The Censorship of Holiday Inn
I recently wrote an article on how the beloved 1942 musical HOLIDAY INN was censored when it was shown recently on AMC...
Check it out:
http://bingfan03.blogspot.com/2010/12/censoring-of-holiday-inn.html
This issue has been overthought to death. Blackface was simply an homage to black performers on the part of white performers. It was not meant to be derogatory. People today are too easily (not to mention mindlessly) offended, and should pull the rods out of their arses. Actually, being offended is not fatal. I've been offended plenty of times, and yet I live and thrive. Bing Crosby was not a racist and he didn't do the "Abraham" number to piss off or hurt black people.
shareAgreed. Censorship is an insult to intelligent people everywhere. If someone cannot figure out for themselves what is derogatory, offensive, or downright evil then they have little intelligence or perspective. It is not up to a tv network to tell us what is meant to be hateful or not.
And if they cannot figure out for themselves what is NOT derogatory, offensive, or downright evil they are just as stupid. The blackface number in "Holiday Inn" was none of those things, but it takes a functioning brain to understand that.
shareWhat about back then? For example, NONE of the black cast of "Gone With the Wind" were allowed to attend the premiere of the film in Atlanta or appear in any promotional materials because the South was intolerant.
Hattie McDaniel won the Academy Award, but had to sit in a separate section at the ceremony.
Lena Horne couldn't be considered for the biracial character in "Showboat" because she was black.
Hopefully you would have been as up in arms about this whitewashing as you are about a black face number being cut.
Well said liscarkat-2.
There was also the issue that in 1942, there still weren't many well known Black performers who could step in and do such numbers.
If this were done today, they might have included a person such as Sydney Poitier, or a Denzell, or even Will Smith to step in and do the scene.
It was.....and always will be a true hommage to the suffering of the Black people under slavery and the gratitude shown to Abraham Lincoln.
No film should ever be cut or censored for television or anything else-that simple. This is a great movie, cheerful and uplifting-the kind of film they couldn't make today!
shareIt's a complete nonsense that books like Mein Kampf etc are still readily available, yet a scene with blackface is cut. Pathetic.
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis
Blackface was simply an homage to black performers on the part of white performers. It was not meant to be derogatory.
Not true. Blackface was often derogatory in nature and was quite demeaning. Many if not most blackface characters were buffoonish. There is clearly no place for it in today's society and even within the context of the time, was hurtful to blacks even if the intention was something else. My grandmother spoke of this often. One of the reasons she loved Gone With The Wind is that the blacks in this movie were not buffoons, but were often heroic (Mammy, Big Sam etc.), uncommon for the era.
Bing Crosby was not a racist and he didn't do the "Abraham" number to piss off or hurt black people.
But I do agree with this. This movie was made at the end of that era and I believe the only reason black face is there is to provide yet another method to keep Ted away from Linda. An unfortunate but not ill-intentioned plot device.
I don't think it should be censored from any TV broadcast either. It is what it is and I don't believe we should censor history for any reason.
Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.share