if Walt WAS racist, would you care?

sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Depends on your definition of "homophobic". I, too, believe that homosexuality is unacceptable before God and a sin according to the scriptures. But I am not afraid of gay people, nor do I personally dislike them. Therefore, I don't consider myself "homophobic", but if others insist on labeling me that way, I won't lose any sleep over it. I don't know what Walt's opinion of homosexuality was, but hopefully he shared my beliefs on the subject. If not, no big deal.

And I have never been one to boycott WDW or the Disney company as a whole because of the gay issue (like the Southern Baptist Convention). The way I see it, sin is all around us in this world (gay or straight) and if I witheld my money from companies because of sinful behavior or association with sinful behavior, I would basically be sitting around hoarding money up because I would have nowhere to spend it at. Not to mention that I'm not about to cheat myself out of the fun and enjoyment of WDW. :lol:
 
goofyfan13

goofyfan13

Well-Known Member
dazzer68 said:
wasnt he homophobic too? people have said to me i shouldnt be giving my money to the walt disney company because of that.
does that bother me as a gay man..nope.. it was the generation he lived in,most of the world today is more educated and tolerant than 'the good ole days!'
i say most of the world.....
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That's funny cause I hear people say the opposite, as in people should boycott Disney because of 'Gay Day' and employing Gay people. :shrug:
 
B

beachclubbasics

New Member
Gmax said:
First of all, I seriously doubt that Disney would EVER make a movie with NO substance to satisfy anyone. I am sure, that they are quite able to write a story with lead characters that just happen to be African Amercian that IS worth telling. And secondly, I never mentioned anything about "white guilt". If the Disney Company can persue African American tourists, and hold Disney World contests on radio stations that target them, then surely, we could be included as main characters in an animated movie.
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Although this isn't animation, what about the lead female character in Disney's Broadway play "Aida"?

The backlash about Pocahontas was due to the total rewriting of history that went on in that movie (I'm Native American and we have dicussed this ad naseum...lol). Pocahontas was only 12 when she came to John Smith's defense, there was never a romance between them, it was more like father/daughter or uncle/niece, and she ended up marry John Rolfe and moving to England in her later years. I have chosen not to see this movie, but people who have have told me that even the name of the tribe is incorrect.

As to why there are no black princesses yet, I don't know...many a part of it is because fairy tales about black princesses tend to be oral and not written or may not be communicated to poeple who could have the power to make a movie about them..or simply that no one has come up with a good enough story yet, though I have heard that Disney has a movie in the works about a black princess from New Orleans and a frog...

Until recently, it seems that Disney has focused on European fairy tales from authors such as the Grimms and Hans Christian Andersen.
 
Deadmanwalking

Deadmanwalking

Member
beachclubbasics said:
Although this isn't animation, what about the lead female character in Disney's Broadway play "Aida"?

The backlash about Pocahontas was due to the total rewriting of history that went on in that movie (I'm Native American and we have dicussed this ad naseum...lol). Pocahontas was only 12 when she came to John Smith's defense, there was never a romance between them, it was more like father/daughter or uncle/niece, and she ended up marry John Rolfe and moving to England in her later years. I have chosen not to see this movie, but people who have have told me that even the name of the tribe is incorrect.

As to why there are no black princesses yet, I don't know...many a part of it is because fairy tales about black princesses tend to be oral and not written or may not be communicated to poeple who could have the power to make a movie about them..or simply that no one has come up with a good enough story yet, though I have heard that Disney has a movie in the works about a black princess from New Orleans and a frog...

Until recently, it seems that Disney has focused on European fairy tales from authors such as the Grimms and Hans Christian Andersen.
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If you want to get right down to it... Song of the South was fairly clear in having animated characters that were supposed to represent blacks... yet this movie isn't released on DVD because of the uproar made by blacks that it didn't present them in the proper light.

