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show-us-kaidenshenandoah · 9 months ago

Photo

the promised image descriptions (+ the asterisked footnote bits) are in the Read More down below:

(*×1: "what was that about theaters being s3xüál?" well, there's not too many resources i can think of for the USA of this "phenomenon" (for lack of a better term), but look at the movie "Cinema Paradiso" and then look at the history of Italian cinema if you want to get into the s0ft-core p0ŕñ of early cinema that the USA tries to ignore that it ever could have even KINDA participated in pre-Hays code. but the USA did participate in that kinda stuff during early cinema. just. thats harder to research than Italy bc, again, we like to pretend we didnt do that. but Italy was way more willing to get graphic and hasnt been even half as shy about having participated in. but Betty Boop was part of the USA's participation in that, for sure. but yeah. in an age where p0ŕñ was kinda hard to get, $3x-w0ŕk3rs cost money, but movie tickets were p accessible, all pre-Hays Code?? yeah, American animators and filmmakers made money being a lil "spicy" as it were. again, i dont know a lot of USA based resources off the top of my head to confirm this besides "....look at Betty Boop's shorts" + "look at Italian cinema's history which didnt try to hide this part of its history, unlike the USA and Hays Code and whatnot". the film "Cinema Paradiso" has a whole montage and stuff about "yeah, people have been using movie theaters Like That beyond the trope of couples in the back-row". so. do with that as ya will. i usually stay away from it, personally, but im aware it Exists and am surprised not more people are aware too)

(*×2: "what is a 'gag in the margins'? what do they have to do with Betty Boop??" gags in the margins dont have to be sexual, as far as i am aware. but Betty Boop's always were. its basically just "things audiences will rarely notice, if ever; so this is a joke only animators on the team know of that made the final cut". for Betty Boop, that was a lot of p@ñtÿ-$h0ts and ñïp-$lïps that existed for exactly 1 cell of animation. it's such a mainstay for Betty that there even is a ñïp-$lïp in her small appearance within Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

(*×3: "....wait: what 'debate' about her age?" her age can get p gross sometimes, i wont lie. she is often a minor pre-Hays Code where she then got aged into being of an acceptable age-to-be-a-mother since she often was depicted as "mother-coded" during when the Hays Code was active bc... they didnt know what else to do with her if her shenanigans could no longer be sexy?? i guess? (she wasn't actually a mother, she was an aunt babysitting her nephew named Junior. but unless the shorts outright told people "this is her nephew" then most audience members assumed that was her son) lmao i personally either pretend she isn't ever a minor or i just remind myself of all the ways she parallels she has to Aphrodite's age questions. (which is basically questioning "hey, how old would the Ancient Greeks consider an adult woman to be since Aphrodite emerged 'as an adult woman' from the seafoam?". bc Athena was 'fully formed' and is non-sexual when she came out of Zeus' head; but Aphrodite came out of the seafoam as 'an adult woman'?? weird word-choice". esp once you know that the Ancient Greeks treated women, even in their legal system, in a p fucked up way; they had messed up ideas of consent and minimum age, esp for boys; and lots of other things. so, for Aphrodite, the answer generally is that she either aged up to being 18+ years of age or was always 18+ years of age, as most Ancient Greco-Roman art of Aphrodite shows her assumedly in line with contemporary expectations of what "an adult woman" would be: which is over the age of 18 years old. but i just personally have a lot of sympathy for the possible-adultification that may have happened to an underage goddess of love who was seen as a sexual being immediately after her birth.) really, Betty is "whatever age you find acceptable sexually". (which is basically the answer for Aphrodite's "adult woman is what exact age" question.) like, most audience members in the 1930s had no idea what her age was, much less that she often was as young as 13-going-on-14 to as "old" as 16 pre-Hays code; not unless the said audience member came across specific marketing (which i dont think ever advertised her age, but im not a Betty Boop 1930s Posters/Advertisement Expert) or the short itself outright said her age. like, there was a comic that said she was 16 at one point(?) in a very "I am 16 and I will always be 16" Edward From Twilight way (here is a link to the exact panel). but on other stuff, like some of her 80s TV-Movies, she owns a NYC apartment and has a job, all with no roommates or familial financial help, which implies she's probably 18+ or even 21+ years of age (at least to me). and, again, during the years in which the Hays Code was active really made her go the "Madonna side of things in a Madonna/Wh0rə complex" when she was a "mother"/auntie-babysitting, even though by the 1980s Junior had been discarded for classic Betty's design with her red dress for new media and merch (btw here is Junior's wiki page if you want to see him and Betty's Hays-Code-re-designed-outfit). and she is nowadays considered anywhere between 18 and early 20s. so like... Betty's age has constantly been in flux, and there's been debates about it for good reason

(and yeah, some people have been creeps, for sUUURREEEE, but i personally always found "oh Betty is being sexualized basically against her will due to various accidents" relatable and i found her clumsiness with said ñïp-$lïps and p@ñtÿ-$h0ts to be "she's just being thoughtlessly clumsy and isnt aware of people being gross" on par with Hayao Miyazaki and Kiki in Kiki's Delivery Service. like. Miyazaki tried to make Kiki as childish and non-sexual as possible while still showing she was just a clumsy and thoughtless kid while ALSO getting to do the dynamic flying shots he wanted, but people are sometimes gross about seeing her bloomers/"shorts" under her dress' skirt in spite of Miyazaki's efforts. though Betty's animators were not nearly as pure in intent as Miyazaki had been with Kiki, i see Betty Boop as similarly "she's not trying to be 'a temptation' wtf is wrong with you", esp since so many Americans like Betty (and people around the globe, of course) have experienced similar with sexual harassment or worse. so the same way as people re-write Medusa as being a pillar against sexual harassment and SA, thats kinda how i specifically and personally see Betty Boop; as a tribute(? for lack of a better term??) to that experience within America. so im a big Betty Boop fan who sees her as akin to an American Animation's Aphrodite of "we project her to be a sexual being but she herself isnt", kinda like Marilyn Monroe. so thats how i personally reconcile with "i am a fan of Betty Boop" and "people have been gross about Betty (esp with her age)". but thats just me. you dont have to follow me. if you see Betty Boop differently, that's fair. i just ask y'all keep to that yourself lmao im in no mood to discuss or debate how i see Betty Boop, and this is by no means an invite to tell me about your sexual harassment stories or otherwise. this is just me explaining how i see and understand her age, and how i specifically am able to grapple with this gross part of her history while also being a fan of her. cool? cool)

anyway, onto the image transcriptions!!

