I’m having a little trouble getting motivated this month. -Ron
Image Collections: I would like to take the time to let our readers know that it is not our policy to share image collections with those who request them. There are copyright concerns involved and the last thing we need to do is run afoul of the law in that regard. We publish a sampling of images for a legitimate journalistic purpose and are grateful when others share with us to make this possible. If you want to request images relevant to a particular post, make your request in the comments section and perhaps another reader will be gracious enough to respond. And if someone offers a download of a collection, please take advantage in a timely manner. Most downloads are time-sensitive and may require a password provided by the uploader.
Children’s Plight for Freedom: In an earlier ‘Maiden Voyages’ post, I mentioned a documentary about an effort in Haiti to overcome the practice of human trafficking, especially of children for the most nefarious purposes. The man involved in this project, Paul Hutchinson, not only operated in Haiti but the international trade generally. He collected enough footage of his efforts to share them on The Jordan Harbinger Show. A film documenting the greater scope of these activities—Sound of Freedom (2023)—has recently been released to high acclaim.
Album Cover Collection: One of our readers has discovered and shared a site with an extensive album cover collection featuring mostly naturist children. Many of these items were featured on Pigtails before, but many have not. These images feature both boys and girls.
Life in the USSR: In a recent episode of Bruce Carlson’s My History Can Beat Up Your Politics shared a few anecdotal stories about life in the Soviet Union. The Gorbachev era was especially confusing for the KGB and other law enforcement because of the push for more freedoms and the rule of law. Diplomats and spies were in a special position of having access to so-called corrupt Western culture in the form of books, audio recordings and film. Sometimes these things were collected without the knowledge of one’s own family—for their own protection. But a few allowed their children access to this contraband. In one case, a child was careless, having brought one of the books to school and was reported. The authorities raided the house and confiscated this extensive collection. The usual procedure was to destroy the materials and put the offender in prison, but these were strange times. Due to convoluted political forces in country, the collection was actually returned—all except two films: a gang film that was considered too violent and the other was Pretty Baby considered too pornographic!
Wow, for no particular reason I looked up Ranxerox after (X) years, I had forgotten all about it, and ran across your site. It’s impressive, and the word ‘brave’ is overused currently but yeah, you and your site are exactly that.
I work in visual media and my creative arc was seriously altered by the Mike Diana prosecution in 1994. That verdict was terrifying, in effect prohibiting an artist from drawing images from their own imagination in the privacy of their own home. The Art World ignored it, and I still consider that failure to be a stain on the ‘Art World’ of the United States that can never be washed out.
I did a very early ‘graphic novel’ before most were even using the term, and was terrorized by the Diana case. If one includes a scene of romantic/sexual relations between adults in a graphic novel, and then 20 pages later there is an image of a child, how does that appear to a person not accustomed to the concept of a printed graphic novel? To such a person all the images are concurrent, not consecutive; and can/will see such a work as transgressive. Print to such a person is a flat tableau, and not like a movie, which involves Time, and separates the two story elements.
It was a terrifying idea and it did a lot of damage to my own arc.
Anyway, your site is impressive!
I think you are greatly underestimating people’s ability to process a graphic novel sequentially. I don’t know anyone who would think page 5 is concurrent with page 25.
That said, you are right that it’s a deep shame that the art community completely blew off Mike Diana. Unfortunately, there are many people who advocate for tolerance and acceptance… right up until they hit some arbitrary line that they chose not to tolerate, refusing to admit how hypocritical that is. I have discovered, for instance, that even the most determined LGBT activists can be even more determined gymnophobes, especially when it relates to children. I have LGBT friends who were so outraged when I said it would be okay for their kids to go skinny dipping in our hot tub when they didn’t have swimsuits, they very nearly severed our friendship completely. It’s sad.
It is very depressing how in our own time there has been such an extreme backlash against child nudity, even among people who cannot possibly pretend to be traditionalists.
