If you don’t know what today, 4/20, represents, it embraces the cannabis/marijuana culture. People go out on rallies condemning it and asking for it to be legalised where it is not.
When you think of marijuana, any famous name comes to mind?
While many names might have popped into your head, for Snapchat it was the iconic Bob Marley they decided to commemorate on this day. To do that, the multi-billion company dedicated one of their famous face filters to Marley. This means that their face recognition system will fit Marley’s face and hair on whoever chooses it. While that sounds great and lovely, this filter is actually very offensive in so many ways.
Firstly and most clearly, this filter pretty much amounts for Blackface, as several – but not all – people agree. I only saw white people using this filters, and though black people may use it throughout the day, the fact that just one non-black person used, it is highly offensive. I’ve seen countless insulting snaps today, and would like to share two. The first one was a white Australian girl using the filter on her face and speaking in a funny demeaning accent. The other one, another white girl using the filter, included the caption “In love with the coco, I became one.” Doesn’t that sound so insulting yet?
Also, it reinforces the culture of appropriation where people think it is okay to wear other people’s heritage and looks as costumes.
I expect snapchat to apologise for this idea, even if it they meant it good natured. It is demeaning to Marley as he is reduced to just ‘weed day’. It is also meaningless, since Bob Marley never had a liking for white people anyway and would’ve been disappointed to see this.
Happy 4/20, I guess.
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