See Old favorites, outdated attitudes: Can entertainment expire? at the Associated Press on December 28, 2018.The first three paragraphs:
NEW YORK (AP) — The 1940 movie “The Philadelphia Story” opens with a case of domestic assault played for laughs — Cary Grant shoving Katharine Hepburn to the ground by her face while a jaunty musical score plays.Read the rest HERE. Do read the rest before commenting.
Eight decades later, the movie is clearly two things: uneasy fare for a post-#metoo culture — and an enduring American classic. And it’s far from the only example of such things.
They exist throughout society’s pop-culture canon, from movies to TV to music and beyond: pieces of work that have withstood time’s passage but that contain actions, words and depictions about race, gender and sexual orientation that we now find questionable at best....
The politically correct types attempt to control speech because they are unable to address the real problems that underlie racism, sexism, et al. In doing so, they sweep all these problems under the rug and pretend that they don't exist. In this manner, the real underlying social problems are NEVER resolved.
ReplyDeleteThe solution is not to control speech. It's to address the underlying problem, which is generally a lack of intimacy which can only arise through shared obscenities.
It should be put in context that Hepburn first smashes Grant's pipe rack and then throws his golf bag at him after smashing his mashie over her knee.
DeleteThen comes the push. A man can take only so much.
The danger isn't that this stone classic will be censored but that it will fade from memory due to neglect.
Criterion released it recently with all in tact. Possibly it will attract a chunk of the under 50 crowd.
I am waiting to hear that "All in the Family" has been banned. Only a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a thoughtful, well-written Molly Ringwald essay on the subject. I think she has a healthy perspective:
ReplyDelete"How are we meant to feel about art that we both love and oppose? What if we are in the unusual position of having helped create it? Erasing history is a dangerous road when it comes to art—change is essential, but so, too, is remembering the past, in all of its transgression and barbarism, so that we may properly gauge how far we have come, and also how far we still need to go."
SF,
DeleteMolly Ringwald? Wow!
Experience is the best teacher; learning from our past mistakes runs a close second. This only works, though, when citizens read, and when they think about the lessons of history. Doing this leads people to a better place. Not doing it makes them stagnant, which pretty much describes our country today. We seem stuck on stupid.
ReplyDelete"How do we want to progress now that we have more information and a higher consciousness?”
ReplyDeleteWell that's just it, have we?
At what what point does the liberal project, seen as freedom from constraint or "radical autonomy" devolve into some kind of Crowleyite Prometheanism, aka tyranny. I'd say we're right about there.
The antidote, I think, lies in a less anemic (thank you Weigel) definition of freedom and that relies on a spiritual reset. In the meanwhile, let's watch the old movies from a better time and call these people out for the absurdians they are.
They hate being laughed at.
Welcome, LSP!
DeleteI couldn't agree more with you that our republic needs a spiritual reset -- a repudiation of much we call "political correctness."
And, yes, laughter is the best weapon! I, for one, will continue to enjoy old movies -- as long as they remain available, that is.
By all means watch "the old movies". Especially the screwball comedies and noir from the golden age.
DeleteThe noirs are loaded with crooked cops and the comedy is often a satire of the depression era upper class.
They've aged well.
Lone Star Parson! Nice to see you again!
DeleteSo when is Elizabeth Warren going to clean her own house of un-pc historic memorabilia?
ReplyDelete