DVDizzy Forum

Disney creative director Dave Bossert stated in an interview, "I can say there's been a lot of internal discussion about Song of the South. And at some point we're going to do something about it. I don't know when, but we will. We know we want people to see Song of the South because we realize it's a big piece of company history, and we want to do it the right way

The Post-Movie Podcast. November 20, 2010 (wiki)

I've never seen song of the south so forgive my ignorance but what is racist about the movie apart from the sterotypes.?

kylemj wrote:November 20, 2010 (wiki)

That date and source just make me question why?

They should release Song of the South region locked and only in Japan & Hong Kong. The same way they released the Laser Dick years ago. That way the morons can't buy it and those people that do want to buy it can import it. They should do the same thing with Fantasia too.

^Laser Dick?

Laser Disk.

kylemj,
You can watch the complete Song of the South on youtube.

kylemj wrote:I've never seen song of the south so forgive my ignorance but what is racist about the movie apart from the sterotypes.?

Absolutely nothing. The animated characters are very heavy stereotypes of the time.

The slaves are made out to be the kindest, smartest characters in the film.

The whole thing has been highly overdone by society. There is nothing nearly as bad as many other films that have been released over and over again without complaint.

Little Red Henski wrote:They should release Song of the South region locked and only in Japan & Hong Kong. The same way they released the Laser Dick years ago. That way the morons can't buy it and those people that do want to buy it can import it. They should do the same thing with Fantasia too.

That would anger a lot of people, but wouldn't be the end of the world. With all the region free DVD and Blu-ray players out there, such a move might inspire some to finally get one of those.

SWillie! wrote:

kylemj wrote:I've never seen song of the south so forgive my ignorance but what is racist about the movie apart from the sterotypes.?

Absolutely nothing. The animated characters are very heavy stereotypes of the time.

The slaves are made out to be the kindest, smartest characters in the film.

The whole thing has been highly overdone by society. There is nothing nearly as bad as many other films that have been released over and over again without complaint.

Actually it may offend the tea party crowd as the White trash family isn't exactly portrayed in a positive light.

Little Red Henski wrote:

SWillie! wrote: Absolutely nothing. The animated characters are very heavy stereotypes of the time.

The slaves are made out to be the kindest, smartest characters in the film.

The whole thing has been highly overdone by society. There is nothing nearly as bad as many other films that have been released over and over again without complaint.

Actually it may offend the tea party crowd as the White trash family isn't exactly portrayed in a positive light.

Har Har Har. How very enlightened of you to pick up on some talking points and with which broad brush-stereotype a group of people. Sounds not unlike the exact issue people have a problem with the movie at hand. Well done.

It's a commonly known fact: Tea Partiers are nutjobs.

SWillie! wrote:

kylemj wrote:I've never seen song of the south so forgive my ignorance but what is racist about the movie apart from the sterotypes.?

Absolutely nothing. The animated characters are very heavy stereotypes of the time.

The slaves are made out to be the kindest, smartest characters in the film.

The whole thing has been highly overdone by society. There is nothing nearly as bad as many other films that have been released over and over again without complaint.

They're sharecroppers, not slaves.

^And that's the big confusion about this movie.

But even people who understand that they are sharecroppers still can say that they are portrayed as too happy in the film, that they still were oppressed, and so on.

Just saying.

I agree with blackcauldron85. Some of the lyrics in "Let the Rain Pour Down" would be cringeworthy by today's standards (i.e., meaning if a brand new movie were released tomorrow containing those lyrics, people would be rightfully upset).

I would love to see Disney be able to release this with appropriate commentary and context because it would allow people appreciate the film for what it is and yet honestly critique it as a product of the time period in which it was released.

Several year ago, Cabin Fever released a bunch of Our Gang/Little Rascals episodes which were hosted by Leonard Maltin that did just that. When there were racial insensitivities in the episode (such as watermelon jokes or a white kid performing in blackface) he'd bring them up, talk about how such things were common in Hollywood at the time, even though they're inexcusable now. I also remember him making some interesting points too about how even with these things, the Little Rascals were actually ahead of their time in the way they depicted the kids as friends regardless of their race).

I would think a similar approach with Song of the South would let Disney discuss a lot of the things about the film they're not proud of today (such as the lyrics above, the stereotypical dialects, etc.) and yet at the same time be able to highlight some of the good things about the film such as James Baskett being the first African American to receive an Oscar.

(All that being said, I am not African American myself, and I can't pretend that I understand this film from the perspective of someone who is. Apologies if the suggestions above are insensitive and/or offensive to anyone on in this forum.)

If you want to see a real movie that tries to be offensive to Blacks go see "Goodbye Uncle Tom". Strange world we live in where I can have remastered DVDS of Good Bye Uncle Tom, Birth of a Nation and Coon Skin but I have to settle for a Bootleg DVD of Song of the South. lol. Rap videos portray blacks in a more negative light than Song of the South. Disney should just pay Obama to do a commentary track for the film.

Hattie McDaniel was the first black actor to receive an Oscar. James Baskett's was an honorary Oscar.

Little Red Henski wrote:If you want to see a real movie that tries to be offensive to Blacks go see "Goodbye Uncle Tom". Strange world we live in where I can have remastered DVDS of Good Bye Uncle Tom, Birth of a Nation and Coon Skin but I have to settle for a Bootleg DVD of Song of the South. lol. Rap videos portray blacks in a more negative light than Song of the South. Disney should just pay Obama to do a commentary track for the film.

Um... were you trying to make a point there or piss people off?

carolinakid wrote:Hattie McDaniel was the first black actor to receive an Oscar. James Baskett's was an honorary Oscar.

Good to know! And thanks for the clarification.

Lazario wrote:

Little Red Henski wrote:If you want to see a real movie that tries to be offensive to Blacks go see "Goodbye Uncle Tom". Strange world we live in where I can have remastered DVDS of Good Bye Uncle Tom, Birth of a Nation and Coon Skin but I have to settle for a Bootleg DVD of Song of the South. lol. Rap videos portray blacks in a more negative light than Song of the South. Disney should just pay Obama to do a commentary track for the film.

Um... were you trying to make a point there or piss people off?

Maybe. It just pisses me off that the stuff they air on BET is much worst than Song of the South. Disney bought this on themselves though by banning this movie in the first place. I don't care either way as I have a nice bootleg copy of Song of the South. I would like a remastered copy though.