Tom and Jerry cartoons carry racism warning.

[This Place is DEAD]

I think one big disclaimer at birth would do.

"YOU WILL BE OFFENDED BY LIFE MANY TIMES. THIS HAPPENS TO EVERYBODY".

Seriously: I am afraid of needles. I want movies to carry a trigger warning if somebody gets vaccinated in them. I know people that are afraid of dogs. Trigger Warning. There are people that get the creeps from clowns. Trigger Warning. Where do you draw the line?

 

[Parasondox]

I think one big disclaimer at birth would do.

"YOU WILL BE OFFENDED BY LIFE MANY TIMES. THIS HAPPENS TO EVERYBODY".

Seriously: I am afraid of needles. I want movies to carry a trigger warning if somebody gets vaccinated in them. I know people that are afraid of dogs. Trigger Warning. There are people that get the creeps from clowns. Trigger Warning. Where do you draw the line?

This is about racial undertones and people's intolerance to things that were "different" back then. Slurs against a persons race, gender and sexuality is a massive deal to many. Heck let's just say to 99% of people on Earth. Yes, others do have a fear of clowns and needles and so forth but I think combating discrimination and being able to say to others that the things that were okay decades ago, isn't acceptable now, is a major talking point.

 

[This Place is DEAD]

I think one big disclaimer at birth would do.

"YOU WILL BE OFFENDED BY LIFE MANY TIMES. THIS HAPPENS TO EVERYBODY".

Seriously: I am afraid of needles. I want movies to carry a trigger warning if somebody gets vaccinated in them. I know people that are afraid of dogs. Trigger Warning. There are people that get the creeps from clowns. Trigger Warning. Where do you draw the line?

This is about racial undertones and people's intolerance to things that were "different" back then. Slurs against a persons race, gender and sexuality is a massive deal to many. Heck let's just say to 99% of people on Earth. Yes, others do have a fear of clowns and needles and so forth but I think combating discrimination and being able to say to others that the things that were okay decades ago, isn't acceptable now, is a major talking point.

It starts with trigger warnings. Here in Germany, people are already changing older childrens books (like e.g. Pippi Longstockings father is not the "Negerkönig" (Negro King) anymore but the "Südseekönig" (South Sea King)). Those people won't stop short of newspeak. These are just the humble beginnings.

 

[Parasondox]

I'm with the bloke in the article, it's posturing hyper piousness and the sort of embarrassing naval gazing moral nannying and censorship that is sweeping modern life.

Here's my favourite example of far left wing censorious lunacy recently: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/sep/24/slavery-exhibition-black-actors-cages-shut-down

It's hilarious, a play which is itself a self-flagellating orgy of white guilt, carefully crafted by SJWs (and these people are SJWs how every much one doesn't like the term) so they can spend a night celebrating how morally and intellectually superior they are, is given five stars as an SJW classic in the Guardian, the UK's most blinkered far left wing paper and is then aggressively censored through violent protest by a bunch of other ultra SJWs who don't get it.

Welcome to the future, something you don't like, get a couple of hundred people together, claim "offense" pop down and aggressively picket it until it's pulled. Tolerance through flash mobs. Yay!

But they didn't pull it down. Pulling it down would be the censorship part. They kept it up and just applied a warning to it to let people know what to except. Does this really have to be another "left vs right" and "SJW" issue?

 

[Xan Krieger]

I think racism hit the high point in WW2
Context is the most important part, remembering the time period in which these were made. Attitudes have changed a lot in the 70+ years since the war.

 

[And Man]

I don't really have a problem with this, as long as they're not censoring it. I do feel a bit nostalgic though; I immediately knew which episodes Cat Concerto and The Two Mouseketeers are, even though I never knew their titles (although The Two Mousketeers could be guessed easily enough)

 

[Lieju]

I'm with the bloke in the article, it's posturing hyper piousness and the sort of embarrassing naval gazing moral nannying and censorship that is sweeping modern life.

Hm, since when is putting a warning (or information about the context of the film)is the same as censorship?

It starts with trigger warnings. Here in Germany, people are already changing older childrens books (like e.g. Pippi Longstockings father is not the "Negerkönig" (Negro King) anymore but the "Südseekönig" (South Sea King)). Those people won't stop short of newspeak. These are just the humble beginnings.

Oh, yes, why wouldn't we want new translations that more accurately take into account how language has changed?

Or the original intent of the author.

 

[MerlinCross]

I mean heck, even the Looney Toons DVDs carries the warnings(Usually read by a celebrity, I think Whoopie or Oprah read one), and then showed the cartoons in their original versions.

Really I guess it's which is worse; The removal of what today is considered offensive, or the warning that it might contain offensive material that was the norm for the age it was made in.

 

[This Place is DEAD]

I'm with the bloke in the article, it's posturing hyper piousness and the sort of embarrassing naval gazing moral nannying and censorship that is sweeping modern life.

Hm, since when is putting a warning (or information about the context of the film)is the same as censorship?

It starts with trigger warnings. Here in Germany, people are already changing older childrens books (like e.g. Pippi Longstockings father is not the "Negerkönig" (Negro King) anymore but the "Südseekönig" (South Sea King)). Those people won't stop short of newspeak. These are just the humble beginnings.

