Honest Question, Anything Goes On Stamps Or Just A Marilyn Monroe

These are purported to be real postage stamps first issued in Finland in 2014 and are accepted in every country but Russia. Well, ok. They need revenue. I like the old Presidents and dignitaries and then we went to Art and architecture and war and inventors and celebrities
and so now what I guess I am asking is. Is this different than nude Greeks? Why? What do you think of this? I am just interested to read different opinions.

Louise, did you mean to post this twice ? You can send a note to staff and ask to remove one


Peter

Hi Peter
I did that and they did. Thank you.

Well-known, and widely published, particularly by Taschen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_of_Finland

... and harmless, unlike many of the "old dignataries".

Postal administrations around the world are desperate for money. There are far more face-different stamps, souvenir sheets, and "whatever" issued than are necessary. If some portion of these things are bought and never used, then that increases revenue. Some can be cancelled and sold, and the rest shredded.

So, in my opinion, yes...anything goes.

What's the deal with the hat?

Hello rmatossian
I think that the hat is a parody of the nazi skinhead homosexual hate. Sort of like the ymca song. I like drawing and cartooning and I think this is a sort of humor. But, although I knew about it, I did not know they were on stamps. It has got me to thinking about humor. What is the difference between Satire and Parody?

It's a classic "look" - take a look at Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising on youtube.

Hellloo boy
This is great, I watched the whole thing and now I have to get the afterthoughts and it is a lot to think about. Great stuff. Very modern really. I think I will write out and e-mail you my impressions and thoughts as I do not know what they allow in terms of religion - politics but real is a word that comes to mind. Thank you Geoff for sharing,
Louise

Tom of Finland's artwork is definitely not my cup of tea, but hey, different strokes for different folks. I have a number of topical stamps in my "Random Stuff That I Like" binder that some people would find tacky, trashy, vulgar, or even downright offensive.

I dont think anyone outside Finland gets an opinion on what Finland puts on its stamps.
By common consent and on any Index, Finland is one of the world's good guys.
A one country stamp album is a "Greatest Hits" album....whether its your nation or my nation or Finland, it is about the Best of History, Art, Music, Sport, Literature, Landscape, Flora, Fauna, Spirituality, Mythology.
Who makes the judgement? Well...your post office, my post office and the Finland post office.
Finland says this is part of who we are in 2014. And that's good enough for me.
Stamps are not just about Centenaries, BiCentenaries...the key thing is that those things dont change....Gettysburg was 1863, Moon Landing 1969, Yorktown 1781...so stamps are about how events are interpreted at the date of issue.
Finland is simply saying "this is who we are" and on balance what Finland is ...is good.