Well excuss me but if I was a company making movies and one group of people made a habit of yelling and screaming about how they were shown in every movie imaginable I would simply stop putting them in my films. I tend to think that this is what has happened and the reason that Disney doesn't put black characters in its movies. Disney knows that if they do, one of the many "voices of the black man" will find the character too this... or too that and scream and yell and call people to boycott the film. So if anyone wants to blame someone for Disney's failure to have a black main charcter maybe they should start with some of the "voices of the black man" groups or individuals that make a habit out of finding fault for the simple sake of getting publicity for themselves.
 
Shere_Khan

Shere_Khan

Well-Known Member
ctwhalerman said:
That is so true, and I've never thought of it. There's even been an Arab princess (Jasmine) and a Chinese princess (Mulan), but still no prominent black characters in Disney movies.
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And the first time a black man has been represented in an animated film was Joshua Sweet of Atlantis. And that movie is not really that old.
But this was not the fault of Walt Disney, but of the Disney Company.

I agree with several of you in that the time period Walt Disney grew up in has a lot to do with whatever he believed concerning different races. If someone were to tell me right now that they had proof Walt was indeed racist. I don't believe that it would be that surprising of news or that I would be broken up over it. Given the time period this was a commonality for many people. If he were alive right now and had grown up as I had, I would be disgusted.
 
sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Deadmanwalking said:
If you want to get right down to it... Song of the South was fairly clear in having animated characters that were supposed to represent blacks... yet this movie isn't released on DVD because of the uproar made by blacks that it didn't present them in the proper light.

Well excuss me but if I was a company making movies and one group of people made a habit of yelling and screaming about how they were shown in every movie imaginable I would simply stop putting them in my films. I tend to think that this is what has happened and the reason that Disney doesn't put black characters in its movies. Disney knows that if they do, one of the many "voices of the black man" will find the character too this... or too that and scream and yell and call people to boycott the film. So if anyone wants to blame someone for Disney's failure to have a black main charcter maybe they should start with some of the "voices of the black man" groups or individuals that make a habit out of finding fault for the simple sake of getting publicity for themselves.
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Amen to that!
 
Shere_Khan

Shere_Khan

Well-Known Member
I guess I don't really understand what the difference is in animated movies and live action movies.
There are several normal live action movies out there that portray African Americans negatively.
In my opinion Uncle Remus used the same dialect and mannor in Song of the South, as the African Americans in Gone With the Wind did.
But that was a great American classic......
 
M

Mim

New Member
I know I'm kind of late on the scene but I just couldn't help myself, I had to comment on this - It's A Small World. I'd say 'nuff said, but let me point out that Disney films were, by and large, popular fairy tales and, for the most part, fairy tales are from Europe and that would be where white people come from, lol. I'm pretty sure the Frog Prince (princess) is also a European fairy story that's ended up with a 20s Black lead ( they've even changed the character names to make them 'blacker' ), and, to be honest, I think a lot of 'crying wolf' goes on when it comes to people's views of who's racist and who isn't. I wouldn't, by a long shot, put racism past Eisner or Iger, though, but Walt?

Let me also point out that Song of the South wasn't racist - in fact, black leaders of the time had no problem with it, at the time it was probably the least racist thing around, I mean, how many times have you seen a black person in a Shirly Temple movie who didn't tap dance? Or a Fred Astaire picture? Have you *seen* Holiday Inn? It may not be right but it's the way things were, people had a certain view of *everyone*, and if you tell me you can watch a television show with a predominantly black cast and not have white people jokingly raked over the coals every other line, then you're not paying attention. Like I said, couldn't help myself. :ROFLOL:
 
E

Erika

Moderator
I've known a lot of otherwise decent people who have had a few bad ideas. Chalk it up to upbringing or ignorance or whatever you want. Racism is a horrible thing, but one bad trait does not necessarily make you a horrible person.

Do I care? Sure I care. It always bothers me to hear that or observe that about someone. But he's gone now, so :shrug: if I'm going to focus energy on racism, I'll focus more on who is walking around today.
 
Computer Magic

Computer Magic

Well-Known Member
Walt was in a different time and different ERA. What we see as racist today, wasn't back then. If he was alive and racist today, that would bother me.
 

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