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robotech_masterInteresting. The rarely-seen-in-its-entirety more-than-a-little racist Disney movie Song of the South had been planned to be screened at Worldcon, along with a lecture and other information putting it in context. That could have been interesting. It could still be interesting, if it were released on home video with commentaries discussing the subtexts included within it and putting it in context of its era.
But they picked the wrong way to describe it in their program guide, with the line, "The film has never been released in its entirety on home video in the United States because of the subject matter, which Disney executives thought might be viewed by some as politically incorrect and racist toward black people, and is therefore subject to much controversy." (A description which apparently came right out of Wikipedia, though it has since been tweaked in Wikipedia.) Um, yeah. As Patrick Nielsen Hayden puts it, this movie isn't possibly "politically incorrect." "Song of the South is a blatantly, relentlessly, spectacularly racist piece of work." Unsurprisingly, in light of the controversy Worldcon's description stirred, they decided to pull it from the program.
It's a pity that the movie remains unavailable on video. The movie is an important piece of cinematic history, in spite of or perhaps because of the racist overtones, just as was Birth of a Nation. It shouldn't be hidden away where it can't offend anyone. It should be offending people, and embarrassing people, so that we as a society can better learn from Disney's mistakes. Those who forget the lessons of history, and so on.
But they picked the wrong way to describe it in their program guide, with the line, "The film has never been released in its entirety on home video in the United States because of the subject matter, which Disney executives thought might be viewed by some as politically incorrect and racist toward black people, and is therefore subject to much controversy." (A description which apparently came right out of Wikipedia, though it has since been tweaked in Wikipedia.) Um, yeah. As Patrick Nielsen Hayden puts it, this movie isn't possibly "politically incorrect." "Song of the South is a blatantly, relentlessly, spectacularly racist piece of work." Unsurprisingly, in light of the controversy Worldcon's description stirred, they decided to pull it from the program.
It's a pity that the movie remains unavailable on video. The movie is an important piece of cinematic history, in spite of or perhaps because of the racist overtones, just as was Birth of a Nation. It shouldn't be hidden away where it can't offend anyone. It should be offending people, and embarrassing people, so that we as a society can better learn from Disney's mistakes. Those who forget the lessons of history, and so on.
