Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, B'rer Concom Might Want to Think Twice
August 21, 2013 2:39 PM Subscribe
The 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention (aka Worldcon, aka LoneStarCon 3) kicks off in bucolic San Antonio, Texas next week (29 Aug - 02 Sep).
Event schedules are starting to appear in the wild. The animation track (in addition to many worthy offerings) includes the highly questionable choice of screening the controversial breathtakingly racist Song of the South. On Saturday. At noon.
Could a screening of this film have some value, putting it in proper historical context, acting a a launching point for meaningful discussion? Certainly.
But this is troubling, especially in light of recent public difficulties some parts of the fandom have had coming to grips with basic ideas of civilization.
The description in the program schedule reads, in part: "The film has never been released in its entirety on home video in the United States because of the subject matter, which Disney executives thought might be viewed by some as politically incorrect and racist toward black people, and is therefore subject to much controversy."
To say Song of the South "might be viewed by some as politically incorrect" is rather like saying that nuclear war might be viewed by some as momentarily inconvenient. While technically true, there are some questions of degree. (Per the thread over on Making Light -- worthy reading, BTW -- the program description is a cut-and-paste from Wikipedia. The Wiki page has since been edited.)
I know Worldcon is a volunteer effort, and I acknowledge and appreciate that the vast majority of the programming is enlightened and appropriate. But speaking as an active member of the fandom who happens to be white and male and live in Texas: This is an embarrassment. This is not helpful, useful or amusing, especially in a state with a hard-earned bad reputation, which is currently in the midst of trying to re-instate some of the worst of the Jim Crow laws.
Could a screening of this film have some value, putting it in proper historical context, acting a a launching point for meaningful discussion? Certainly.
But this is troubling, especially in light of recent public difficulties some parts of the fandom have had coming to grips with basic ideas of civilization.
The description in the program schedule reads, in part: "The film has never been released in its entirety on home video in the United States because of the subject matter, which Disney executives thought might be viewed by some as politically incorrect and racist toward black people, and is therefore subject to much controversy."
To say Song of the South "might be viewed by some as politically incorrect" is rather like saying that nuclear war might be viewed by some as momentarily inconvenient. While technically true, there are some questions of degree. (Per the thread over on Making Light -- worthy reading, BTW -- the program description is a cut-and-paste from Wikipedia. The Wiki page has since been edited.)
I know Worldcon is a volunteer effort, and I acknowledge and appreciate that the vast majority of the programming is enlightened and appropriate. But speaking as an active member of the fandom who happens to be white and male and live in Texas: This is an embarrassment. This is not helpful, useful or amusing, especially in a state with a hard-earned bad reputation, which is currently in the midst of trying to re-instate some of the worst of the Jim Crow laws.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Heya, this could probably be reframed tomorrow with the same set of links in a way that'd be okay for a post on the front page, but as is you've written this in a very first-person, "here is how I feel about this" sort of bloggy/editorializing way that's not workable for a Mefi post. -- cortex
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