Isn't Princess and the Frog offensive?

[PiratesMansion]

I unplugged my VCR over a decade ago, so I'm not going to try and go find it in the garage and rewatch this movie.

But as I remember it, Uncle Remus lived in his own home and had the freedom to socialize with whomever he wanted and do what he wanted. He also had the ability to wander the countryside of his own free will. He was clearly not a slave. And the movie was also clearly not taking place during wartime. Thus, we are left with the only option that Uncle Remus is a free man living in "old times" but obviously during Reconstruction.

And in other sequences, particularly when the other workers are singing and working together, it could very easily appear to be slaves in slave quarters.

Surely you can see how not explicitly dating the film-which as I mentioned earlier would have taken almost zero effort on their part-has not helped the movie's reputation or its audience's understanding of it. Expecting audiences to take that one sign as proof that it's Reconstruction, when Reconstruction is often not covered in depth, clearly did not work out to their benefit.

Perhaps you received extensive coverage of Reconstruction back in the day. That is no longer the modern experience, and I'm sure it hasn't been the experience at most schools in a long time. Not saying that such a change is for the better, but merely stating a fact.

Here is a link to the film, in the event you or anyone else would like to view the film or particular sequences: https://archive.org/details/SongoftheSouth1080pRestoration

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I think you just nailed it. They didn't indicate a specific time that it takes place because it ultimately didn't matter to them. That wasn't the type of movie they were setting out to make. That vagueness is a result of entirely different sensibilities than we would have today. It's why it's so dated.

 

[TP2000]

Perhaps you received extensive coverage of Reconstruction back in the day. That is no longer the modern experience, and I'm sure it hasn't been the experience at most schools in a long time. Not saying that such a change is for the better, but merely stating a fact.

You know what's funny? Until about a month ago when we started talking about how racist the singing chicken log ride at Disneyland is, I hadn't even thought of Reconstruction in decades. Or at least since the last time I watched Song Of The South on VHS while babysitting grand nephews 20 years ago.

I have no idea what public high schools teach kids nowadays. It appears to be very, very little of anything important.

 

[PiratesMansion]

You know what's funny? Until about a month ago when we started talking about how racist the singing chicken log ride at Disneyland is, I hadn't even thought of Reconstruction in decades. Or at least since the last time I watched Song Of The South on VHS while babysitting grand nephews 20 years ago.

I have no idea what public high schools teach kids nowadays. It appears to be very, very little of anything important.

Things aren't that different from when I finished HS with the exception of the gutting of history and Social Studies prior to High School (I finished Elementary School just prior to NCLB passing in 2001), which I agree needs to take higher priority. I feel that for the most part I received a quality education in HS, though my school received more funding than many others.

There are a lot of challenges that public school teachers face from a variety of areas, notably expectations that continue to rise (understandably) while the budgets continually are cut. As you can imagine, things only became more complicated since March. It is a difficult but rewarding position and I wouldn't trade my students for the world. Given those challenges, it would be nice if you did not essentially say that the entire system is worthless, especially over something fixable (and something with which I actually agree needs to change). Perhaps it was not intended in such a way, but that is how it came off. I don't recall ever making similar value judgments about your professions of past or present.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

They don't teach history and social studies anymore? That explains a lot.

 

[TP2000]

Things aren't that different from when I finished HS with the exception of the gutting of history and Social Studies prior to High School (I finished Elementary School just prior to NCLB passing in 2001), which I agree needs to take higher priority. I feel that for the most part I received a quality education in HS, though my school received more funding than many others.

There are a lot of challenges that public school teachers face from a variety of areas, notably expectations that continue to rise (understandably) while the budgets continually are cut. As you can imagine, things only became more complicated since March. It is a difficult but rewarding position and I wouldn't trade my students for the world. Given those challenges, it would be nice if you did not essentially say that the entire system is worthless, especially over something fixable (and something with which I actually agree needs to change). Perhaps it was not intended in such a way, but that is how it came off. I don't recall ever making similar value judgments about your professions of past or present.

Oh, sorry. I don't blame most of the teachers; most are good folks trying hard within a broken system. I blame the administrators mostly, and sometimes the parents.

I was talking to neighbors recently over this Covid thing and the absolute destruction we have just wrought over an entire generation of American youth. Villa Park High School is a very good school in a moderately affluent neighborhood. But the parents said that as they watched their teenage children engage with the online learning they were shocked at how dumbed down everything had become. And these are younger parents in their 40's!

 

[PiratesMansion]

They don't teach history and social studies anymore? That explains a lot.

I can't speak for other states, but in IL it was cut wherever it could be after NCLB, which instituted mandatory testing upon which a school's funding would be based, and scores were supposed to be raised each year. Otherwise, funding was cut and sanctions up to school closing would be implemented. Said testing included English, Math, and eventually Science, but never Social Studies. As a result, Social Studies was cut to the bare minimum.

While the system has changed a bit since then, if any schools have reverted to how it was prior to 2001, it's not at all obvious to me.

@TP2000 unfortunately the curriculum was dumbed down to make it easier for students/schools to pass the test to get funding, in some states more than others. It became "teach to the test" very quickly after that.

In places a teacher's performance review was also based solely on the scores their students got on these very tests.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

The powers that be are probably terrified that the students and parents will sue them or at the very least get them fired for anything these days, so the curriculum has to be dumbed down.