You are very correct. It is a VERY complicated thing though. For example, there are segments of the ‘Alphabet People’ that I very much am against. So, I am very against certain segments, BUT, at the same time I frown on their siding with mainstream society in their view of nude children. I find this EXTREMELY hypocritical, since a segment of their organization VERY MUCH advocates a minor’s right to undergo some VERY EXTREME physical changes! But, by them opposing child nudity they are trying to make themselves look like a part of the majority, and maybe get approval. I consider most of society, here in the United States especially, to be VERY mixed up with their priorities.
Psychologically speaking, this situation could be interpreted in another way. If one has a dysfunctional attitude about the human body and conventional visual cues of gender, it is not unreasonable that such people would object to prominent displays of the naked body. I will not comment on the other cans of worms you have opened up. -Ron
They hate normal, natural bodies.
Have you done any reviews of the 1997 film Bandyta? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard_(1997_film)
No, but if you look at our films list, it is on your radar. These things can be looked up on the site. -Ron
Sorry to hear that you are having trouble getting motivated. I know this is an all volunteer site, and you are not paid to be editor. I’m sure it can at times be a hassle to take time to send requested images, in addition to copyright concerns.
I have two questions regarding requests for image collections:
1) People are taking a risk if they post an email address on a public site and ask that images be sent to the address. Should I allow them to assume that risk and post an emailaddress in comments?
2) If a link to an upload on a file sharing site is posted in comments, is there any risk to Pigtails? Could we be held responsible if the linked file includes a copyright infringement or illegal pornography?
It’s complicated to say the least. Basically, if a commenter is willing to share, they will let me know privately and give me permission to share either a link or their email. This can all be done behind the scenes and all I would be doing is connecting people who request it. However, it is perfectly fine to share image collections with Pigtails since our intent is to use it in a critical review which falls under the Fair Use Clause of the Copyright Act of 1980 and similar legislation in other countries. I cannot say there is a set policy. Caution is often called for and I will do my best to use good judgment about sharing so that administrators and readers are not subjected to legal action. -Ron
PS – I would be interested in ideas on how sharing can be done in a supervised and safe manner.
The film Sound of Freedom is a piece of QAnon paranoid propaganda, see for instance the review in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jul/06/sound-of-freedom-movie-qanon-jim-caviezel
This film purports to tell the story of Tim Ballard, in reality a conservative Mormon, a fanatical Trump and QAnon supporter, who fights pro-abortion activists and the LGBT community. He has embarked on a career of “pedo-hunter” with his organisation Operation Underground Railroad, setting up spectacular “rescue” operations, without any regards to truth and the rights of suspects, going as far as pressuring children and parents to testify against them. About Tim Ballard, see Newgon: https://www.newgon.net/wiki/Operation_Underground_Railroad
Finally, for a good exposure of the film, the actor Jim Caviezel and the person of Tim Ballard, see the review in Media Matters for America: https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/jim-caviezel-pushes-qanon-bizarre-media-blitz-new-anti-trafficking-movie
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkaqvn/tim-ballards-departure-from-operation-underground-railroad-followed-sexual-misconduct-investigation
Sickening if true. For now, I am going to reserve a certain amount of skepticism. I have reasons to believe the charges are true or that they could be part of a frame-up.
First, from a psychological perspective, the fact that Ballard was planning to run for the senate struck me as a feature of a narcissist who thrives on the ardor of people which may be a deeper neurotic motivation for his “heroic” work. If this admittedly superficial analysis is true, it is not surprising that such a person would feel a sense of privilege and would not have many checks on his behavior. Additionally, I have to wonder about the merit of pretending to be married in the eyes of human traffickers.
On the other hand, human trafficking is really a societal problem and rescuing children and shutting down the middlemen feels like holding the tide back with a broom. Although a godsend to those fortunate few, it is likely not more than a dent in the overall problem. If Ballard were successful in interfering with the “supply” of one particular powerful party, it would not be outside the realm of possibility to have him framed and hire people to offer their testimony to stop his interference.
The only way to see justice here is a careful examination of the veracity of the women making the accusations AND extreme skepticism is called for in the media’s way of framing the story in either direction. -Ron