Good article I read about Song Of The South:
The sheer absurdity and utter hypocrisy of "political correctness" is no more clearly on display than in Disney Corp.'s decision to permanently vault Song of the South. No other major hit movie that I am aware of, let alone one that was nominated for multiple Academy awards (as Song of the South and some of its actors were), is being withheld from the public solely because of its "controversial" content. A few great films are currently out of print, but most have recently been in print and are only temporarily out of production due to lack of sufficient demand, copyright issues, or other economic reasons. But Song of the South is being withheld from the public simply because of its content. It will never be shown on TV, cable TV, or pay per view, and will never be available in stores to anyone in the United States.
With all the gruesome, nihilistic, and otherwise disturbing films Hollywood has produced in recent years -- from Fight Club, to Hannibal, to Gangs of New York, to Sin City -- Song of the South is too offensive to be released to the public? Unbelievable! I can understand why people objected to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Passion of the Christ. I wouldn't want my kids seeing those kind of movies. But I would gladly and unhesitatingly show them Song of the South. There is nothing offensive about it at all.
Instead of portraying black people as profane, volitile, and thuggish, as they are portrayed so often today on MTV and BET and in movies and "music", Song of the South shows the black characters to be gentle, benevolent, and even role models for white children. A poignant moment in the film shows a close-up of Uncle Remus' black hand interlocked with the little white hand of the boy. Remember, this was in 1946, before Brown v. Board of Education and before the civil rights movement. Walt Disney, who personally cast Uncle Remus, was a man ahead of his times.
Despite its message of interracial brotherhood, Song of the South still is not politically correct enough by modern standards. Even though the film takes place after the abolition of slavery, political correctness demands that blacks living at that time in America (and especially in the South) be portrayed as victims. There has to be explicit discrimination, brutality, and suffering. At least one white person must be portrayed as an evil bigot. And blacks certainly can't be portrayed as happy. Uncle Remus was just too cheerful. He should have been infused with militancy, refusing to help the privileged white family and demanding Affirmative Action, and yelling "black power" like a leader in the Nation of Islam. Instead, Uncle Remus was a happy, caring person with not one ounce of hate or resentment in him. And for that, he has been banned.
The NAACP has requested that Disneyland dismantle the scenery from its Splash Mountain ride, because it features Brer Rabbit and the other cartoon characters from Song of the South, though no hint of Uncle Remus. This is Disney's only token acknowledgement of Song of the South. The NAACP would rather kids grow up listening to some gangster rapper glorify crime, violence, and ______ with prostitutes than grow up singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah with Uncle Remus. No major record label has banned "cop killer" rap albums. But Disney has banned Uncle Remus.
The NAACP and other purveyors of political correctness don't want black people to be happy. Maybe that sounds extreme, but sadly, that's exactly what it comes down to. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah is joyful. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah might encourage lots of black people to enjoy life, to take a break from the angst and victimhood they've been fed by the media and the schools and the politicians, which keeps them dependent on the politicians and on groups like the NAACP. Remember, their power and influence dwindles in direct proportion to blacks' satisfaction with life.
Song of the South is as profoundly anti-segregationist and anti-bigotry as any film I've seen, even though it's not a political film and has no axe to grind. I bet thousands of people who believed negative stereotypes about blacks being dangerous or otherwise unfit for whites to befriend had their minds and their hearts changed by Song of the South. Even if you walked into the theater in 1946 hating black people, you would not walk out feeling hateful. You couldn't, unless you were a total sociopath.
You can still buy import and bootleg versions of Song of the South on ebay, but this movie deserves much wider availability and restored/remastered DVD treatment. That a culture elevates absolute trash with no redeeming value to prime time TV (i.e., Fear Factor) and to the top of the box office charts (i.e., the sleazed up version of Dukes of Hazzard) but suppresses a genuinely good-hearted movie and a landmark in the history of animation and cinema, shows what backward times we live in today.
Better get your copy of Gone from the Wind before it too is banned (it's been declared "racist" for the same reasons that Song of the South has).
