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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: Peter Rabbit filmmakers and studio apologize
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 02-20-2018 11:36 AM
Reminds me of when Channel Four in Britain aired the Kevin Brownlow / Carl Davis version of The Birth of a Nation in the early 1990s. Vaguely aware that it was a very important movie, I videoed it, and, by some fluke, the VHS tape survived two and a half decades and several moves (including a transatlantic emigration), to resurface in a box of crud I was looking through for something else just before Christmas.
Curious to discover if the PAL VHS VCR that also came with me survived the move, I fired it up, and discovered that the tape was still very much playable. It begins with a dreadlocked, Afro-Caribbean sociology professor delivering an introductory lecture, laden with references to 1970s Marxist film theory, basically trashing the movie for its racism. But not once does he mention why it is so important in the history of cinema (story structure, acting technique in close-ups, more or less invented the continuity editing system still in use today, the first ever roadshow movie, etc. etc.) and therefore why, despite being so problematic, it can't be ignored and brushed under carpet (in fact, the racism is a big part of the reason why we should try to understand why it was both popular and despised when it was first shown).
So even a quarter of a century ago, this technique of not quite banning something, but wrapping it up in a politically correct sermon as a sort of compromise, was happening.
Now I am perfectly capable of watching the thing for myself, and reading up for myself about the aspects of it he chose not to mention. Sadly, however, this sort of subtle, semi-censorship does have some bad side-effects. As far as I'm aware, there was not one screening of BOAN at any major arthouse or cinematheque during the movie's centenary year (2015). OK, part of that could have been the cost and difficulty of a full, live orchestra (which you'd need to do the film justice), but I can't help wondering if the one-sided debate about it that has taken place for the last three decades is a bigger part of the reason. Are we really not adult enough to deal with this movie being both a huge step forwards in some ways, and a huge step backwards in others?
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-20-2018 10:08 PM
quote: Mike Blakesley
No, that's not what makes her a racist. That was just her reading a message off of cue cards. When she used to appear on TV doing "comedy" she was incapable of being funny without making fun of "white people." Constantly making jokes about how "white people" are stupid and so on. Just they way she would say the words "white people" came off as extremely condescending.
Some people in this discussion thread are taking offense that disclaimers are being put on the front of old cartoons, movies, etc that include overtly racist content along with other outdated American cultural norms. The disclaimers are being called a subtle form of censorship. Yet in this same thread we're going to call Whoopi Goldberg a racist because she did bits in her stand-up about white people? Seriously?
If any black comedian is going to be labeled as a racist for telling jokes about white people then, by that measure, every white person who has told jokes about black people should be labeled as a racist just the same. Let's be consistent about it.
I don't think anyone who overtly claims loyalty to any social group wants consistency. The groups involve race, religion, gender, ethnicity, political party affiliation and even more trivial stuff like favorite sports teams. Everyone wants one set of loose rules for their group and a different, more strict set of rules for the others. That's the reality of it here in America. We complain members of the other groups are just being too sensitive when we say/do something they find offensive. Yet we can't notice we have a giant stick up our own asses and are itching to be triggered the same way.
quote: Leo Enticknap
It begins with a dreadlocked, Afro-Caribbean sociology professor delivering an introductory lecture, laden with references to 1970s Marxist film theory, basically trashing the movie for its racism. But not once does he mention why it is so important in the history of cinema (story structure, acting technique in close-ups, more or less invented the continuity editing system still in use today, the first ever roadshow movie, etc. etc.) and therefore why, despite being so problematic, it can't be ignored and brushed under carpet (in fact, the racism is a big part of the reason why we should try to understand why it was both popular and despised when it was first shown).
Birth of a Nation is appropriate to show in the context of explaining film history to students of the subject and others who are seriously interested in film history. Viewed at face value as a conventional piece of movie "entertainment," Birth of a Nation is a toxic piece of racist propaganda. The movie portrayed the KKK as heroes. It portrayed slavery as a good thing for black people and characterized the Republican Party as evil for wanting to eliminate slavery.
It's easy to understand why movie studios would completely avoid holding screenings of Birth of a Nation on its 100th anniversary or include disclaimers in home video releases of the movie. A preface warning at least gives the movie studio some kind of an out, to let it claim it's not exploiting an offensively divisive movie for commercial gain. White supremacist organizations are still alive and well in the USA. A movie studio certainly wouldn't want to appear as if it supported the views of those groups.
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