first the images that were not the ones i added:

[image of Betty Boop with dark skin as fan-art, stylized well to the artist's preferred way of drawing rather than how Betty Boop is typically drawn. she is looking to the right with her mouth slightly ajar. her dress and heels are a very dark red with crimson red shines. she is wearing bright gold. her hair is a dark brown. she has moles. the background is a pale solid yellow. she is sitting on her knees. she is blushing with hearts in her eyes and hearts by her head. this image was posted, with the caption "boop-boop-a-doop", by @beebeedibapbeediboop. end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

in reply to this, along with their own text and caption about Esther Jones and bringing her into the conversation, the user @rikareena posted a screenshot of google on light-mode (meaning white background set witb black text)

[the image has several photos, allegedly of Esther Jones though ironically none are actually of Esther Jones as my response goes into depth about, along with famous images of Betty Boop. the image itself goes into two articles' snippets. the first article is from Black History dot com and is dated to be from 2018, though this post itself is from 2020. the title of this article says "The Real Betty Boop Was A Black Woman... Before She..." and goes on to show an excerpt saying "Before She Was Whitewashed! PBS has confirmed that Betty Boop, the popular cartoon character introduced to the world by cartoonist Max Fleischer in 1930, was actually inspired by a real-ife African American jazz singer and entertainer from Harlem named Esther Jones". the second article is dated as being from 15 March 2017. it is acredited to The Cut. the article is titled "The Forgotten Black Woman Behind Betty Boop" and its snippet within the screenshot reads "Few have heard about 'Baby' Esther, the black cabaret performer who served as inspiration for Betty..." end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

and now, we are onto the images i posted of just my DM with a friend. [this DM series is set in a black message-board with my response in blue bubbles that have black text, all alligned to the right while any replies to me would be on the left. you can see at the very top of the series the cropped bottom of that Betty Boop fan-art with the pale yellow background i mentioned before. this DM series takes up three images, so the text would not be blurry; otherwise i would have done it as one entire image. the messages i wrote read as follow, though i will add the words [/bubble breaks] to convey when a new blue bubble from me has occurred:

EEYYYYYY THE ART IS SO GOOD!! BETTY, MY LOVE! [/bubble breaks]

i do have mixed feelings about the misinformation under said art (i love that Betty Boop has been claimed by the Black community, and that Esther Jones lives on in her. but also: no Betty Boop was not intentionally based on Esther Jones; and PBS actually had to publish a correction about spreading the misinformation that Betty Boop was based on her, as well as that "she was originally drawn with dark skin as you can see in this hula short" like nah, no, that hula short was a one-off that happened WAY AFTER Betty's debut, in her first appearance she was a very uncanny and weird looking dog-girl and she was originally drawn with light skin in both that dog-form and her human form. Esther Jones was only tied to Betty Boop after a court case against Helen Kane. Betty Boop was absolutely a caricature of Helen Kane, and Helen Kane wanted to sue the studio behind Betty Boop for doing that. like Helen Kane even had a catchphrase that was "boop-oop-a-doop". but Flesicher Studios didnt want her to win. nc then that meant no more Betty and theyd have a big debt to pay Kane. instead, they insisted Betty was based off of flapper girls in general and named a bunch of actresses who look similar to Helen Kane, such as Clara Bow and even Betty Boop's voice-actress who i forget the name of, and that Betty Boop was based on an algormation of women. but that wasnt enough for the courts. so they ended up digging up some dirt that Helen Kane had been in the audience of an Esther Jones show. and it was revealed that Helen Kane based her baby-voice act off of Esther Jones, and that Esther Jones had songs including skatting (bc that was a Black performer originated talent in jazz and whatnot, and Esther Jones was really good at it, so of course she did it a lot as a Black performer) and even had a song that included the line "boop-oop-a-doop" that wouldve been sung the night Helen Kane attended this Black child's show. also, none of those pictures are of Ether Jones, we have only one confirmed picture of Esther Jones and it is of her as a child. the adult Black woman is speculated to MAYBE also be her but older, but theres no confirmation of that. and the sepia image of someone looking exactly like Betty Boop is a cosplayer, one that is contemporary to us and DEFINITELY not Esther Jones. but anybody can "be" Betty Boop.

Betty Boop was Indigenous Hawaiian for a short, Betty Boop has been Jewish in many shorts. and she even has a new Broadway musical showing right now and that Broadway Original Casting has a Black woman as the Original Broadway Actress of Betty Boop (and maybe her off-Broadway actress was also a Black woman, i forget. but my theory is part of the reason why she is being played by a Black woman is the people who own the rights to Betty Boop are ABSOLUTELY AWARE of how much Black people love Betty Boop and want to honor that representation). and ive already told you before how her age has varied in many different cartoons. she is an extremely fluid character. she can absolutely be claimed by Black people, and she can absolutely be drawn with darker skin. but Fleischer Studios dug up that ticket to an Esther Jones show to shut down Helen Kane. like. dont give them credit for something they didnt do, they tried to make Helen Kane feel like she was crazy when they made it VERY OBVIOUS Betty Boop was based on her (tho i also dont think Helen Kane should have copied Esther Jones' act and taken one of her skat lines. but also: Esther Jones didnt really seem to care. she said no to attending the court as she was touring in, i think, France at the time and gave no statement overall. she was uninterested in the whole thing, both Helen Kane and Betty Boop, as far as anyone can tell from her silence as there's no records currently even after her tour and whatnot of her feelings about either woman). so. again, mixed feelings about the misinformation in this post bc "uhhhh, no, thats not actually right, dont give Fleischer Studios props for something they didnt intentionally do" and also "yes, lets talk about Esther Jones and give some attention [/bubble breaks]

to her since so much of her work has become lost media; let's acknowledge that Betty Boop absolutely has connections to Black people through her shorts featuring jazz which is a Black-originated music genre and how Fleischer Studios did Betty Boop shorts featuring Cab Calloway (a Black man) and his jazz band specifically, her iconic "boop-oop-a-doop" line being skat originating from a Black woman, how she has been portrayed by Black actresses, and how Black people can ABSOLUTELY claim a character they feel represents them as Black people have had to make their own representation themselves or look at the largely non-Black media landscape that has existed for for hundreds of years with a Black lens to find their representation where they could" [/bubble breaks]

but also the art is really pretty and i love Betty Boop with dark-skin, i think it makes her hair and red dress pop really well ♡♡♡ [/final bubble's end]

theraby, the end of text; and the end of this DM series of images' description specifically.]

