Disney's Muppet Warnings

[Phoebe]

I listen to a right-wing talk radio station from time to time so that I can keep track of whatever the f*** has gone wrong in this country, to see how far it has gone awry. Here's where we are today, folks: Disney has put some sort of warning label on its Muppet content, according to these right-wing talk radio guys, because some of it has references to racist content like Song of the South or Al Jolson or what have you. It's difficult to determine exactly what might be going on because they're trying to make fun of it while they're talking about it. Facts are not at a premium here to begin with.

Anyway, the nadir of this episode occurred when radio host number one wanted to know what might be running through a guy's mind when he first observes that Disney has an adult channel - apparently they're putting the racist Muppet content behind some adult-is-here-checkbox you have to click on so that it won't accidentally flash up for toddlers who are being let loose to browse the internets. Again, very difficult to determine the facts. The important point is that this man muttered to himself for 20 seconds about what could be running through an adult man's mind when he sees this - the prospect of Disney having an "adult" something or other. Hmmm mmm hmm hmmm, this man muttered on the radio. Can you imagine?, he then asked rhetorically. No dude, I literally cannot imagine what some f****** psycho reactionary like you has running through his mind when making strange humming noises about the prospects of a adult screening box you have to click to get a Disney thing. What is wrong, you absolute creep, that something untoward is running through your mind at the very mention of something Disney having to do with an adult approval? Because nothing is running through my mind and I really don't want to know what's in yours.

[Phoebe]

Now that I am home I can share with you the thing these right-wing radio folk were all agitated about:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56153016

The bizarre and creepy reaction turns out to be even more disturbing than it seemed at the time, because the situation is that Disney put a little warning onscreen prior to displaying the content, letting people know about the harmful stereotypes these older programs contained. This is what all the fuss was about... unless perhaps he is upset they removed the episode featuring a host who was later convicted as a sex offender.

You may think, but Phoebe, who cares what some random syndicated radio host says? Yet Twitter is lit up like a holiday tree with trumpist trolls - and by that I mean members of Congress and people who have audiences of millions - bashing the libs for canceling the Muppets, all because the Disney company decided to put a content warning on some of its episodes and delete another. Nothing says Canceled like being broadcast by Disney. Or in the wise words of DJT Jr:
"Apparently The Muppets have now been canceled. There’s nothing these psychos won’t destroy.
Liberalism is a disease."

I'm old enough to remember when the Republican trolls were very unhappy about Big Bird and Bert and Ernie and all kinds of gay panic and the supposed evils of the Jim Henson empire. But whatever is convenient at the moment, I suppose, in the quest to own the libs by any means necessary including self-ownage.

Meanwhile Giuliani - who doesn't understand the way a skort works - is babbling to Steve Bannon about looking at Michelle Wie's panties while they were playing a charity golf event. Such creeps. These are the people who want to police who goes into which bathroom. Perverse.

[poorpete]

The warning fuss is absurd. They don't know what they want. They don't understand what cancellation is.

These people also want US History taught with less emphasis on slavery and indian removal. Isn't that censoring the bad from the kids?

Plus, Disney owns this. They aren't cancelling anyone, if anything they are cancelling themselves (they aren't).

Plus, these are the folks who made Sesame Street, who stove for representation 50 years before most other Disney studios figured out its importance. They're fine with it.

[Mike]

The warning fuss is absurd. They don't know what they want. They don't understand what cancellation is.

These people also want US History taught with less emphasis on slavery and indian removal. Isn't that censoring the bad from the kids?

Plus, Disney owns this. They aren't cancelling anyone, if anything they are cancelling themselves (they aren't).

Plus, these are the folks who made Sesame Street, who stove for representation 50 years before most other Disney studios figured out its importance. They're fine with it.

All exactly right. A content warning, like a trigger warning, just gives the consumer more information on which to make their consuming decisions without altering the original media. Don't like the warning, don't read them. I sometimes skip trigger warnings, because they might be spoilery. It's not that tough.

[Kyle]

I'm tired about people complaining about trigger warnings. It's always conservatives, and it seems to come from a place of "There's nothing wrong with this content. Snowflake."

