Is mural of girl feeding beaver at adult bookstore taboo?

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://wtvr.com/2015/05/15/taboo-adult-bookstore-feedurbeaver-mural-controversy/
RICHMOND, Va. – Some viewers contacted WTVR CBS 6 News when they spotted a mural being painted on the side of an adult bookstore in Richmond.

The vibrant, cartoonish work depicts a female feeding a purple beaver an apple. But some fear the colorful creation may attract children.

Jason Sears has nothing but praise for the mural, but questions where it was installed.



“It’s beautiful… It’s just scary that a kid might come in and expect to see a children’s book store,” Sears said.

[daleanime]

1. ......

[onehandle]

2. Porno is in the eye of the beholder.

The girl appears to be an adult.

The beaver appears to be a cartoon beaver.

[nationalize the fed]

3. WWDB Think

What Would Drew Barrymore Think

[immoderate]

4. What do they think a mural for an adult book store should look like?

--imm

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. they don't want a mural that will attract children

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Will random groups of children gather at that wall like bugs to a streetlamp?

"A mural that will attract children"

I can just see it. Roving bands of unsupervised children, slowly inching up to that wall in awe.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. Some social media users also expressed concern over the artwork

Some social media users also expressed concern over the artwork - which is a reference to either the act of sexual intercourse or female masturbation - with one writing on Reddit: 'So frightening.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3084749/Outrage-artists-paint-mural-woman-feeding-beaver-adult-bookstore.html#ixzz3aMkSkU6R

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. Really?

"concern" eh? Wow....well....I guess we should do something about it then.

I am going to separate you from what you posted, so I don't accuse or include you in with a group of people who clearly have too much time on their hands.

I love this bit;

"'It sets a dangerous precedent' and may provoke uneasiness, one claims"

Yes. Quite. Can't have anyone uneasy, now can we?

Jesus H. Christ riding a bear wearing a tutu (the bear, not Jesus).

I think this qualifies as some serious pearl clutching.

[krispos42]

54. why not both the bear AND Jesus?

:-D

[JI7]

17. yes, i can see something like this attracting children

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. Please.

Elaborate.

To paraphrase Louis CK, Why should they have to modify it because some parents don't want to have a talk with their shitty kids?

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. "shitty kids"? that is a bit over the top

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. Yes it is.

But it's accurate. Some kids are shitty and some have shitty parents.

If the child is old enough to be walking down the street unsupervised, one could reasonably presume that same child can read.

Therefore, if they are indeed "attracted" to this mural, when they get to the door, they will see the signs indicating this store is for adults only. Right? And then NOT ENTER, right? Or are the hypothetical children in this scenario.....idiots?

Or do we need to make sure that everything is as clean and nice and neat as Mayberry because some parents don't want to take the time to explain that an adult oriented business is not for them.

This country is a nation of puritanical hypocrites.

[KittyWampus]

56. It's an issue of using a graphic that looks like an illustration from a children's book

to attract customers to a porn shop.

And it's done large so people driving by will see it.

So it's creepy at best and toys with pedophilia.

This is obvious. It may be legal. But it's tasteless in the context it was done.

[Warren Stupidity]

60. how are these "kids" going to get to this strip mall store on the highway?

Are they going to ride their little bikes?

[phil89]

53. And kids are looking for kids'

bookstores these days lol.

[kentauros]

48. I have some suggestions,

from classical art

[msongs]

5. whose foot is that? can't be hers...anatomically speaking that is nt

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Seriously.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. A very large person just out of frame is about to stomp on her leg....

or her bum. One of the two.

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. you have ruined the mural for me. now I only see that big Damn foot

[Vattel]

52. I am going to drive down to Richmond, get a bucket of paint, and paint over that foot.

I don't want kids being disturbed by bad perspective.

[Nay]

22. Agreed. Looks like someone is going to step on her. nt

[TeeYiYi]

24. The praying mantis arms are a little disconcerting too. ..nt

TYY

[Frank Cannon]

59. I'm glad you mentioned that.

That was the very first thing I noticed.

It's actually kind of creepy, because you're left wondering whose foot that is, and why is it just sticking into the frame like that.

[jmowreader]

11. Jason Sears should NEVER go to the Fremont district of Seattle

There's a waxing salon there that has a taxidermied, formerly-live, beaver in the window.

[ismnotwasm]

14. Creepy that it's a little-girl style motif

What with the braids and all. I don't think it would "attract children" however. What it would attract is far more unsavory.

The mural is excellent--I love street art.

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. "Far more unsavory"?

Like what? Consenting adults looking for something in the way of a sexually explicit book?



FFS

[ismnotwasm]

25. Whoa there

Chill. I was thinking more along the lines of pedos

[A HERETIC I AM]

28. Oh, for crying out loud. (Edited)

Don't you think that unsavory sort is already down at the school 15 blocks away?

Please.

And BTW, I KNOW what you were thinking. I got it. It's still ridiculous.

[ismnotwasm]

30. Dude, it's merely an observation--calm down

It's a female with apparent age a tad ambiguous. Is she 12 with makeup on? And I hope like hell the fuckers aren't at the school jezzus pleezus.