the first image i posted was a screenshot from google on dark-mode (so dark background with white text). [the screenshot shows a couple frames of Betty Boop in her initial anthromorphic dog design. she is pale-skinned with floppy ears and a black dot for a dog-nose, long eyelashes and dark lipstick. she has a head of curly black hair still cropped close to her scalp. she is in a black short dress still, but with a big white bow on the back. she has on gray stockings with gray heels. her design is uncanny and vaguely creepy, but well-intentioned. in one of these two frames, she is on a stage and singing to an anthromorphic black dog-man of fairly tall height. the text is attributed to be from the Wikipedia article on Betty Boop. the text "August 9, 1930" is highlighted from the overall passage. the text reads as follows: "August 9, 1930. Origins. Betty Boop made her first appearance in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes, released on August 9, 1930, the seventh installment in Fleischer's Talkartoon series. Inspired by a popular performing style, but not by any one specific person, the character was originally created as an anthropomorphic French poodle." end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

and now we are onto the images i posted in tandem with my post, correcting some misinformation that has been spread by PBS

the second image is another screenshot from google on dark-mode. [the image is mostly text with a couple of tiny pictures. the two tiny pictures are of a frame of Betty Boop and a photograph of Dave Fleischer. Betty Boop is peering out of a window and we see her from below as she smiles while looking side to side out her window; this frame is in black and white. Betty Boop's appearance is her usual human one; she is pale-skinned with a small nose and lipstick, she has a head of black curly hair that is cropped close to her scalp, she has dangly earing, she is wearing her usual short dress (with no bow on the back), and her big bracelets. we cannot see her lower half due to the nature of the window. the photograph of Dave Fleischer is a black and white photograph of the bust of a bald, white man in a light-colored suit. as for the text within the overall screenshot from google, there is a red circle edited to circle around the information reading "January 2, 1932" and red text edited to be next to it reading "this was the first short Betty appeared as a human". the rest of the text, not edited and from the original screenshot (excluding any buttons reading "Overview", "Cast", "Videos", and whatnot), reads as follow: "Any Rags? 1932. Short. 11 mins. Rating 6.6/10 IMDb. 'Any Rags?' is a 1932 Pre-Code Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short film starring Bimbo, and Betty Boop, with a brief appearance by Koko the Clown. It features the song "Any Rags?", a 1902 ragtime schottische by Thomas S. Allen" with a link to read more of the Wikipedia article on the short before continuing, "Initial release: January 2, 1932. Director: Dave Fleischer." end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

the third image i posted was a collage. [it featured three of these screenshots from google, on dark-mode, and one side-by-side comparison image, ontop of a white blank image with some black text edited in. the black text edited on reads "i wasn't sure which hula short got people confused so i included all the ones i could think of. 'Bamboo Isle' is the earliest hula short there is btw"

the side-by-side image is one of the bottom two pictures within this collage and has edited black text specific to it. the side-by-side image has Betty Boop in her usual human design, but now her skin has been tanned and she is wearing a grass hula skirt with a flower "belt" for the waist, and is wearing flower necklace that covers her chest. she has a flower in her right ear. she has flowers as anklets. Betty Boop is dsncing on the sandy shore of a beach with the ocean behind her and palm-trees framing her in by the sides. on the left side of this side-by-side is group of Indigenous Hawaiians of tan skintones. there is a row of male musicians with drums as a woman dances in front of them, dressed identically to Betty (or rather: Betty is dressed identically to HER) albeit with long hair. she and Betty are in very similar poses, with their knees slightly bent, arms in front, as they dance in this Indigenous Hawaiian regalia. the edited text pertaining to this specific image says "also! they not only rotoscoped in 'Bamboo Isle' but they also included live-action footage of the dancers!! i love that!".

now, in the three images within this collage that are all screenshots from google on dark-mode, there is one piece of information each that is edited to have a red circle. i will bring up what this circled information is per screenshot as we get into them.

the first screenshot within this collage, placed on the top-left of the four overall images, has the information "September 23, 1932" circled in red. it shows several frames of Betty Boop hula-dancing in Indigenous Hawaii as well as an overall title-card. the text information of the screenshot reads as follows (minus the aforementioned "Overview", "Cast", etc buttons): "Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle. 1932. Comedy/Animation. 8 mins. 6.7/10 on IMDb. 3.2/5 on LetterBoxd. Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle is a 1932 Fleischer Studios Betty Boop animated short, directed by Dave Fleischer." followed by a link to show you more of the Wikipedia article. Then there is the aforementioned photo of Dave Fleischer again, with the words "Director: Dave Fleischer" attached, and next to it are "Initial Release: September 23, 1932". end of text.

the second screenshot within this collage, placed on the top-right of the four overall images, has the information "July 14, 1933" circled in red. it shows another frame of a tan Betty Boop dancing the hula in the same regalia, but she is on a stage now with a poster behind her including sword-swallowing within the graphic of the poster, and dancing next to her on stage is Popeye The Sailor. Popeye is a pale human male dressed in a sailors outfit of a dark buttoned shirt with its sleeves rolled up, a pipe in his mouth, a white billed cap on his head, long white pants, gray shoes, and his bulging forearms each having mirrored anchors tattooed on them. next to this frame is the title-card cut in half. the information within this overall screenshot reads as follows (minus the aforementioned buttons): "Popeye the Sailor. 1933. Comedy/Animation. Rating 7.6/10 on IMDb. Popeye the Sailor is a 1933 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Publix Corporation. While billed as a Betty Boop cartoon, it was produced as a vehicle for Popeye in his debut animated appearance." with a link to read more of the Wikipedia article. Then it shows the same Dave Fleischer picture as before, with the words "Director: Dave Fleischer" and next to it says "Initial Release: July 14, 1933". end of text.

