Disney Song of the South
Song of the South is tied up and gagged in the Disney Vault, possibly never to enjoy the freedom denied to its main character.
Just The Facts
- The film is not available on DVD within the US- suppliers ship it from overseas.
- Source of the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", which won an oscar in 1948.
- Since lovable slaves became taboo, Disney has avoided having black main characters until 2009's Princess and the Frog. That's 63 years.
The most accurate representation of race relations since 'Birth of a Nation'
This YouTube video asks, "Is this racist?" No...
...but this sure is.
Song of the South is considered by some to be a masterpiece due to its innovative combination of live action and animated footage. However, the Disney company has yet to release the film on DVD in the United States because of one small problem... it portrays slavery in a positive light.
It has been argued that the film is not racist, but simply portrays pre-civil war race relations and slavery was an unfortunate aspect of the time period. That's all well and good-- those who forget history are doomed to repeat it right? And it's not all that different from other portrayals of slavery in works of fiction:
One of these things, is not like the others...
See? Basically the same.
It would appear that the author of this article has never seen Song of the South. Slavery was indeed a horrible stain upon the fabric of our society. Nonetheless, we should not pretend that such racism never existed and more importantly any depiction of slaves that does not show them being whipped by their master in the cotton fields should not inherently be deemed racist. While slavery was deplorable it was common practice at the time and not all slave owners were horrible to their slaves. Therefore if one watches Song of the South understanding the historical context he would realize that not only is the film not racist towards slaves but if anything depicts the poor white kids in a potentially racist manner.
ReplyFurthermore, the author stated that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it and yet the author has forgotten the historical impact of the film. The first Academy Award given to an African American was for the actor who played Uncle Remus. While this film would not be considered politically correct today it should not be neglected to the vault for that reason alone. An introduction describing the society in which it was made should avail most of its critics who are too ignorant to watch it that context on their own.
Talk to your kids about how slavery really was and why it is wrong, but don't just blanket blacklist everything having to do with the "old South" just because it's not all doom and gloom. Do you really think that every slave was going around every minute of every day focusing on the misery of his existence? Stories like the Uncle Remus ones, which have their roots in West African folklore, were a distraction from the unhappiness of life in slavery. They are an important part of American culture and should not be ignored simply because they are funny and not tragic.
Replymovie was made the the 1940s. Talk to your kids about how slavery really was and why it is wrong, but don't just blanket blacklist everything having to do with the "old South" just because it's not all doom and gloom.
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