Song of the South

[The Original BJ]

I saw Song of the South last year for the first time (on Alan Menken's bootleg DVD copy, no less.) While its racial stereotypes are certainly troubling, I was shocked at how tame the film seemed in comparison to others from the era. (Gone With the Wind's racial stereotypes are FAR more problematic, IMO.) I understand that the difference with Song of the South is that it's geared toward children . . . but I agree with everyone, that's no reason for Disney to suppress a part of its history the company would rather not revisit (In the same way, it's outrageous that Disney has edited the black centaurs out of video & DVD releases of Fantasia.)

The live-action sequences in Song of the South are fine, but Damien's right, the animated sequences are spectacular . . . even for a goddamn cartoon! And the music is wonderful, not just the most famous number, but also How Do You Do?, Everybody's Got a Laughin' Place, and Song of the South.

There's also a fascinating article on Song of the South's racial depictions in Douglas Brode's book, From Walt to Woodstock: How Disney Created the Counter-Culture, in which the author acknowledges the film's use of stereotypes, yet argues that these stereotypes are ultimately used in a more progressive manner than those in most films of the era.

[Damien]

I saw Song Of The South during its 1972 reissue, and feel tht it is one of Disney's great achievements. The animated segments are hilarious, and are as good as anything the studio ever did.

I am opposed to suppressing any work because its political sensibility is reflective of its own period and not ours. The Uncle Remus character is at once cringe-inducing in its happy subservience, but, at the same time, as James Baskett plays him he is a warm and charismatic and fun and lovable figure. I think most kids would just see him as a nice avuncular person, and not some emasculated sniveling Uncle Tom.

Of course, anti-Song of the South sentiment is nothing new. The NAACP opposedits release back in 1947.

In any case, I'm in lock-step with Flipp and Tee -- you can't (and shouldn't be able to) rewrite history by suppressing its tangible evidence.

And regarding Merrily We Live, the other day TCM was showing a slew of Hal Roach featurettes. I was flipping channels and came across a colored boy (probably Manton Moreland) popping out his eyes, screaming and his feets running for dear life because he saw a ghost.

[flipp525]

flipp, when you say Watermelon Man, are you referring to the 1970 van Peebles film? Because that was, if anything, a clearly anti-racist film -- though a pretty bad one.

Tee, I probably should've explained that example. I was mostly referring to the film's original ending which found van Peebles' character waking up from it all like it was some sort of horrid nightmare. Ya know, like the idea that the worst possible thing that could happen to a white man is to wake up irrevocably black. It didn't sit well with me and seemed to be a bit racist as does the original movie poster's tagline: "A very funny thing happened to Jeff Gerber. It won't happen to you, so you can laugh". I guess I found Watermelon Man to be anti-racist in its intention but somewhat racist in its execution. It purports itself as being progressive and evocative but ends up reinforcing most of the stereotypes it claims to debunk. I don't know, maybe I just need to see it again. It was pretty awful either way.



Edited By flipp525 on 1174941035

[Mister Tee]

Song of the South is probably the most famous American movie I've never seen. I was presumably deemed a bit too young for the '56 re-release; by '72 I was onto more adventuresome films; and when they released it in '86, I probably assumed it would soon be in Home Video.

Thus, for purely selfish reasons, I'd love for it to be released. But I also back flipp's argument: you don't wipe away early era racism/sexism/whatever-ism by suppressing art from the period. Besides, plenty exists in readily available films: I mentioned Cimarron in another thread, and the recently revived Merrily We Live has a horrifying "black man terrified of ghosts" sequence. Granted, Song of the South is more visible -- and would probably be more widely seen by children -- but, still...

flipp, when you say Watermelon Man, are you referring to the 1970 van Peebles film? Because that was, if anything, a clearly anti-racist film -- though a pretty bad one.

[flipp525]

I think Song of the South should be made available for the same reason that we can now read pre-abolition literature and view vintage, un-PC type films (i.e. Birth of a Nation, Watermelon Man, etc.) -- there is intrinsic value in being able to study potentially damaging stereotypes and racism. These attitudes towards race frozen in time (and on celluloid) might just demonstrate how much we've evolved (or, more importantly, how much we haven't). Clearly, the film used fairly standard stereotypes in its portrayal of black people (i.e., Uncle Tom/Aunt Chloe type characters). Showing, what are essentially, slaves as happy-go-lucky, complacent, field workers used to be one of the most popular ways of justifying slavery ("Look how happy they are!"). And obviously, Disney is weary of its somewhat racist past.