Let's be clear. There's something wrong with the minstrel show crows in Dumbo. There's something wrong with the Siamese Cats in Lady and the Tramp. I understand that these are products of their time. But there's nothing wrong with putting content warnings that say, "Hey- there's some racist shit here. Caveat Emptor."

[poorpete]

I used to be "what's the big deal" for the crows. They were positive characters, helping out the hero. I love the song they sing. They were funny! But then, ya know, gotta actually listen to the answer to "what's the big deal."

I get the disappointment in bursting a balloon of enjoyment, and understandable to get defensive of your joy, and to get self-righteous "who is the world to tell me what I can and cannot like." But I'm fine with letting it go. Like, I'm not 100% a fan of Marie Kondo, but thanking something that used to give you joy and letting it go -- totally a good idea.

Thank Swing Time, thank Louis CK, thank Hulk Hogan, and let them go.

(That said I'm not letting the Muppet Show go, it's still overall very good)

[Phoebe]

These people also want US History taught with less emphasis on slavery and indian removal. Isn't that censoring the bad from the kids?

Judging from the way I was taught it, they want to include some of these things, but only insofar as it is clear the American Indians were particularly terrifying and violent, at least sometimes, and they made perfectly legal agreements to give up all their land to us white settlers (If you do not consider yourself the descendant of white settlers then you are not part of the us that is being discussed in the class anyway).
I hope it's a lot better than that now, but I don't really know for sure. I've only been exposed to extremely anecdotal evidence, under idealized conditions.
We also spent a lot of time learning about how slaves were taken care of as well as, you know, brutally and unjustly enslaved so that "we" (it was never told from the slave's perspective) could build the nation on their forced labor.
The underground railroad was good, but John Brown was bad, as were carpetbaggers, who were the worst people of all. Although the civil war had something to do with slavery it was definitely caused by economic disputes and the exploitation of the southern ag economy. These things were said with a straight face, as though the Southern ag economy and slavery were two different and fully separated things.
And all this "education" happened in the northern states so God only knows what was going on elsewhere.

My sense is that people on the left have completely stopped complaining about trigger warnings in the way they once did. And they once did. There are, in small pockets somewhere, still woke millennials who think Socrates is some kind of child molester even though this is completely false. People still talk about triggers in a way that misunderstands and minimizes PTSD. But I think the phrase and the complaint has been so thoroughly co-opted by psychotic reactionaries that there's no point using it that way anymore, and now it can just be a normal content warning and courtesy like it's supposed to be. In fact exactly like the one Disney just put on the Muppets.

[Stan]

These people also want US History taught with less emphasis on slavery and indian removal. Isn't that censoring the bad from the kids?

And all this "education" happened in the northern states so God only knows what was going on elsewhere.

That's what gets me. My experience was similar but why were they under obligation to apologize for white slavers? Why wasn't it more like "They were were evil and refused to give up slaves so we sent Sherman to burn down a bunch of their cities until they said they'd stop doing that. But, as soon we we packed up and left, they mostly started doing it again."

[Phoebe]

There's something wrong with the minstrel show crows in Dumbo. There's something wrong with the Siamese Cats in Lady and the Tramp.

It's frustrating because the racist tropes are so bad - the musical cats in the Aristocats are another example - but in all these cases of the cats and the crows, the audience member is also being encouraged to root for the cats and the crows (or for whatever reason, it ends up this way). Is that because we are supposed to think of the Siamese cats as villainous and damaging the happiness prospects of our sweet little Lady dog, but the audience rebels against what it's being taught and decides that the Siamese cats are f****** hilarious and awesome and they should tear down the whole house while we applaud their work? Or is it because the show wants us to think the Siamese cats are awesome, even though it presents them as ridiculous racist stereotypes? Could they update a show like Lady and the tramp or the Aristocats to have actually awesome non-racist stereotype cats? I don't know.

[Phoebe]

These people also want US History taught with less emphasis on slavery and indian removal. Isn't that censoring the bad from the kids?