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. LOL...calm down?

Here's a test;

Determine my state of mind when I post the following;



How about now;


(That's a wombat wearing a tutu)

How about now?:

?w=268

And finally, now;


(That's a shot of the home of the owner of Papa Johns Pizza)

Was I calm during any or all of those?


Now....a mural of a girl/woman/female feeding a rodent a piece of fruit on the side of a naughty book store ranks on my outrage meter somewhere between a beaver wearing a tophat and a wombat wearing a tutu.

And my handwringing concern for the sexual proclivities of people I don't know?

IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS.

[ismnotwasm]

32. I think you're all worked up

Maybe you should take up meditation or something

[A HERETIC I AM]

33. Wow...you seem to be really concerned about my well being.

Perhaps you need a new distraction.

Here;



let me know if you need more help.

I think your concern for what the mural would "attract" is telling. Is it fear? Or ...hope?


Silly person.

[ismnotwasm]

34. No I really care

I have plenty of things to distract me, thank you for the offer by the way--I'm always willing to express concern when someone seems overwrought.

I wasn't all that concerned about the mural, truth to tell.

[A HERETIC I AM]

36. "I wasn't all that concerned about the mural, truth to tell"

I don't think it would "attract children" however. What it would attract is far more unsavory.

No, of course you aren't. Bless your little heart.

Have another picture to take your precious mind off the more unsavory;

[ismnotwasm]

37. My that's cute!

Were do you get all these creative pictures? And I haven't put up even one, being less emotionally invested apparently.

[A HERETIC I AM]

44. Your version of "I know you are, but what am I?"

Fair enough.

You are completely emotionally detached from the mural.

Have a great morning. Don't let no pedos get ya! Damned unsavory types!

[ismnotwasm]

58. Yawn. Had to go to bed. I apologize for not getting back to you.

The game is more I know what I am but what are you?

[JI7]

21. i have a business and something like this would attract children

they seem more drawn to images also . it actually is kind of nice. if it was in a park that would be nice.

i agree about being more worried about certain types of adults customers though . and i know a lot of sex shops are involved in other activity besides what you see in the front.

[ismnotwasm]

26. Yes they are

I had a friend who ran a few old fashioned porn stores for years-- the stories he could tell.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. I would dispute the "excellent" part. For one, someone really needs to study human anatomy better.

Like, what the everloving fuck is up with that foot? Either there's something horribly wrong with her leg, or it belongs to someone else who is about to... what, step on her?

[ismnotwasm]

38. Artistic license-- or something like

The foot spoils the picture true.

[Warren DeMontague]

39. Unless they're going for a surrealism thing.

Having had a little experience painting murals, I can say it's pretty hard to grok the entire picture while you're doing it. I suspect it made sense to the artist from 4-5 feet away, but you move back across the street and it's glaringly off.

[ismnotwasm]

41. LOL!

It look like her legs are 15 feet longer than her body, -- the Dali effect

[gwheezie]

18. I like it except for the foot

People in Richmond should worry about other stuff.

[Warpy]

29. If kids come in, they'll be asked to leave immediately

I don't see a massive problem here, really.

[SMC22307]

40. The foot creeps me out. And the little girl angle.

But it looks like a rather gross part of town (could be wrong about that), so why not a colorful mural?

Hmm, wonder if there was an uproar when The Bearded Clam opened in Ocean City, Maryland.

[Lancero]

42. Kinda surprised that no one has made mention of what feed the beaver is a euphemism for.

[SMC22307]

43. I think we all get that.

I'm just amazed a certain group hasn't descended on this thread in all their glory.

[NBachers]

45. I find the foot disruptive & disconcerting. It concerns me. It throws everything way out of balance.

The whole thing does what art is supposed to do.

[F4lconF16]

46. Not a real fan of the appearance.

Too ambiguously young.

Otherwise, whatever.

[JonLP24]

47. If I'm at an adult shop

I wouldn't expect to see something I probably wouldn't worry about Taboos. You have the peep viewing rooms in the back, all kinds of elaborate products & gimmicks.

On second look she looks sorta young, the proportion in height isn't noticeably off but painting isn't as easy as it looks. I don't think it would be something intentionally designed though there is a market for the 18-year-old "barely legal" but they have sort of categories but promoting this sort of pornography would be bad for business. This was probably the best mural artist they could buy & find for a local shop, I always did a very poor job of drawing humans years when I could actually draw landscapes. I had a teacher who had the lampposts & European night street appear very realistic but is hard. The famous ones such as Da Vinci were mathematicians who used it heavily in their paintings. I can't remember his exact words but at-the-start on his A Treatise on Painting with "Let no one read me who is not a mathematician." which is mainly a math book that doubles as a "how to paint" book.

[Monk06]

49. Just looks like bad Disney Manga to me.

[jakeXT]

51. The store probably loves the PR, while children are surfing the net

at home.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/teenmedia/pdf/xrated.pdf

[bigwillq]

55. No

I think it's cool.