The positives of Song of the South, in my opinion, outweigh the negatives, however the negatives can be a starting point of debate and learning. That did in no way take away the viewing experience. Viewing that movie as an eleven year old child, I knew of the bias presented because I had learned it in school as well as from my parents. and if we were to limit its showing due to its author being sympathetic to the south, we would have missed much. Gone with the Wind has outstanding acting, an intriguing heroine, excellent cinematography, sets, costumes, direction, etc. It would be sad if James Baskett's portrayal of Uncle Remus, Bobby Driscoll, as the very believeable young child, and the others: Hattie McDaniel, Ruth Warrick, Lucile Watson, and Luana Patten could not be seen and recognized, despite some of the problematic story line. For this, alone, I would recommend that it be shown. I was delighted when this site popped up in my googling and I just watched the entire movie. Having heard the controversy for years surrounding the film, I decided to try to purchase it, which was difficult unless you wanted a copy from Mexico. At that age, I remember little of the story but liked the song, Zip-A-Dee-Do Dah, and the animated parts. When I was about four, my mom took me to this movie. True diversity is being replaced with sameness. However, the travesty is that these tales which are the product of black and indigenous story tellers are being replaced in Disney repertoire by white fairy tales with black faces. Is the setting for the content of the tales perfect? No, obviously it isn't completely honest considering the experience many had. However, not all the owners were white(William Ellison), not all the sharecroppers were black(only a third were), and the experience in some case was similar to that in the movie. Yes, there was a power differential between the land owners and the sharecroppers(evident in the film). Yes, sharecropping was a system that led to some blacks continuing to be in a form a quasi-slavery. It seems like all the negative reviewers would prefer every movie of the Antebellum or Reconstruction era south to be some version of 12 Years a Slave or Django with any black actors either being mercilessly beaten, or exacting violent revenge upon their prior captors. Classic Movie, unfortunate the ire it's drawn.
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