From: jrjj@moscom.com (Jad Jordan)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Re: How about ANIMATED Disney Movies
Date: 27 Jan 93 16:10:03 GMT
Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY

In article <1993Jan27.024753.5495@leland.Stanford.EDU> inkblot@leland.Stanford.EDU (Thomas Calvin Cannon) writes:
>>I have heard it is because the movie portrays Uncle Remus, and other black
>>characters, in a way that would be deemed "offensive" by today's standards.
>>
>
>   That's what I thought, I just wanted to make sure before I posted this...
>
>   Having 20 years of experience as an African American, I can say that Song of
>the South was a pretty 'unsettling' movie.  Sure, Uncle Remus was a good
>guy and all, but was this the _only_ role that Disney could find for an
>African American?  Up until recently, Disney's record on racial and gender
>issues has been pretty shabby.  When you combine good ol' Uncle Remus with
>those black crows from Dumbo (ug!) _and_ the portrayal of women  in
>Cinderella and similar movies ( "let the women do the sewin' " ) , you get 
>basically a repeating theme where women are victims and minorities are 
>side-shows.  
>
>    Fortunately, TLM, BatB, etc. have really started to break up the
>traditional pattern.  We all know about the empowerment of the Disney
>heroin, and I personally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that the 
>characters of Aladdin were tastefully drawn: neither 'dark caucasions' nor 
>insulting Arabic charicatures.  
>
>    At any rate, I think that a re-release of SotS would be a tragic 
>mistake on Disney's part.  I for one know that I'd be offended if it was
>re-released.  Heck, I saw it at a pretty young age, and even then I was able 
>to see that it's portrayal of blacks wasn't too 'modern.'  I might feel 
>differently if SotS was an animation masterpiece, but it just isn't.

Interesting. Thomas, I have to ask you about other films containing
other poorly portrayed black characters. What is your opinion on Gone With
The Wind? I tried to seperate the characters from the story. While Mamie
and Prissy are a little more than two-dimensional, the personalities still are
not the best they could be. But the story makes it difficult to properly judge
the characters (that is, trying to place the characters in other settings or
time periods is difficult, since being slaves is what they are). How about
other films, like The King and I, where the act out Uncle Tom's Cabin. I think
films of that period reflect the society, not try to change it. (The sole
exception is Casablanca where Sam is just as equal as any other supporting
character.) Wasn't SotS just reflecting it's society at the time as well? Or
the perception of society at that time?

Do people watch Bonanza and think Hop Sing is a typical Oriental Asian
American? Or Basic Instinct and think Sharon Stone is a typical Bi-Sexual?
I think anyone who has some intelligence can discern the difference between
fiction and non-fiction. While I wouldn't support current films that depict
modern sterotypes, and really don't support any films that depict any sterotype,
I feel I am intelligent enough to realize when I am seeing one. Plus, seeing
some of those old films help me to realize that society at that time was wrong
in their portrayals of minorities. Seeing Gone With The Wind again helped to
re-establish my support of minorities, since the characters are so blatently
unrealisticly portayed. 

Just an idea.

"Oh, Isn't this amazing?
It's my favorite part 			   Jad R. J. Jordan
Because, you see,			  MOSCOM Corporation.
Here's where she meets			    jrjj@moscom.com
Prince Charming!				()_()
But she won't discover that it's him		 (_)
'Til Chapter Three."