Jon_in_NC
Member
I know this post started with the Splash Mountain ride, but.....
I really don't understand why some consider this movie offensive. Yes it does have black slaves in it, but so does another very popular movie called Gone With the Wind. That movie is shown constantly on US television. Is it because of the slang and incorrect English that Uncle Remus uses? Oh wait, it couldn't be that, that same type of English is used in Gone With the Wind. (And almost the same today). I just don't understand it.
The basic plot of Song of the South is about a boy whose parents are having a disagreement and Uncle Remus helps the boy relate and cope with this problem and other everyday problems of being a child by telling him stories of Brer Rabbit. Yes, Uncle Remus is a black slave, but I've tried to watch the movie with an objective perspective and I just can't see how this movie is offensive. The lessons this movie teaches and the enjoyment it provides outweigh its so-called offensiveness.
This movie was released in 1946, a time in which segregation was still very strong in the US. Yet this movie features a black slave befriending a little white boy and teaching him some lessons of life. The movie was an early attempt to show that blacks and whites were not so different and could relate to each other. Walt was brave to feature a black actor in the lead role in one of his movies, and yet he is sometimes accused of being a racist. Now if some of you have read on the history of the Disney company, you will know it was not in the greatest financial shape at this time and every film was a gamble. Would a racist actually risk sinking his company by producing a film that featured a black lead in the title role? I doubt it. Walt was, once again, delivering a bigger message in his film.
Ok, sorry I've rambled here. I could write a paper on this subject. lol Anyway, if you read all this, thanks.
I really don't understand why some consider this movie offensive. Yes it does have black slaves in it, but so does another very popular movie called Gone With the Wind. That movie is shown constantly on US television. Is it because of the slang and incorrect English that Uncle Remus uses? Oh wait, it couldn't be that, that same type of English is used in Gone With the Wind. (And almost the same today). I just don't understand it.
The basic plot of Song of the South is about a boy whose parents are having a disagreement and Uncle Remus helps the boy relate and cope with this problem and other everyday problems of being a child by telling him stories of Brer Rabbit. Yes, Uncle Remus is a black slave, but I've tried to watch the movie with an objective perspective and I just can't see how this movie is offensive. The lessons this movie teaches and the enjoyment it provides outweigh its so-called offensiveness.
This movie was released in 1946, a time in which segregation was still very strong in the US. Yet this movie features a black slave befriending a little white boy and teaching him some lessons of life. The movie was an early attempt to show that blacks and whites were not so different and could relate to each other. Walt was brave to feature a black actor in the lead role in one of his movies, and yet he is sometimes accused of being a racist. Now if some of you have read on the history of the Disney company, you will know it was not in the greatest financial shape at this time and every film was a gamble. Would a racist actually risk sinking his company by producing a film that featured a black lead in the title role? I doubt it. Walt was, once again, delivering a bigger message in his film.
Ok, sorry I've rambled here. I could write a paper on this subject. lol Anyway, if you read all this, thanks.
I got it 3-4 years ago for $50 or $60 dollars. They send the PAL and the U.S. VHS version together. I was told that makes it legal as the royality is paid to Disney for the PAL.