the last screenshot within this collage, placed on the bottom-right of the image (next to the aforementioned side-by-side of Betty and the Indigenous Hawaiian dancers; and directly below the Popeye and Betty screenshot), has the information "1937" circled in red. it shows a very small picture of some anthropomorphic black animal dancing on a small stage. there is no other frames of the short shown. this screenshotted information from google reads the following text (minus the aforementioned buttons): "Zula Hula. 1937. Animation/Short. 6 mins. 5.7/10 on IMDb. Zula Hula is a 1937 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, and featuring Grampy." then it shows a link to read more information about this short on the Wikipedia. it then reads "Initial Release: December 24, 1937" before showing the same small picture of Dave Fleischer with the text "Director: Dave Fleischer" next to it. end of text; end of this collagef image's description specifically.]

the fourth image i posted is a snippet from a newspaper. [the newspaper clipping shows a side-by-side featuring four women. three of these women are on one side, all posed so their heads are vertically "ontop of" one another like a row of buttons as they look pleasantly at the camera. these three women all have dark dresses on, with short cropped dark hair that is curled, red lipstick, and a hat on. none of these women are made to match one another and a have individual aspects of their outfits and a different hat, but they do look very similar. the woman on the right is smiling at the camera as she poses in the middle of touching up her make-up on a dark wooden desk. she looks very similar to the other three women in terms of face, hair, and make-up. however, she is in a light-colored suit with a darker shirt or bow-ascot underneath, has a large hat titled to the left side of her head, very dark colored gloves on, and her purse lays on the desk as she holds a compact mirror and some powder or blush she wants to re-apply. she smiles pleasantly at the camera. above this side-by-side, the newspaper reads "WHAT PRICE 'BOOP-A-DOOPING'?" in bolded, all-caps. underneath the side-by-side is the text: "(Associated Press Pacte) Helen Kane, who claims to be the original 'boop-boop-a-doop' girl, is shown at right in a New York court where she is prosccuting a $250,000 suit for damages against Max Fleischer, creator of Betty Boop, the Fleischer Studios and Paramount Publix Corporation. She charges that Betty Boop, the animated cartoon character, copled, her style of 'boop-ing'. Three baby 'boopers', whose voices were used in the cartoon, are shown at left. Top to bottom, they are Mae Questel, Mary Hines, and Bonnie Poe. They may testify in the case." end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

the fifth image i posted was of a Wikipedia article on light-mode. [the Wikipedia Article shows an image of a black and white photo of a Black girl of a young age, with short cropped hair (that maybe has a black beret to the side? hard to tell), dressed in a dark polka-dot dress or fluttery short-jumpsuit outfit. she is on her knees and wagging a warning finger at a dark-furred dog with propped-up ears. as she holds his leash. the photo is labeled "Baby Esther" is bold letters above with unbolded letters below the image reading "Li'l Esther, 1930". above the image and this text altogether reads the following text from Wikipedia: "Esther Lee Jones (born c. 1918, date of death unknown), known by her stage names 'Baby Esther', 'Little Esther', and other similar variations, was an American singer and child entertainer of the late 1920s, known for interpreting popular songs with a 'mixture of seriousness and childish mischief'." with a footnote linked in the article to the quote, then the text continues, "After gaining attention in her hometown of Chicago, she became an international celebrity before leaving the public spotlight as a teenager." end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

the sixth image i posted is also a screenshot from a Wikipedia article on light-mode. [within the screenshot is a black and white image of a Black woman with short, curled cropped hair, smiling, with her head resting in one hand, dressed in an early 19th century layered dress of lace and beading with a pearl/pearl-likenecklace, holding a small bouquet, as she sits comfortably on a dark chair in a gray photoshoot background with a couple of other chairs around. under the image reads the caption "Do Tell by James Van Der Zee, c. 1930. The image has often been mischaracterized as depicting Esther Jones". the heading of the overall image and section of the article, in big letters, reads "Misconceptions". underneath the image and its caption, the article reads: "Baby Esther shares her original name and original stage name with Little Esther Phillips, who was also known as Esther Mae Jones. Both singers used the names 'Little Esther' and 'Li'I Esther', but Esther Phillips was of a later generation, born in 1935." with a linked footnote before the article continues in another paragraph, "Photos of the model Olya Gussy costumed as Betty Boop, taken by Russian-based studio Retro Atelier in 2008, are regularly misidentified as Esther Jones" with more linked footnotes before the article continues in another paragraph, "An older photo often purported to show Jones went viral when it was distributed by the official Betty Boop Checks website." with a brief linked footnote before continuing in the same paragraph that "The image was actually a James Van Der Zee photo of an unidentified woman." with a final linked footnote. end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

the seventh image i posted is of a screenshot of goggle on dark-mode showing a collection of images featuring a pale woman cosplaying as Betty Boop's usual human design with her short, curly black hair, gold jewelery, heart-shaped garter, heels, and red short dress. this woman is standing in front of a curtain for a photoshoot. some of these images are in color and others are not, usuing different cameras and whatnot, but they are all of the same woman at the same photoshoot. edited onto the image in red text reads: "this is the cosplayer, Olya Gussy". next to two not-colored images, in a semi-transparent red bubble with white text, edited ontop of the screenshot with a red arrow pointed at each image reads "these are 2 of Olya Gussy's black-&-white, sepia-y photos among the ones that get misattributed to Esther Jones btw". most of the text within the screenshot, unedited, is irrelevant. nonetheless, that text reads the following clipped headings: "Модель Оля | BETTY BOOP Wik..." from the Betty Boop Wiki; then, "Kasbah Salome -💞Hello frien..." from Facebook; then, "The Real Betty Boop! - @dewi..." from Tumblr; and "The Me I Saw - Singer and ent..." from "shewhoworshipscarli...". the main cluster of text of mild importance is placed above all of these headings and images. it says "Модель Оля | BETTY BOOP Wiki - Fandom" followed by "Oyla P.is a very-well known model from Russia who is best known for her 2008 cosplay photos as Betty Boop by Retro Atelier. She has been modeling since she..." end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

