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The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

theguardian.com

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Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#51

Post by prepend »

anoonmoose wrote: post #41
_v7gu wrote: post #36

Concentration camps in China are apparently fine, but god forbid if someone makes an "edgy" joke.

No one said concentration camps in China were fine The price for doing anything about the concentration camps in China is higher than anyone is willing to pay, whereas the price of putting warnings on tv shows is negligible

This is where it gets confusing. If Disney puts these preroll notices in front of lots of content, does it mean content without it has been reviewed by Disney and they haven’t found a problem?

This used to be crazy for me to think, but this article literally says Disney has hired people to review all content. Makes sense that they would review their recent blockbuster, Mulan, before Muppets episodes from decades ago.

So it seems Disney is pretty much saying the concentration camps in China are fine. Or at least are more fine than Petter Sellers dressing as a gypsy. In the spectrum of messed up stuff, I think making fun of gypsies is on there. Maybe 3/1000 on the butthurt-o-meter (with literal Nazis carrying out Holocaust being 1000/1000 and Triumph of the Will being like 600/1000).

So I would guess that just putting money into a region where people are rounded up, sterilized, retrained, etc must rate at least a 50/1000 right?

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#52

Post by ubermonkey »

jpm_sd wrote: post #6

I adored the Muppet Show as a kid. Tried watching it with my daughters this weekend, since it just became available. "Dad, this is weird. This is really weird. It's not even a show! Just weird little scenes!" ["not even a show" = no connective plot] These kids have all kinds of precision-engineered laser-guided entertainment aimed squarely at their cerebral cortex. They don't need the Muppet Show like I did, I guess.

What's interesting is that the "Variety Show" format that the Muppet Show lampoons/mimics was a common thing from vaudeville through the 1970s, but has basically died as a format since I would guess about the mid-80s.

And I hadn't noticed, really. I do miss the old "variety" style holiday specials that Major Celebrities used to do. There have been a couple (ironic?) one-off stabs at revivals, but nothing sustained. (Stephen Colbert did one; so did Lady Gaga and Bill Murray.)

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#53

Post by mbreese »

erikstarck wrote: post #37
jpm_sd wrote: post #6

I adored the Muppet Show as a kid. Tried watching it with my daughters this weekend, since it just became available. "Dad, this is weird. This is really weird. It's not even a show! Just weird little scenes!" ["not even a show" = no connective plot] These kids have all kinds of precision-engineered laser-guided entertainment aimed squarely at their cerebral cortex. They don't need the Muppet Show like I did, I guess.

The movies that came out a few years ago are great. My daughter liked them (at least until something else came along and stole her attention). Great songs and a quirky humor where they break the third wall again and again in true Muppet Show style.

It’s called breaking the fourth wall. Although, to be fair, the Muppets often break the third wall too. Normally with a cannon.

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#54

Post by loudmax »

kebman wrote: post #21

Hey, didn't Disney make those war-time toons where they made fun of Germans? I guess they'll probably slap a warning on them now...

Germans? If you're going to look into Disney wartime propaganda films, Disney made some anti-Japanese cartoons that in retrospect are pretty overtly racist.

I'm not bringing this up to make Disney out as any kind of villain. These old films are a reflection of the times they were made. The nation was at war and Disney wanted to do their part to help the effort. Times change.

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#56

Post by altcognito »

AndrewDucker wrote: post #20
KSteffensen wrote: post #11

The same content warning has been added to 'Aladdin' (the 1992 cartoon, not the Will Smith shameless money grab). I'm wading into shark-filled waters here but could someone please explain the racist bits of Aladdin to me?

A quick Google found me: "It mispronounces Arab words including “Allah,” depicts nonsense scribble instead of real Arabic script, and codes its characters to reinforce racist and Islamophobic tropes. Main characters that the audience is meant to admire, like Aladdin and Jasmine, have Western features, lighter skin, and American accents, while nefarious or impoverished characters like Jafar and shopkeepers have beards…

It would be an interesting to do a quality redub and maybe even a touch up to the animation just to see how it came out.

I mean, it really couldn't be worse from an entertainment standpoint than the live remakes, right?

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#57

Post by anoonmoose »

prepend wrote: post #51
anoonmoose wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one said concentration camps in China were fine The price for doing anything about the concentration camps in China is higher than anyone is willing to pay, whereas the price of putting warnings on tv shows is negligible

This is where it gets confusing. If Disney puts these preroll notices in front of lots of content, does it mean content without it has been reviewed by Disney and they haven’t found a problem? This used to be crazy for me to think, but this article literally says Disney has hired people to review all content. Makes sense that they would review their recent blockbuster, Mulan, before Muppets episodes from decades ago.…

Your last paragraph gives away the game. There is no content in Mulan to give a warning about. The issue you have is with the Chinese government, not the content of the film Mulan.

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#58

Post by erikstarck »

mbreese wrote: post #53
erikstarck wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The movies that came out a few years ago are great. My daughter liked them (at least until something else came along and stole her attention). Great songs and a quirky humor where they break the third wall again and again in true Muppet Show style.

It’s called breaking the fourth wall. Although, to be fair, the Muppets often break the third wall too. Normally with a cannon.

Haha, you're of course right. FOURTH wall. Maybe I was thinking about radio.

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#59

Post by pyrophane »

I don't like the excesses of cancel culture or what is described (at this point mostly derisively) as the "woke movement." Still, reading the descriptions of these episodes, I'm not surprised Disney added content warnings.

The warnings are not for us, they are for Disney. Let's face it, a lot of Disney content has not aged well. The company has a long history of racist and sexist depictions of characters and cultures. Of course Disney wants to distance itself from that and say "hey, this isn't who we are!" Honestly, I'd much rather they do than just bury or edit the content.

The real issue I see is that Disney has so much control over this content due to continual extension of their exclusive copyright. To crib a line from a noted (now) Disney owned character, these episodes belong in a museum! They are more valuable now as part of our history than as exclusive Disney+ content, and it shouldn't be up to Disney whether or not anyone gets to see them.

Re: The Muppet Show: Disney+ adds content warning of negative depictions of cultures

#60

Post by [deleted] »

dmje wrote: post #26

Argh. My dream is that one day people will understand that a really large chunk (probably the vast majority) of piss-ripping found in humour isn't actually racist or misogynistic but is actually the complete opposite in making a statement about the stupidity of the protagonists' racism or misogyny. Fawlty Towers 6th episode "The Germans" is a classic case in point. The entire premise of the episode was not "Germans a…

[deleted]
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