Oh, yes, why wouldn't we want new translations that more accurately take into account how language has changed?

Or the original intent of the author.

Yes, like in the books by Ottfried Preußler (not translation needed here) where they even replaced the term "schuhe wichsen" (an old term for cleaning your shoes) because modern day children could find it offensive because it is phonetically close to a slang word for masturbation. Leave an artists work like he did it. Don't try to change it for every cultural current or in the end all you`ll have will be beige sludge.

 

[peruvianskys]

I strongly oppose changing past works of art to remove offensive material, not because I give a shit about preserving racism but because that kind of retroactive censorship is a great way for liberals to feel good about themselves without doing anything meaningful.

Warnings like this are neat though, I like them. As long as they stay intact, a short notice putting them in proper historical context is great.

 

[Muspelheim]

I think that's a good way to handle it.
Especially since Tom & Jerry is not a cartoon you'd know to expect having that stuff.
(I only remember it having a cat and a mouse? So I wouldn't have even thought it had anything like that)

(For interests, the main offending bit is that Pippi refers to her dad as a "Negro-king", as he is the chief of a native tribe of islanders on the Kurredutt island. At the time, negro was a neutral term in Swedish, but it has become a negative term over the years. One could understand why they wouldn't want to keep that bit in, even if explaining that and letting the children in the audience use their own heads would've been the better solution, in my opinion.)

Yes, the same has been done in Finnish, where 'neekeri' was a neutral term. (Mostly because there were not particularly many black people in Finland until recently, so they were seen as exotic, but there was no real hatred or fear)

The thing about Pippi's father is a bit iffy though even without the word, it being the trope of a white man becoming the king of native tribes through, I dunno, the power of their whiteness?
I haven't read that book in ages but I recall it making me uncomfortable as a kid.

Heh, I remember my grandmother being awestruck the first time she saw someone who was black. Not in an angry, xenophobic sense, just... Fascinated, I guess is the word. Curious. It was quite the rarity.

Yes, Pippi's dad have always been a bit troublesome from a modern perspective. I doubt Astrid Lindgren had any particular race envelopes to push when she wrote that, it was just in the culture at the time; any white person would become leader by default if they made contact with tribals. But then again, Pippi's dad has always been a rather odd figure, with his connections to pirates and leaving his daughter to fend for herself and whatnot.

I mean heck, even the Looney Toons DVDs carries the warnings(Usually read by a celebrity, I think Whoopie or Oprah read one), and then showed the cartoons in their original versions.

Really I guess it's which is worse; The removal of what today is considered offensive, or the warning that it might contain offensive material that was the norm for the age it was made in.

The best would be something more of a general notice than a warning, explaining the context it was made in and why it'd be insensitive today. It'd save quite a bit of pruning work, at least.

 

[maidenm]

I echo the things people have said so far. I like the fact that the cartoons remain intact but still recognice that it's a product of a different era. I never liked how entire scenes where cut out of shows because of one little thing, but I also don't like it when people come across as "it's ok that it's racist because it's my childhood!"

Yes, Pippi's dad have always been a bit troublesome from a modern perspective. I doubt Astrid Lindgren had any particular race envelopes to push when she wrote that, it was just in the culture at the time; any white person would become leader by default if they made contact with tribals. But then again, Pippi's dad has always been a rather odd figure, with his connections to pirates and leaving his daughter to fend for herself and whatnot.

One thing about changing "niggerking" to "southsea king" that I like: Astrid Lindgren herself regretted calling him that, stating that it was "idiotic" of her in later years. If she was still alive I think she would've approved of the change. According to people who knew her she was a very open-minded, loving person who never judged other based on what they where.

 

[Andrey Sirotin]

I'd rather they put a content warning in front of cartoon rather than censor it like they did since the 60's. I mean, Turner who owned T&J at the time chose to redub Lillian Randolph's original performance(with an Irish accent) or turn Ms. Two Shoes into a white teenage girl.

 

[Lieju]

I mean heck, even the Looney Toons DVDs carries the warnings(Usually read by a celebrity, I think Whoopie or Oprah read one), and then showed the cartoons in their original versions.

Really I guess it's which is worse; The removal of what today is considered offensive, or the warning that it might contain offensive material that was the norm for the age it was made in.

The best would be something more of a general notice than a warning, explaining the context it was made in and why it'd be insensitive today. It'd save quite a bit of pruning work, at least.

It's not just for the time, but for the different culture as well.
I remember some manga with the Swastika (or the similar symbol) dealing with it by putting a quick disclaimer in the beginning explaining what it is and what the cultural significance of it was.

Which was a good way to deal with it. Education.

 

[FPLOON]

Eh... Why the fuck not? I mean, maybe this would inadvertently lead to Disney re-releasing Song of the South on Blu-Ray/DVD... before it goes back into the Disney vault where it's never a wonderful day...

I can dream, glob dammit!

But, yeah... You can't complain (and get away with it) that there wasn't a warning ahead of time... especially if it was something suitable for children overall...

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

So can we put a disclaimer and 90's cartoons that had sexual innuendo?