the eigth image i posted is an excerpt of a Wikipedia article in light-mode. [the screenshot is only text and includes no images. the big heading reads "Admission of mistake" followed by the article itself reading: In 2021, a 2015 article by PBS, which had been used as 'confirmation' of the 'Baby Esther was the original Betty Boop' story by many people, was removed from the PBS website. PBS retracted the story, admitted that the 'Baby Esther' portion of the article was never true, and apologized for spreading misinformation" with a linked footnote. end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

the ninth image i posted is an excerpt of a Wikipedia article in light-mode as well. [the screenshot shows a closed heading in big letters reading "Kane v. Fleischer" followed by an opened heading reading "Legacy". within that opened heading reads the following text: "Baby Esther is most associated today with her connection with the Kane v. Fleischer lawsuit." with a few linked footnotes before continuing. "Jones' film has been credited with convincing the judge in the case that Helen Kane had copied Baby Esther." with a linked footnote before continuing, "Film scholar Mark Langer disputes this interpretation, which he says has become 'conventional wisdom'." with a linked footnote before continuing in another paragraph, "No confirmed recordings of Jones are known to exist." with a final linked footnote. end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

the tenth, and final, image i posted is a screenshot from google on dark-mode. [the screenshot is a compilation of promotional material. all for the musical "Boop!" about Betty Boop which had stared Jasmine Amy Rogers and thereby includes her in all the promotional material dressed up in-costume as Betty Boop. Jasmine Amy Rogers is a Black woman; and her costume is in a short, curly, black wig, gold jewelery, a red dress and red heels, red lipstick, with a red garter belt. one item of promotional material includes a classically drawn Betty Boop black and white blowing a kiss to the viewer, with the title "BOOP!" helping hide the transition from this 2D bust into Jasmine Amy Rogers' legs. there's another piece of promotional material that shows Jasmine Amy Rogers in costume with a silhouette of 2D Betty Boop as her shadow against a gray-white pale background and a very small sign in black with white text reading "Stage Door" with an arrow to the right (as in "the stage door is to the right") on the right side of the shadow. another piece of promotional material shows a line-up of Jasmine Amy Rogers doing various Betty Boop-like expressions and poses with a gray-white background. another is a bust of Jasmine Amy Rogers to show a close-up of her face as she poses with her hands under her chin. and the last piece of promotional material is a distant shot of a small cropped Jasmine Amy Rogers set to a black background full of twinkling lights and a big set-piece in the air reading "BOOP!" in red and white letters with lights of its own. the headings of this compilation are of no importance, but they are the following: "BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical..." from the New York Theater Guide" is a headline twice; then, "With Broadway Hopes, New Bet..." from WTTW News; then, "Broadway-Bound Betty Boop..." from Deadline; and, finally, "BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical..." from Playbill. end of text; end of this image's description specifically.]

[/then the end of all image descriptions]

boop-boop-a-doop

#i dont usually do image transcripts bc they take a fuckton of energy out of me (thank you people who regularly do them) but i #just added SO MANY IMAGES that i was like ''omfg i gotta do this myself and not hope someone else will do them'' lmao rip #betty boop #esther lee jones #little esther #baby esther #esther jones #long post #image description included #again thAAAANNNKK YOOOOUUUU PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY DO IMAGE DESCRIPTIONS. like i aDMIRE y'all sO MUCH lmao #edit: also please look at the original post's previous tags if you want me to clarify A Thing about the PBS misreport. thats all ✌️ bye!!

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trooper1023 · 3 months ago

Text

New York’s Silent Purge: How 580,000+ Law-Abiding Citizens Lost Their Constitutional Rights Without Notice

02/08/25 | APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

US AG IS REVIEWING 2A CASES UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER UNTIL 3/7.

PLEASE DEMAND CASE KRENZER V WILKINS #24-CV-6007 (& LINKED CASES Susman v. Sullivan (24-cv-01281), Richey v. Sullivan (23-cv-00344), McKay v. New York (16-CV-6834), etc) BE INVESTIGATED FOR SYSTEMIC CONSTITUTIONAL ABUSE BY PHONE, MAIL, EMAIL, TWEET, ETC

Few stories expose New York's government overreach like this one. At least 580,000 citizens have been secretly stripped of their constitutional and human rights. Their crime? Seeking medical care in New York State, often for something as common as anxiety or depression, and in at least one case, seeking care and counseling after a sexual assault.

Case Krenzer vs. Wilkins is pushing back against what plaintiffs call a for-profit disarmament scheme—one that has cost innocent citizens their rights, their businesses, and in some cases, their freedom- and Plaintiff Theresa Krenzer has filed as a Class Representative of the 580,000+ others that the New York Disarmament Regime has irreparably harmed without notice or due process.

NY's Secret Disarmament Program

Under New York SAFE Act, its Office of Mental Health (OMH) established a reporting system where hospitals and doctors are required to report patients who pose a threat to themselves or others. But according to lawsuits now hitting federal courts, the system has been manipulated by the shadowy “Office of NICS Appeals & SAFE Act” to falsely classify innocent citizens as “involuntarily committed” to mental institutions—thereby blocking them from legally purchasing or owning firearms, and actively blocking them from restoring their rights when the abuse is discovered.

The scale is staggering: Over 580,000 New Yorkers have been admitted by state doctors as wrongfully reported as “involuntarily committed to a mental institution” to boost the state's FBI NICS reporting numbers. Even more shocking? The state received at least $13 million in federal kickbacks for adding these names to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), eroding any claims these unlawful acts were done in the name of public safety. And though New York State is clearly the worst offender, the numbers suggest other states might also engage in similar rights-for-profit corruption:

In 2005, the NICS Index contained approximately 233,676 mental health records nationwide.

By April 30, 2024, the total number of mental health records in the NICS Index had increased to over 7 million.

Across 50 states increased reporting over 20 years, the New York regime has single handedly added at least 8.25% of the NICS Index through fraud.

