I put a mask on a monkey, mask on a monkey...
October 21, 2013 3:45 PM Subscribe
Cruelty, eyeballs, etc etc.
posted by Space_Lady at 3:49 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Space_Lady at 3:49 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
What in the name of Mary, mother of God and all the ships at sea would make you think this was a thing you should share with people?!
posted by Tevin at 3:50 PM on October 21, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by Tevin at 3:50 PM on October 21, 2013 [8 favorites]
Not suitable for those with creepy doll and/or cruelty to animal fears.
posted by snarfles at 3:51 PM on October 21, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by snarfles at 3:51 PM on October 21, 2013 [3 favorites]
That said, I love the aesthetic of it. It's just the eggs broken to make this particular omelette that make me wince a little.
posted by Space_Lady at 3:53 PM on October 21, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Space_Lady at 3:53 PM on October 21, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's sad, because he's just photographing life. If it was only done for an art project it would be kind of interesting and weird, but those monkeys are out on the street every day wearing masks and chains. In it's cultural context, maybe people find it funny (like people used to laugh at organ grinder monkeys), but isolated like this you can see the cruelty of it.
posted by Kevin Street at 3:59 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 3:59 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
Wow, that is horrifying.
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:09 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:09 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
New meme to give us a break from WTF Japan: WTF Indonesia.
Us WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) people have a particular fetish for the "weird" in art, news, sexuality and etc. This certainly fits this category. I love these photos. But, the reality behind the art is obviously discomfiting to all of us animal lovers.
posted by kozad at 4:11 PM on October 21, 2013
Us WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) people have a particular fetish for the "weird" in art, news, sexuality and etc. This certainly fits this category. I love these photos. But, the reality behind the art is obviously discomfiting to all of us animal lovers.
posted by kozad at 4:11 PM on October 21, 2013
These pictures make me really sad.
posted by smoke at 4:21 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by smoke at 4:21 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Trigger, trigger, trigger. Cannot be unseen.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 4:25 PM on October 21, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 4:25 PM on October 21, 2013 [3 favorites]
Before this post, I could have avoided the image of terrifying masked monkeys by simply not travelling to Jakarta. Now? Not so much.
I don't think I like monkeys. I had a couple of students in Japan that lived in some more forested/mountainous areas where wild monkeys lived. Apparently they are pretty comfortable around people and won't back down if they think a person is smaller or weaker. So this small woman I used to teach would essentially get bullied by these monkeys. She said she would come home, and sometimes a monkey would be on her doorstep, eating her food, having broken into her home through a window. And it wouldn't move as she approached, so she would need help from someone to shoo it away before she could get into her house. Sounded kind of awful, really.
But worse than that was the girl whose father had some kind of live-in position at a temple. not sure if he was a caretaker or a priest of some kind, but they lived on the temple grounds which also had a cemetery right nearby. On certain holidays, people would leave food and flowers etc on the graves. Once the visitors have cleared out and the sun starts to go down, monkeys from the woods would descend on the graveyard to get at the scraps of food left behind. So from her house, she would look out at dusk and see a graveyard full of dark figures screeching, screaming, fighting and thrashing around.
posted by Hoopo at 4:25 PM on October 21, 2013 [10 favorites]
I don't think I like monkeys. I had a couple of students in Japan that lived in some more forested/mountainous areas where wild monkeys lived. Apparently they are pretty comfortable around people and won't back down if they think a person is smaller or weaker. So this small woman I used to teach would essentially get bullied by these monkeys. She said she would come home, and sometimes a monkey would be on her doorstep, eating her food, having broken into her home through a window. And it wouldn't move as she approached, so she would need help from someone to shoo it away before she could get into her house. Sounded kind of awful, really.
But worse than that was the girl whose father had some kind of live-in position at a temple. not sure if he was a caretaker or a priest of some kind, but they lived on the temple grounds which also had a cemetery right nearby. On certain holidays, people would leave food and flowers etc on the graves. Once the visitors have cleared out and the sun starts to go down, monkeys from the woods would descend on the graveyard to get at the scraps of food left behind. So from her house, she would look out at dusk and see a graveyard full of dark figures screeching, screaming, fighting and thrashing around.
posted by Hoopo at 4:25 PM on October 21, 2013 [10 favorites]
It's weird to see this getting passed around the Internet as something that is scary, not heartbreaking. Because it's heartbreaking.
posted by Bookhouse at 4:29 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Bookhouse at 4:29 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
I love the aesthetic of it. It's just the eggs broken to make this particular omelette that make me wince a little.
This comment perfectly captures my reaction to these photos as well, and I thought about framing the post in such a way as to express this exact sentiment, but couldn't really find a way that didn't come off as too editorial.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:30 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
This comment perfectly captures my reaction to these photos as well, and I thought about framing the post in such a way as to express this exact sentiment, but couldn't really find a way that didn't come off as too editorial.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:30 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
"Man, we did a great job training these monkeys but they sure are scary lookin'.."
"I know, let's put masks with frozen baby expressions on them and cut the eyes out so they can see better."
posted by phaedon at 4:40 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
"I know, let's put masks with frozen baby expressions on them and cut the eyes out so they can see better."
posted by phaedon at 4:40 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
So from her house, she would look out at dusk and see a graveyard full of dark figures screeching, screaming, fighting and thrashing around.
