Umm… exactly nobody is trying to censor Gone With The Wind.
It’s just a horrible movie on its merits. So is Birth of a Nation.
1915 1080p
1933 Director’s Cut w/ Sound
Oh, and that’s Klansmen with a ‘KKK’.
I personally don’t find Song of the South all that Racist but then again all I remember is “Please. Please, Please don’t throw me into that Briar Patch Br’er Fox.” which I still think is a good life lesson.
“Never stop your enemy from making a mistake.”- Napoleon.
I can see why people consider the Uncle Remus character a little problematic but what people forget about Uncle Tom is he died saving Cassy and Emmeline (side note- Stowe was a Nutmegger).
Tom is sold, Mr. Haley takes him to a riverboat on the Mississippi River and from there Tom is to be transported to a slave market. While on board, Tom meets Eva, an angelic little white girl and quickly they become friends. Eva falls into the river and Tom dives into the river to save her life. Being grateful to Tom, Eva’s father Augustine St. Clare buys him from Haley and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. Tom and Eva begin to relate to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share.
During Eliza’s escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who had run away previously. They decide to attempt to reach Canada. However, they are tracked by Tom Loker, a slave hunter hired by Mr. Haley. Eventually Loker and his men trap Eliza and her family, causing George to shoot him in the side. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment.
Tom Loker is not Uncle Tom.
Back in New Orleans, St. Clare debates slavery with his Northern cousin Ophelia who, while opposing slavery, is prejudiced against black people. St. Clare, however, believes he is not biased, even though he is a slave owner. In an attempt to show Ophelia that her views on blacks are wrong, St. Clare purchases Topsy, a young black slave, and asks Ophelia to educate her.
After Tom has lived with the St. Clares for two years, Eva grows very ill. Before she dies she experiences a vision of heaven, which she shares with the people around her. As a result of her death and vision, the other characters resolve to change their lives, with Ophelia promising to throw off her personal prejudices against blacks, Topsy saying she will better herself, and St. Clare pledging to free Tom.
Before St. Clare can follow through on his pledge, however, he dies after being stabbed outside a tavern. His wife reneges on her late husband’s vow and sells Tom at auction to a vicious plantation owner named Simon Legree. Tom is taken to rural Louisiana with other new slaves including Emmeline whom Simon Legree has purchased to use as a sex slave.
So that’s where “Simon Legree” comes from in case you were curious. Snidely Whiplash was a character voiced by Hans Conried in Dudley Do-Right.
Legree begins to hate Tom when Tom refuses Legree’s order to whip his fellow slave. Legree beats Tom viciously and resolves to crush his new slave’s faith in God. Despite Legree’s cruelty, however, Tom refuses to stop reading his Bible and comforting the other slaves as best he can. While at the plantation, Tom meets Cassy, another slave whom Legree used as sex slave. Cassy tells her story to Tom. She was previously separated from her son and daughter when they were sold. She became pregnant again but killed the child as she could not stand to have another child separated from her.
At this point Tom Loker returns to the story. Loker has changed as the result of being healed by the Quakers. George, Eliza, and Harry have also obtained their freedom as Tom Loker helped them to crossover into Canada from Lake Erie. In Louisiana, Uncle Tom almost succumbs to hopelessness as his faith in God is tested by the hardships of the plantation. However, he has two visions, one of Jesus and one of Eva, which renew his resolve to remain a faithful Christian, even unto death. He encourages Cassy to escape, which she does, taking Emmeline with her. When Tom refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline have gone, Legree orders his overseers to kill Tom. As Tom is dying, he forgives the overseers who savagely beat him. Humbled by the character of the man they have killed, both men become Christians. Very shortly before Tom’s death, George Shelby (Arthur Shelby’s son) arrives to buy Tom’s freedom but finds he is too late.
So Pie in the Sky, bye and bye, bye and bye, on Big Rock Candy Mountain.
That’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in case you weren’t forced to read it by a sadistic U.S. History Professor (it’s really awful) but I know what it means in a contemporary context too and have in fact used it that way myself though I’m trying to develop new habits because people find it offensive (though it’s mostly deserved).
But to get back to the main point- likewise nobody is suggesting censoring Blazing Saddles except Conservative Racists.
Yes, that is actually Count Basie and his Orchestra.
Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges.
Of course I’m much more like Gene Wilder.
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