And all this "education" happened in the northern states so God only knows what was going on elsewhere.

That's what gets me. My experience was similar but why were they under obligation to apologize for white slavers? Why wasn't it more like "They were were evil and refused to give up slaves so we sent Sherman to burn down a bunch of their cities until they said they'd stop doing that. But, as soon we we packed up and left, they mostly started doing it again."

Yes. This is the version of history I was taught by my granddad - military officer, fervent Republican and conservative, a la Eisenhower - whose own granddad and great uncle fought in the civil war and he still had some of their Union soldier artifacts. His lesson drawn therefrom was basically, "We put down those dumbasses once and we'll do it again anytime we have to."

He's also the one who taught me to sing John Brown's Body and the Battle Hymn of the Republic and to look upon John Brown as a great hero of our nation. It took a long time for me to figure out this was not normal training.

[Mike]

Could they update a show like Lady and the tramp or the Aristocats to have actually awesome non-racist stereotype cats? I don't know.

They've done modern "live action" versions of both Dumbo and Lady & the Tramp. You could investigate to see how they fixed these problem areas. I've never seen them, so I can't say.

[Phoebe]

They've done modern "live action" versions of both Dumbo and Lady & the Tramp. You could investigate to see how they fixed these problem areas. I've never seen them, so I can't say.

My goodness. I'm speechless. Imagine live action Dumbo! Like with an elephant?! I really don't want to buy that dumb Disney channel but... And lady and the tramp with real dogs?????

[Phoebe]

Watched the trailer and I'm basically deceased. what is going on in this world that my kids don't even tell me that this type of s*** exists.

[Mike]

They've done modern "live action" versions of both Dumbo and Lady & the Tramp. You could investigate to see how they fixed these problem areas. I've never seen them, so I can't say.

My goodness. I'm speechless. Imagine live action Dumbo! Like with an elephant?! I really don't want to buy that dumb Disney channel but... And lady and the tramp with real dogs?????

That's why live action was in quotes. Much like the live action Lion King, there is much CGI involved.

[Phoebe]

Dude it is dogs, real dogs, there is a pupper!!!!!

[Mike]

Well then, seems like someone needs to cough up $7.99 a month. And then you can also enjoy the magic of WandaVision and the Mandalorian.

[Phoebe]

I'm too cheap to do it, seriously. It's kind of sad considering the things you would find people in this house spending money on, but since this one is just my choice and I'm the cheapskate here, I can't bring myself to do it. But I have thoroughly enjoyed the clips on YouTube, thank you. The real Jock is every bit as good as we would have hoped. Jock is the best character in the show besides the cats, for those of you who are wondering. I haven't seen a clip with the cats and that reminds me I need to look that up. They can't have gotten rid of them. I wonder if there's a real trained rat for the rat scene. It's almost better still having these questions about the reality unanswered, to be honest. Not really better, alas, but enough that I can console myself by pretending that it might be even better. The imagination is often more exciting than the real thing - human problems, you know how we are.

[poorpete]

Dr. Seuss' trust that protects his legacy is no longer going to allow publishing of a few of his books because of stereotypical imagery within. A reminder: they own the work, they can do whatever they want with it!!! If they wanted to do the opposite, and make giant billboards of the material, they could. They don't wanna. This is not cancellation!

We totally missed the Mr. Potato Head stuff, that falls in the exact same category. This isn't the government banning Mr. Potato Head, these are the creators moving in a new, more welcoming direction. For a fake potato, that Bette Midler notes, we stick it's features up its butt.

[Stan]

We totally missed the Mr. Potato Head stuff, that falls in the exact same category. This isn't the government banning Mr. Potato Head, these are the creators moving in a new, more welcoming direction. For a fake potato, that Bette Midler notes, we stick it's features up its butt.

That one really gets to me. When I'm have sexual fantasies about an anthropomorphic potato, I need to know that the potato is a woman! I'm not some kind of pervert.

[Tahlvin]

From what I heard, the Potato Head thing is just that they're changing the brand name to remove the "Mr.", but there will still be Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head toys. But like always, you can mix and match parts as your imagination allows.