planking has roots in slavery and that some of the earlier plankers were imitating photos of slaves.

I think planking is dumb regardless but I now see how planking can seem similar to images of slavery. It's still the same level of dumb...but now some people consider it offensive.

Read below and see what you think. If this isn't your kind of topic, peace out.



http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesci...-powerraw.html

http://www.theblackurbantimes.com/20...r-plank-again/

[BluPhire]

Planking has as much roots in slavery as Tommy Hilfiger and Gloria Vanderbilt going on Oprah saying their clothes weren't meant for black people.

It was a stupid game started in Australia by some stupid kids to take photos in the most outrageous places and whoever had the craziest place won the game. Unfortunately thanks to Twitter and Facebook it has affected America.

[AOII Angel]

Those pictures are sad and grotesque. The number of people who died in the crossing is staggering. I can't even imagine how horrible it would feel to be confined in planks.

That being said, just because it has a similar name doesn't mean that it has anything to do with the stupid planking trend. Doing "planks" is an abdominal exercise. Why someone thought it would be a good idea to do planks on things and post pictures is beyond me. Then again, a lot of these Internet trends are.

[AOII Angel]

This is where the slave trade part came in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_down_game

Students at Durham University in Northeast England received criticism for a July 2007 re-creation of the image of the 1788 Brookes abolitionist poster, in a manner reminiscent of the lying down game.[19][20] Such displays have prompted comparisons between the game itself, and the slave trade-era practice and manner of stowing African slaves upon the planks of a slave ship's lower hold.[21][22]

This was one group who purposely made a comparison. The origins were however, not to imitate slave planking. Apparently England forgets its culpability in the slave trade.

[MysticCat]

I have learned something new . . . something stupid and new.

[Drolefille]

I had never heard of 'planking' before today, but it is pretty obvious to me that lying down in dangerous places is a dangerous thing to do.

Obvious point aside, despite the name, and it's not clear from wiki which names are more common where for sure, yet it seems that 'planking' is popular in Australia and NZ, but the 'lying down game' is more common in England (and that name is so very British of them.) My guess is that despite the name being the same, there's not really any connection between the planking 'game' and the use of the term in regards to the slave trade. Particularly since Australia and NZ are unlikely to make the connection. Were the game more similar to the slave trade practice - such as squeezing large numbers of people onto the floor of a small room - I'd see a connection. Although I can see how people would draw the similarities, and might be concerned about the use of the practice, I don't see an actual link.

And @AOIIAngel - In my experience, England acknowledges its role in the slave trade,sometimes better than the US does, but they also abolished slavery in England in 1772, and banned the trade in 1807 throughout the Empire and abolished slavery in the empire in 1833. From 1808 on, they seized slave ships and freed slaves, signed anti-slave treaties with African rulers and overthrew those who would not abolish slavery. (Not that this was all awesomesauce, colonialism isn't all of a sudden amazing just because they abolish slavery or anything.) So there's a sense that Britain 'got it right' much faster than the Americans and didn't require a civil war to do it.

Or at least that's the impression I've gotten.

[katydidKD]

I keep seeing these photos on facebook but I don't get it. What do people get out of it?

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by BluPhire

Unfortunately thanks to Twitter and Facebook it has infected America.

Fixed it for you.

My old college friend posted the "roots in slavery" argument and I countered that, even if the Australians who started this crazy knew slaves were laid in this position, I highly doubt slaves were the very first people to ever lay flat on the ground. I don't minimize how awful slavery was but not everything "controversial" in America has to be correlated to slavery or the civil rights movement.

[knight_shadow]

I think planking is stupid, but every time I see someone comparing it to slavery, I give a huge side-eye.

[Optimus Prime]

Some people have already moved on to even dumber things such as "coning". This is where someone orders an ice cream cone from a fast food restaurant, drives up to the window and then takes the ice cream off of the cone with their hand or grabs the ice cream upside down and eats the cone portion. There is also "owling", where someone perches on top of things like an owl.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by Optimus Prime

Some people have already moved on to even dumber things such as "coning". This is where someone orders an ice cream cone from a fast food restaurant, drives up to the window and then takes the ice cream off of the cone with their hand or grabs the ice cream upside down and eats the cone portion. There is also "owling", where someone perches on top of things like an owl.

I saw the "coning" thing online or on TV and thought it was ridiculously dumb.

I haven't heard of "owling," though, but this shit is getting stupidererer by the minute.

[AGDee]

Which raises the question.. are people getting more stupid or do they just have an avenue to show the world just how stupid people really are?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Which raises the question.. are people getting more stupid or do they just have an avenue to show the world just how stupid people really are?

The silly stupid shit we all have done with our friends is now posted online and imitated by others. It's both stupid and kind of cool.

/never did any of the above things, but I know we had our own stupid shit

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Which raises the question.. are people getting more stupid or do they just have an avenue to show the world just how stupid people really are?

Avenue and copycats.

Christiangirl, this form of planking did not begin in America therefore the comparison to slavery is not based on Americans who plank. Also, as you know, slavery did not begin in the U.S. and The Middle Passage was not just about North Americans going to Africa and other continents to get slaves. And those slaves were sent to North America and other continents. Therefore, despite what textbooks and the mainstream has led people to believe, talking about slavery =/= talking about North America unless you are talking about what happened to slaves once they got to North America. This topic isn't about that.

These are examples of the plank exercise that I do regularly:




While some plankers look like they're doing the plank exercises, others do not. And I'm sure most plankers are just imitating other plankers; and those who may have been imitating slave ships would never admit to it in public. Either way, I don't agree with the slavery comparisons but I don't dismiss them as stupid or completely misdirected. A lot of things exist that I either disagree with or don't know about. Many things are just worth being aware of regardless of whether you agree or will lose sleep over them.

[Regina.George]

Light as a feather ...... stiff as a board .......