Bette Davis Stamp

[Caleb Moore]

I was curious what folks here thought of this. http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/10/thank_you_for_smoking.html

It seems there is a new Bette Davis stamp featuring a painting of a classic image of the actress, only her ubiquitous cigarette has been removed.

As a fan of hers I have to say I am against this. It misrepresents her and looks silly to boot. I'm certainly not one who wants to encourage people to start smoking, but I don't really think this would and it is more important not to revise history to meet an agenda.

(If this is in the wrong place or has been covered elsewhere, please (re)move. Thanks)

-CM

 

[Kassia]

I agree! There are probably hundreds of photos they could have used..

 

[Nighthawk]

I don't understand this at all.................


NH

 

[Paisley]

I hate smoking, but even I think this is pretty namby-pamby.

 

[scotrace]

Well said. And it does smack of Satlinist photo editing.

 

[Delthayre]

It has gotten silly

How very silly and absurd! Then again, as Roger Ebert notes in a journal entry upon the subject, "We are all familiar, I am sure, with the countless children and teenagers who have been lured into the clutches of tobacco by stamp collecting, which seems so innocent, yet can have such tragic outcomes."

The picture of Robert Johnson featured at the end of the entry is even more dire; it looks as though the poor man has just come back from the dentist or perhaps had a stroke.

 

[HadleyH]

I agree with everyone here.

The photo editing in Bette Davis stamp is wrong somehow, they shouldn't do that sort of thing. [huh]

 

[Caleb Moore]

Well, I am glad to see we are on the same page. I thought perhaps some would say it's an acceptable practice and that smoking shouldn't be glamorized. I would hope that most of us know better by now, whether we smoke or not.

 

[Feraud]

The Bette Davis image looks ridiculous with her fingers posed in that position.
Apparently the USPS thinks their stamps are influential enough to warrant such editing.
They did the same thing to Robert Johnson.

Somone in charge is afraid to accept the fact that we can honor our historical figures, "warts and all".
humbug.


My favorite quote

Robert Mitchum smoked so much, he told me, that when the camera was rolling on "Out of the Past," Kirk Douglas offered him a pack and asked, "Cigarette?" And Mitchum, realizing he'd carried a cigarette into the scene, held up his fingers and replied, "Smoking." His improvisation saved the take. They kept it in the movie.

 

[Fletch]

The photo editing in Bette Davis stamp is wrong somehow, they shouldn't do that sort of thing. [huh]

Spoken like someone who's had a smoking implement added to her picture. I'd say that settles it! :eusa_clap

Fark.com had a long and semi-hilarious discussion on this very topic. It was suggested that the next thing to be edited out of vintage pix will be the hats, on account of the mercury used to cure the felt.

 

[HadleyH]

Spoken like someone who's had a smoking implement added to her picture. I'd say that settles it! :eusa_clap

{{{ Fletch, noooooooooooooooooooooo }}} lol lol lol lol i didnt mean it that way!!!
you can add but you can not subtract! he he

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Smoking, while detestable from a health standpoint, was a common part of life back in the day, especially in the movies. Whitewashing history doesn't do a thing for anybody.

Besides, she looks silly with her fingers in a cigarette-holding pose, and no cigarette.

 

[Hondo]

I agree with everyone here.

The photo editing in Bette Davis stamp is wrong somehow, they shouldn't do that sort of thing. [huh]

Quite right! also agree, it was a different era, time and it was Bette Davis,
leave the girl alone, photo editing is wrong, dead wrong!
Not being a smoker (I quit years ago) seems to me infringing on freedom,
Smokers today know the risks, pay higher taxes,
these taxes go almost and support anything everywhere.

R.I.P. Bette we love ya! Smoking or not!

 

[dakotanorth]

Removing cigarettes?

To quote the movie "Thank You for Smoking":
No, no, I think we're IMPROVING history....

History is a fact, yet it's always open to interpretation. Even though it shouldn't be.