Now THAT'S some old school Halloween, right there!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:09 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Now THAT'S some old school Halloween, right there!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:09 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Just wait until Caesar sees this blog.
posted by Metro Gnome at 5:49 PM on October 21, 2013
posted by Metro Gnome at 5:49 PM on October 21, 2013
When I was a really little kid, there was an official botanical garden in a housing complex where my mother's friend lived, and there was a troop of baboons living in it. I can't imagine who thought that was a good idea.
I have a vivid early memory of going to visit the friend, my big sister was walking and my mother was carrying me, we started off walking and ended up running the last few yards to her house amidst the trees because we were being stalked by the troop and my sister was at risk of getting snatched! The baboons were removed soon after that.
Monkeys and apes can be pretty scary, and with good reason. They are a lot like humans in their aggression - it's socially organised and very political as Hoopoe notes above, and I think this makes more disturbing, as it mirrors our own behaviour.
Can't imagine how they get them to keep those masks on. Cruelly, probably.
Another uncomfortable street animal tradition.
posted by glasseyes at 5:50 PM on October 21, 2013
I have a vivid early memory of going to visit the friend, my big sister was walking and my mother was carrying me, we started off walking and ended up running the last few yards to her house amidst the trees because we were being stalked by the troop and my sister was at risk of getting snatched! The baboons were removed soon after that.
Monkeys and apes can be pretty scary, and with good reason. They are a lot like humans in their aggression - it's socially organised and very political as Hoopoe notes above, and I think this makes more disturbing, as it mirrors our own behaviour.
Can't imagine how they get them to keep those masks on. Cruelly, probably.
Another uncomfortable street animal tradition.
posted by glasseyes at 5:50 PM on October 21, 2013
I'd rather see their faces. I don't think the artfully weathered masks add very much to the images.
A while ago, a monkey like one of these violently humped the back of my head. I generally keep my distance now but I still hate seeing them chained up.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:39 PM on October 21, 2013
A while ago, a monkey like one of these violently humped the back of my head. I generally keep my distance now but I still hate seeing them chained up.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:39 PM on October 21, 2013
Brrrr. I didn't want for there to be two MeTas about how flapjax is the worst person in the world posted in the same month, but he really doesn't give one much choice.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:40 PM on October 21, 2013
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:40 PM on October 21, 2013
the artfully weathered masks
Interesting observation, especially considering how in Bali (and, I'd imagine, touristy parts of Java as well?) the carvers and artisans are very adept at making their sculptures of winged Garudas and masks and such *look* really old and weathered, though they are in fact brand new. With these baby doll masks, though, I'd imagine the weathering really is just, yeah, actual weathering, without human intervention or artistic considerations.
flapjax is the worst person in the world
Oh, I thought that was established by now. I don't think another MeTa is called for.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:49 PM on October 21, 2013
Interesting observation, especially considering how in Bali (and, I'd imagine, touristy parts of Java as well?) the carvers and artisans are very adept at making their sculptures of winged Garudas and masks and such *look* really old and weathered, though they are in fact brand new. With these baby doll masks, though, I'd imagine the weathering really is just, yeah, actual weathering, without human intervention or artistic considerations.
flapjax is the worst person in the world
Oh, I thought that was established by now. I don't think another MeTa is called for.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:49 PM on October 21, 2013
Bookhouse: "It's weird to see this getting passed around the Internet as something that is scary, not heartbreaking. Because it's heartbreaking."
You're right, it's heartbreaking, but that doesn't stop the pictures from being terrifying. It's a floor wax and a dessert topping.
posted by Bugbread at 9:04 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
You're right, it's heartbreaking, but that doesn't stop the pictures from being terrifying. It's a floor wax and a dessert topping.
posted by Bugbread at 9:04 PM on October 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's weird to see this getting passed around the Internet as something that is scary, not heartbreaking.
I guess it depends the specific intentions (if clearly explained) of who you know who are passing it around. Or, if you don't *really* know, then I suppose it depends on what intentions you ascribe to or project upon the person who is posting it. As it happens, the friend of mine who posted it (at Facebook) was doing so for precisely the two reason Bugbread delineates in his comment just above: she's a big animal rights person who finds the practice tragic, and she finds the images striking and terrifying and of aesthetic interest.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:16 PM on October 21, 2013
I guess it depends the specific intentions (if clearly explained) of who you know who are passing it around. Or, if you don't *really* know, then I suppose it depends on what intentions you ascribe to or project upon the person who is posting it. As it happens, the friend of mine who posted it (at Facebook) was doing so for precisely the two reason Bugbread delineates in his comment just above: she's a big animal rights person who finds the practice tragic, and she finds the images striking and terrifying and of aesthetic interest.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:16 PM on October 21, 2013
Relevant: Jakarta Ramps Up Efforts to End Masked Monkey Performances
posted by mangasm at 7:41 AM on October 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by mangasm at 7:41 AM on October 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
If this practice is diminished because it is terrifying, rather than because it is cruel, I am OK with that.
posted by LogicalDash at 7:57 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by LogicalDash at 7:57 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
I think this would be fine, if they were to regulate it in such a way that, by law, the other end of the chain would be required to be attached to the human's neck.
posted by orme at 7:59 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by orme at 7:59 AM on October 22, 2013
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2. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!
posted by Sys Rq at 3:48 PM on October 21, 2013 [3 favorites]