Song of the South - Political Correctness gone crazy or actual offensive content?

[DisMike]

I grew up at a time that I could have seen Song of the South but never did before Disney pulled the plug. I always wondered whether Disney had an actual real issue with offensive content or whether it was them just sacrificing the picture to the gods of political correctness.

A couple of years back a friend of mine had an old VHS copy of it and let me borrow it. I scrutinized it for offensive content and for the life of me couldn't find anything in it that I would find offensive (given I'm a middle-aged white guy). Uncle Remus was a poor, kindly ex-slave that seemed genuinely happy. BTW, EVERYONE (except for the token rich family) in the area was just a poor as Uncle Remus including the white families (again with the one notable exception). All the kids, white and black went to Uncle Remus to hear his stories. I've seen far worse portrayals of blacks and ex-slaves in the movies. I don't get it. It's really a good movie with good values showing a time in the US when there were problems in society. Then again, when haven't there been problems in society at any time in the US or anywhere else for that matter.

Anyway, anyone that's seen it I'd like to hear your opinion. Maybe it's offensive and I just don't get it.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I've seen the movie, and I'm with you. The last time I watched it was a long time ago, but if I remember correctly, we were meant to conclude that Uncle Remus should have been treated better, and the kids were good people because they ignored skin color and played together. Sure, it was set at a sad time, but I think the message is about growing past that time and toward something better.

 

[BrianL]

The thing is is that it's hard to determine what is offensive. Yes, it could be observed that the Uncle Remus character is a rather positive portrayal, and if you don't come from a certain perspective you may not see what's wrong with it. On the other hand, stories like that were used in the times after the civil war to portray the former slaves as happy and satisfied, as if everything could be swept under the rug now. The truth was uglier, so the fact that this kind of story persisted is definitely difficult for some to accept. It perpetuates myths and stereotypes that weren't entirely true. While Uncle Remus is no doubt shown as agood man with a heart of gold, his mannerisms and speech patterns are pretty stereotypical, and certainly the voices of the cartoon characters are.

So, the situation is a bit more complicated, and while I don't think the filmmakers set out to be offensive and in fact propably felt like they may be aiding race relations, they still unconciously tapped into hurtful tropes. Even at the time some called the movie out for it. In today's culture, there is no way anybody would even give it the complex thought that it warrants, so I totally understand why Disney doesn't want to release it. Personally, I don't think hiding things like this is the right answer. I agree with Whoopi Goldberg, who sees such films as something we can learn from int he proper context. I think if Disney ever were to release it again, they would need to do so in such a way that is is not monetized and is presented in historical context. I also totally get that they wouldn't want to bother with all that. There isn't much to gain.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm of an age that I've seen the movie in the theater. In the drive-in actually. I was a kid and went with a bunch of friends. Yeah, I'm ancient LOL
It's not an offensive movie but it's full of offensive stereotypes and in this day and age, it will never, ever fly to put on the screen. There is just nothing to be helped by releasing it again. And there's no way to cut or alter it either.

I recently went to see the rerelease of Gone With the Wind on the big screen. For it's 80th Anniversary. Took DGD, DD and my Mom. I was rather shocked as I watched it that they let it back out as many of the scenes in it are equally as racially offensive as anything in Song of the South is. I didn't go looking for any protests around it but I do wonder if there was any backlash out there. I'm sure somewhere it had to make people cringe

 

[old lady]

It is because it portrayed slavery as a good life. And happy people were happy. It also made it look like everyone was happy and there was no racial prejudice or hate. Disney didn’t believe people should be judged by their color and this movie was quite liberal and progressive at its time of release since there no no black actors on screen, much less a main character. James Bassett wasn’t even allowed to see the film in Georgia?

 

[BrianL]

It is because it portrayed slavery as a good life. And happy people were happy. It also made it look like everyone was happy and there was no racial prejudice or hate. Disney didn’t believe people should be judged by their color and this movie was quite liberal and progressive at its time of release since there no no black actors on screen, much less a main character. James Bassett wasn’t even allowed to see the film in Georgia?

Just a note, the movie takes place after the Civil War and after the abolition of slaves. The characters depicted in it are no longer slaves at that point. Of course, as we all know, life wasn't all sunshine and roses.

What I think Disney could do is maybe revisit the actual folk tales that the movie is based on, you know, with Bre'r Rabbit, and do a new animated film. They could use African American actors and produce it with sensitivity toward where the stories come from, enabling them to live on for new generations. They could tie the stories togtether with animated framing sequences instead of live-action. In fact, they already have a built-in setting/title for such a project: Splash Mountain!

 

[Kaleidodad]

Just a note, the movie takes place after the Civil War and after the abolition of slaves. The characters depicted in it are no longer slaves at that point. Of course, as we all know, life wasn't all sunshine and roses.

What I think Disney could do is maybe revisit the actual folk tales that the movie is based on, you know, with Bre'r Rabbit, and do a new animated film. They could use African American actors and produce it with sensitivity toward where the stories come from, enabling them to live on for new generations. They could tie the stories togtether with animated framing sequences instead of live-action. In fact, they already have a built-in setting/title for such a project: Splash Mountain!

I have thought the same thing, especially with those characters still being such an integral part of WDW in Splash Mountain. Disney could easily re-claim and repurpose the legacy of those characters and their stories as, say, a celebration of diversity through the variety of Br'er (and Sis?) animals.

 

[JedStarkiller]

I think my mother might actually have a copy of it on VHS I should see if I get an African American friend of mine to watch and get his opinion on this subject.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I've never seen the movie but I have an old Disney bedtime story collection that has the tar baby story in it. If that's in Song of the South, then yeah, that's pretty offensive.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Honestly, it's a little of both. Remus was a character created by Joel Chandler Harris as a frame for these old folklore stories that Harris heard when he worked on a plantation. Harris wasn't a slave owner and when he was editor of the Atlanta Constitution, his agenda was racial reconciliation. That being said, a lot of people consider Remus to be patronizing -- a portrayal of the happy former slave that still works at the plantation. The book is ... problematic.

Perhaps a modern telling of these folk tales are in order, with the Remus narrator removed or replaced.

 

[AngiTN]

I've never seen the movie but I have an old Disney bedtime story collection that has the tar baby story in it. If that's in Song of the South, then yeah, that's pretty offensive.

Yes, it is

 

[Kaleidodad]

I've never seen the movie but I have an old Disney bedtime story collection that has the tar baby story in it. If that's in Song of the South, then yeah, that's pretty offensive.

The origins of the tar baby tale in the folklore of many different cultures are actually quite inoffensive, although it has taken on a pejorative connotation simply due to its inclusion in the Uncle Remus stories and this movie.