I'll make a comparison to gay culture. When I watch a movie such as The Boys in the Band (if I can even locate it in some out-of-the-way video store), I'm able to recognize it for the time capsule piece that it is. In a pre-AIDS environment, it portrays fairly stereotypical, self-hating, swishy gay men who are all, for the most part, vitriolic and bitter about their lot in life. Now, do I want people to see this movie as the definitive portrayal of the gay American male? Hell no. But I'm grateful to at least have access to it for the sheer fact that it captures a certain perspective from a particular moment in history and is therefore valuable in shedding light on acceptance and modern-day attitudes towards the same subject matter.

Song of the South would be an instructional goldmine for my college professors who taught such courses as Blackness and Whiteness in American Literature, The Novels of Toni Morrison, etc.



Edited By flipp525 on 1174969815

[Penelope]

'Song of the South' release mulled despite possible controversy

ORLANDO (AP) — Walt Disney Co.'s 1946 film Song of the South was historic. It was Disney's first big live-action picture and produced one of the company's most famous songs — the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It also carries the story line of the Splash Mountain rides at its theme parks.
But the movie remains hidden in the Disney archives — never released on video in the United States and criticized as racist for its depiction of Southern plantation blacks. The film's 60th anniversary passed last year without a whisper of official rerelease, which is unusual for Disney, but President and CEO Bob Iger recently said the company was reconsidering.

The film's reissue would surely spark debate, but it could also sell big. Nearly 115,000 people have signed an online petition urging Disney to make the movie available, and out-of-print international copies routinely sell online for $50-$90, some even more than $100.

Iger was answering a shareholder's inquiry about the movie for the second year in a row at Disney's annual meeting in New Orleans. This month the Disney chief made a rerelease sound more possible.

"The question of Song of the South comes up periodically, in fact it was raised at last year's annual meeting ..." Iger said. "And since that time, we've decided to take a look at it again because we've had numerous requests about bringing it out. Our concern was that a film that was made so many decades ago being brought out today perhaps could be either misinterpreted or that it would be somewhat challenging in terms of providing the appropriate context."

Song of the South was re-shown in theaters in 1956, 1972 and 1986. Both animated and live-action, it tells the story of a young white boy, Johnny, who goes to live on his grandparents' Georgia plantation when his parents split up. Johnny is charmed by Uncle Remus — a popular black servant — and his fables of Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox, which are actual black folk tales.

Remus' stories include the famous "tar baby," a phrase Republican presidential hopefuls John McCain and Mitt Romney were recently criticized for using to describe difficult situations. In Song of the South, it was a trick Brer Fox and Brer Bear used to catch the rabbit — dressing a lump of hot tar as a person to ensnare their prey. To some, it is now a derogatory term for blacks, regardless of context.

The movie doesn't reveal whether it takes place before or after the Civil War, and never refers to blacks on the plantation as slaves. It makes clear they work for the family, living down dirt roads in wood shacks while the white characters stay in a mansion. Remus and other black characters' dialogue is full of "ain't nevers," "ain't nobodys," "you tells," and "dem days's."

"In today's environment, Song of the South probably doesn't have a lot of meaning, especially to the younger audiences," said James Pappas, associate professor of African-American Studies at the University of New York at Buffalo. "Older audiences probably would have more of a connection with the stereotypes, which were considered harmless at the time."

Pappas said it's not clear that the movie is intentionally racist, but it inappropriately projects Remus as a happy, laughing storyteller even though he's a plantation worker.

Gone with the Wind, produced seven years earlier, endured the same criticism and even shares a common actress (Hattie McDaniel, who won an Oscar for "Gone" for playing the house slave "Mammy").

However, Pappas said he thinks the movie should be re-released because of its historical significance. He said it should be prefaced, and closed, with present-day statements.

"I think it's important that these images are shown today so that especially young people can understand this historical context for some of the blatant stereotyping that's done today," Pappas said.

From a financial standpoint, Iger acknowledged last year that Disney stood to gain from rereleasing Song. The company's movies are popular with collectors, and Disney has kept sales strong by tightly controlling when they're available.

Christian Willis, a 26-year-old IT administrator in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., started a Song fan site in 1999 to showcase memorabilia. He soon expanded it into a clearinghouse for information on the movie that now averages more than 800 hits a day and manages the online petition.

Willis said he doesn't think the movie is racist, just from a different time.

"Stereotypes did exist on the screen," he said. "But if you look at other films of that time period, I think Song of the South was really quite tame in that regard. I think Disney did make an effort to show African Americans in a more positive light."

Though Willis is hopeful, there's still no telling when — or if — the movie could come out (beyond its copyright lapsing decades from now).

For this story, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney's distribution arm, issued a statement: "Song of the South is one of a handful of titles that has not seen a home distribution window. To this point, we have not discounted nor committed to any distribution window concerning this title."