As the US AG was directed by the president to investigate all laws and policies violating the second amendment rights of the people, this story of systemic abuse is an obvious place for her to start:

In McKay vs New York, a misreported nurse exposed the OMH's Voluntary NICS Misreporting scheme, which was admitted to by a state doctor. (https://casetext.com/case/in-re-mckay-26)

In Richey vs Sullivan, represented by Amy Bellantoni, a misreported veteran exposed some of the names of the secretive Office of NICS Appeals and SAFE Act who denied him repair of his rights including Li-Wen Grace Lee M.D, Carmen Barber Esq, and Tony Trahan, Deputy Director OMH Consumer Affairs. (https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67047060/richey-v-sullivan/)

In Susman vs Sullivan, also represented by spitfire attorney Bellantoni, a misreported FBI agent exposed the scheme to the nation through mainstream media coverage. (https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-courts/edward-susman-fbi-joint-terrorism-task-force-buffalo/article_8a5e3f74-c9df-11ef-8408-53ec9239c038.html)

Krenzer vs Wilkins is the case that speaks for the Class of all those affected, laying the fascistic brutality of the system bare with how it treats NY's most at-risk:

Theresa's Story: SA Survivor Turned Enemy of the State

In 2013, Theresa Krenzer did what any survivor of sexual assault is told to do: she went to the doctor for medical care. She was never committed to a mental institution, never deemed a threat to herself or others. And yet that Voluntary visit for basic trauma care services was used as the basis for a secret state report falsely labeling her as ‘involuntarily committed’ and stripping her right to self defense.

Theresa is a licensed hunter in NY, and has owned firearms since her mid teens learning to hunt with the family to provide meat for the table. But as she did not have a pistol permit, she was never notified or offered due process by the OMH. She never knew about it— until nearly a decade later, when it destroyed her life.

On 1/20/2022, NYOMH Legislative Coordinator Charles Vaas was contacted by the Democrat's “Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns” Christopher Bonham, who requested a statement that Theresa had been “involuntarily committed” in 2013 as evidence for a warrant to raid and prosecute her. Vaas provided this fraudulent statement without hesitation and “in the normal course of business”, violating OMH's Fiduciary Duty to do no harm to its patients.

On 1/27/22, Holocaust Remembrance Day, armed Task Force officers used an FGLK freight train to kettle trap and kidnap Theresa and her partner after calling them into their gunshop for a “Final Inspection”. While the innocents were interrogated and unlawfully imprisoned, the Task Force raided her home and legally operated gun shop, unlawfully seizing shop inventory and her personal belongings. Prosecutors hit Theresa and her partner with 116 felony charges in Ontario County Court (and her partner with many more felony accusations in an ATF kangaroo hearing focused on her mental health) accusing her of being “mentally ill”, a “Russian asset”, a “drug dealer”, a “militia leader” and more. She was threatened with subsequent arrest if she operated her business while court transpired. On 8/18/2022, Task Force agent Kyle Wilkins, who helped concoct the Mental Health accusations and was leading the ATF case against her shop, dispatched an ATF/NYSP SWAT team to drag Theresa out of her home without a warrant and force her and her partner to sign paperwork promising not to sue the agents for Iying under threat of “immediate arrest” and “10 years imprisonment.”

“New York turned my life into a nightmare,” Theresa says, “All because I went to the doctor after being sexually assaulted.”

Built entirely on lies, the case against her has since fallen apart spectacularly- on 2/14/23 Wilkins, Bonham and their Task Force were found to have violated 210.35 Sworn False Statements to the Grand Jury in the 2nd Degree to Unlawfully Indict her and she was found Exempt to all counts under the shops FFL08/AECA licenses. But the damage was done. She lost her business and livelihood, her financial stability, her IVF treatments, her ability to participate in her religious and competitive activities, her reputation, her peace and security, and now nearly a half decade of her life fighting the damages of a false label placed on her without her knowledge or due process. In 2024, she was pulled over in Kentucky and searched, informed that NYSP had marked her plates as “gang affiliated” after the fabricated charges against her were dismissed. The corrupt disarmament regime of NY refuses to repair Theresa’s rights and damages or even return the property they stole, instead determined to increase pain and suffering. In fact, Task Force leader AG Letitia James stepped in to defend her criminal employees’ interference in interstate commerce and rights violations when Theresa's workers union filed its lawsuit.

Instead of disappearing quietly, Theresa is determined to lead the charge against the system that did this to her and hundreds of thousands of others as Class Representative.

The Legal Battle That Could Change Everything

Now, Krenzer vs. Wilkins, alongside cases McKay vs. New York, Richey vs. Sullivan, and Susman vs. Sullivan, aims to expose New York’s unconstitutional disarmament program and demand justice for its victims.

Susman vs. Sullivan recently drew national attention after an FBI agent was denied a firearm purchase due to the same secret misreporting system. The government can ignore ordinary citizens—but when one of their own gets caught in the net, it becomes a story.

Plaintiffs argue that cases like these prove what they’ve been saying all along: New York’s gun control laws have nothing to do with keeping dangerous people from obtaining weapons. Instead, they’re being used as a political tool to disarm working-class people en masse, who cannot afford representation or navigate the complex laws to achieve justice.

And if New York gets away with it? Well, New York bills itself as the model of “gun control” all other blue states should follow…

Conclusion: A De Facto Digital Internment Camp

A false mental health flagging system affecting at least 580,000+ people functions as a soft internment camp— stripping gun rights, voting rights, medical freedom, parental rights, and employment opportunities without ever placing people in physical detention centers. This is the modern equivalent of "civil death."

"Civil death" refers to the complete or near-total loss of legal rights and social standing due to government action. Historically, this meant losing the right to own property, vote, or engage in contracts. In modern times, NY's mass false reporting of mental illness operates as a de facto form of civil death, stripping individuals of key rights without trial or criminal conviction.

Civil death was historically used to punish traitors, convicts, and political enemies by rendering them legally nonexistent:

Ancient Rome – "Capitis deminutio maxima" stripped individuals of citizenship and legal protections.

Medieval Europe – Outlawry declared individuals outside the law, meaning they could be killed without consequence.

