Censorship Blows

[Dob Bole]

I am a mere 21 years old, and many of the films and cartoons that I enjoyed as a child are now being banned. I myself don't see the point of banning a movie simply because some people don't want others to view the content. People are so scared stiff to even mention the word "race" that they will ban anything that contains humans in it. Here are a few examples of the ridiculousness I am talking about:

Speedy Gonzales has been banned by Cartoon Network:
http://www.hispaniconline.com/a&e/people/speedy.html

Disney will not release Song of the South in the United States
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/sots.htm

Bugs Bunny: Sexist Pig?
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,3110,00.html?newsrellink

Yes, these sort of cartoons are the ones that made all of us zombie racist sexist mindless pigs. Give me a break.

[wuushew]

1. Cenorship is forced...this is voluntary

If showing fewer cartoons equals less complaints or more money they will do it.

[hlthe2b]

2. Historians have a guiding principle that events must be judged in

the context of the times. I wish that we could do the same for movies, books, and other forms of artistic expression. Would we condone Song of the South if plans were made to produce a new (but largely identical) version now? No, certainly not. But, I think we do ourselves no favors by wiping out the "currently politically incorrect" from our legacy of movies, books, etc.


If we do not "teach" the lessons of history, how can we learn from it?

[Dookus]

3. actually....

it's a complicated situation, imo.

As a child, I saw most of those cartoons, and worse. My parents' generation grew up with black-faced minstrel shows, "mammy dolls", etc. I remember seeing Bugs Bunny cartoons as a kid with horribly racist depictions of Japanese people. The older movies on TV had horribly racist depictions of black people.

The culture has changed and those depictions are now seen as offensive. Personally, I think it's good that the broadcasters see fit not to show them. However, I would be very opposed to the Government saying they CAN'T show them. They do have historical value, but I think they've lost their entertainment value.

[MrSlayer]

4. I own the Song of the South.

Bought it in PAL format and had it converted. Splash Mountain is one of my kids' favorite rides at Disney World but they didn't recognize what movie the characters came from so I showed them and they love it. It's a classic, uplifting tale.

[Dob Bole]

5. As do I...

I downloaded it yesterday. They sell it at the festival here every year...with Korean subtitles.