Colonial America – Certain crimes resulted in civil death, barring convicts from owning land, voting, or testifying in court.

Jim Crow Era – Black Americans faced civil death through disenfranchisement, false criminalization, and economic suppression. The Pig Laws (1870s-1940s) made minor infractions felonies to strip voting rights and force Black men into unpaid labor.

Soviet Union (USSR) – The KGB used false psychiatric diagnoses ("Sluggish Schizophrenia") to imprison political dissidents in psychiatric hospitals.

Fascist Spain – Franco's regime used a mix of economic oppression, political blacklisting, and legal restrictions to destroy opposition. Francoist Spain declared leftists and women’s rights activists as mentally unstable to justify imprisonment and institutionalization. Women demanding political rights were diagnosed with "feminine hysteria" and forcibly committed. Men with socialist or anarchist beliefs were labeled as "mentally unfit" and denied jobs, marriage licenses, and passports.

Fascist Italy – Benito Mussolini's fascist state used psychiatric hospitals to erase opponents from society, branding them as insane instead of imprisoning them. Women resisting fascist rule were labeled "hysterical" and forcibly institutionalized, where Electroshock therapy and lobotomies were commonly used. Dissidents were committed to "manic asylums" (ospedali psichiatrici) under the pretext of mental instability. The government declared anarchists and communists "psychopaths" suffering from delusions.

Nazi Germany – The Nazi regime weaponized psychiatry to erase entire populations, both politically and racially. The T-4 Euthanasia Program labeled political and social "undesirables" as mentally ill to justify their institutionalization or execution. "Political insanity" diagnoses were used to imprison dissidents in psychiatric hospitals, where they were forcibly drugged, experimented on, or killed. Soviet POWs and Resistance fighters were declared mentally unfit and sent to concentration camps or psychiatric facilities instead of prisons.

The Nuremberg Laws (1935) stripped Jewish people, Romani, communists, and other groups of citizenship, property, and employment. Civil death was the precursor to genocide, making it easier to imprison and execute people who had already been stripped of their rights.

Fascist South Africa – The apartheid state used legal disenfranchisement, travel restrictions, education restrictions and employment bans to create a second-class citizenry and weaponized psychiatry to silence anti-apartheid resistance, institutionalizing activists as "mentally unfit.” Anti-apartheid activists could be banned from speaking publicly, publishing, or meeting in groups, rendering them socially dead. The apartheid regime used psychiatry to suppress political dissent while maintaining a "legal" framework for detainment without trial.

Fascist Peru – The Peruvian government under Alberto Fujimori used anti-terror laws, blacklists, and forced sterilizations to eliminate Indigenous and leftist opposition. The government created fake psychiatric diagnoses to declare left-wing activists mentally unfit. Hundreds of Indigenous leaders resisting land seizures were diagnosed as mentally unstable and institutionalized. Suspected leftists were detained in psychiatric hospitals instead of prisons. Many were subjected to forced sterilization under the guise of "mental health treatment.”

Fascist Argentina – The U.S.-backed military junta carried out mass arrests combining psychiatric detainment with forced disappearances, and economic suppression with over 30,000 Desaparecidos abducted, tortured, and murdered by the government. Pregnant political prisoners were executed after birth, their babies were illegally adopted by military families. Activists who survived detention were often dismissed as mentally unstable by the government.

Fascist Brazil – The Brazilian dictatorship used mass arrests, bureaucratic erasure, and torture to suppress Indigenous and leftist workers, its military fabricating fake suicide reports for political prisoners who had been tortured to death. The dictatorship weaponized psychiatry to eliminate and discredit political opposition, and dissidents were frequently diagnosed with "subversive psychopathy" or "political delirium". Leftist families were systematically excluded from jobs, travel, and legal protection, forcing many into exile or underground resistance.

Fascist Chile – Pinochet’s government used the "Political Enemy" Designation to torture, exile, murder and blacklist Leftists, labor organizers, Indigenous Mapuche people, and dissidents. Dissidents were detained under the pretense of needing "mental health treatment for radicalization." Many were forcibly medicated or subjected to lobotomies to render them harmless. The names of the murdered were erased from official records, leaving families without legal proof of death or ability to claim inheritance, pensions, or property. Survivors of state torture were often labeled as insane to discredit their testimonies in legal cases against the government.

Fascist and authoritarian regimes across the world have systematically used false psychiatric diagnoses to strip civil rights, detain opponents, and enforce social death. Now comes New York's Digital Civil Death, through Mass False Reporting of Mental Illness!

NY's sly system of civil death mirrors that of larger Mass Incarceration & Felon Disenfranchisement in the U.S. Over 5 million felons in the U.S. are barred from voting, owning guns, and working in many industries. Once labeled a felon, many are permanently cut off from housing, education, and jobs. A government falsely marking 580,000+ people ( as “involuntarily committed” creates a modern system of civil death by:

a. Stripping Legal Rights: Loss of gun rights, potentially voting, employment, and legal standing.

b. Economic Erasure: Banning individuals from jobs, licenses, and financial independence.

c. Social and Medical Control: Preventing access to medical care, restricting travel, and flagging individuals in background checks and criminal systems.

d. Digital Internment: Individuals may be unable to contest or even discover the false report, making it nearly impossible to restore their rights.

Key Consequences of Digital Civil Death

1. Loss of Second Amendment Rights (Permanent Disarmament)

The federal government uses mental health commitments to strip firearms rights under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4). False records effectively confiscate guns without a crime being committed or due process. This creates a blacklist that easily disarms politically targeted individuals.

This decade long de facto gun confiscation scheme—disarming over half a million people without due process—is responsible for fraudulently reporting 8.25% of the names that make up the total 2024 NICS Index.

2. Retaliation for First Amendment Expression – Freedom of Speech, Association, Assembly and Religion

People falsely labeled as mentally ill could face restrictions on speech, especially if they express dissenting views, as seen in the Krenzer case.

Some states impose limitations on public assembly or restrictions on religious leadership for those with reported mental health commitments.

3. Loss of Fourth Amendment Protection Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

Being falsely labeled as "involuntarily committed" creates justification for red flag laws, forced confiscation of property (guns, personal items), forced detainment and even unlawful imprisonment.

Criminals acting under color of law can and have used these false reports as probable cause to conduct unlawful home and business raids and seizures, as evident in the Krenzer case.

4. Loss of Fifth & Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and Equal Protection

The Fifth Amendment protects against deprivation of liberty without due process of law. Systemic false reporting bypasses judicial review and illegally strips rights without hearings or evidence.

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law—falsifying mental health records to deprive certain citizens of rights creates a two-tiered system of citizenship.

5. Loss of Sixth & Seventh Amendment Rights to a Fair Trial

The Sixth Amendment guarantees a fair trial, but mass false reporting with no notice or due process deprives citizens of their ability to defend themselves against the state's involuntary commitment claims.

The Seventh Amendment guarantees trial by jury in civil cases and civil hearing for involuntarily commitment, yet falsely reported individuals are given no way to contest their status in court.

These issues are compounded by the OMH's secretive Office of NICS Appeals and SAFE Act being used as a tool to deny redress of affected citizens rights, as seen in the Richey vs Sullivan case.

6. Loss of Ninth Amendment Rights Retained by the People

The Ninth Amendment protects unenumerated rights, including medical privacy, bodily autonomy, and self-defense—all violated when the state falsely labels people as “involuntarily committed to a mental institution” or “adjudicated mentally deficient”. In many ways, these labels share the exact effects of felony conviction.

7. Voter Suppression (De Facto Disenfranchisement)

Many states prohibit voting for individuals deemed "mentally incompetent."

False mental health records could create a backdoor method of voter suppression, disproportionately targeting activists, dissidents, and marginalized communities.

Once flagged via mental incompetence, there is no clear legal path to restore voting rights, unlike felons who can sometimes reapply.

8. Total Financial and Employment Suppression

Many jobs require background checks that flag mental health commitments.

Professions requiring security clearances, professional licenses, or firearm ownership (law enforcement, military, gunshops, private security, banking, aviation, etc.) become permanently off-limits.

In Theresa’s case, the state was found guilty of fabricating 58 felony charges against her and refuses to return the property it stole or repair damages to her business, pushing her to the edge of homelessness not able to work and pay rent even after being found innocent.

9. Medical Control & Forced Psychiatric Interventions

HIPAA laws prohibit the falsification or wrongful disclosure of medical records, meaning NY's systemic actions constitute a massive violation of medical privacy.

Falsely classifying someone as mentally ill can prevent access to necessary healthcare, insurance, and cause wrongful medical decision-making.

False psychiatric records could bar individuals from critical surgeries, medications, or treatments due to insurers and providers flagging them as unstable. Individuals could be forcibly medicated, detained, or subjected to guardianship.

10. Travel Bans & International Restrictions

Some countries deny visas or entry to individuals reported as involuntarily committed to a mental institution.

Airlines and transportation agencies could restrict travel if flagged individuals are deemed a "risk."

Passports or firearm transport permits could be revoked or denied, causing problems for those like Theresa who are licensed AECA international arms dealers.

11. Family Separation & Parental Rights Termination

Courts use false “involuntary commitment” reports to deny custody and parental rights, meaning falsely labeled individuals could lose their children.

Child Protective Services (CPS) could seize children under pretense of parental instability.

Adoption and foster care agencies may permanently disqualify falsely reported individuals.

In Theresa’s case, the unlawful seizure of her interstate commerce and malicious prosecution upended the IVF treatments she had begun in 2021 as an economically stable business owner. All hopes for such medical assisted treatment dashed with OMH Charles Vaas’ ready assistance.

12. Permanent Digital Blacklisting

Once marked as mentally ill, individuals are permanently entered into national databases, including:

NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) – Blocking firearm purchases.

State and Federal Medical Registries – Flagging individuals as mentally unfit for employment.

LE, FBI and DHS Watchlists – Potential placement on no-fly lists or gang and domestic terrorism monitoring lists.

How Civil Death Becomes a Weapon of Political and Social Control

When weaponized, civil death allows a government to neutralize opposition without trials, evidence, or direct confrontation. False mental health reporting creates a society where citizens are imprisoned digitally, economically, and socially—without ever being put behind bars. A person who is banned from voting, working, traveling, or owning property is no freer than a person in a prison cell. This strategy has been used historically against activists, dissidents, and marginalized groups by some of the most repressive regimes to marr human history.

Krenzer's Call to Action: Join the Nightshade Brigade!

For Theresa, who goes by Narcissa Nightshade to friends, this fight isn’t about politics—it’s about survival.

“This is bigger than me,” she said. “This is about hundreds of thousands of people who’ve lost their rights without even knowing it. I have to fight for them.”

“This is about fascism and organized crime in America, regardless of which political party is committing it. The state is using these false reports to abduct citizens who use speech or exercise constitutional rights they don't like. The NY regime sent a freight train for me on Holocaust Remembrance Day and accused me of insanity and being a ‘dangerous communist aligned with the sovereign citizens movement’ in court, like we are knee deep into Kristallnacht nazi territory and someone has to stand up.”

Krenzer remains hopeful: “I can't do this alone, though. If you're reading this, I need you. Please make noise. Please get involved. ‘We’ is so much stronger than ‘me.’”

Her union members have already prepared class-action paperwork, but legal battles like this require something even more powerful than legal knowledge: public pressure.

If this case wins, it won’t just restore rights for those who were wrongfully stripped of them—it will expose a massive state-run fraud operation and set a national precedent for due process. But that only happens if people pay attention and get involved.

If you believe in due process—regardless of where you stand on gun rights—this case matters. Share it. Talk about it. Send calls and letters to US AG Bondi demanding her immediate investigation into the NY regime and Theresa & the 580,000's case. Demand accountability. Give 5 minutes of action a day. Because if the government can take rights away from 580,000 people in secret, what’s stopping them from coming for you next?

BONDI IS REVIEWING 2A CASES UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER UNTIL 3/7/25. REPORT CASE NUMBER 24-CV-6007 IN WDNY FOR REVIEW VIA PHONE, MAIL, TWEET, ETC.

#america #constitutional rights #involuntarily committed #deliberately misreportes #kickbacks #krenzer vs wilkens #new york

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