Elayne Riggs' Journal (for Leah)

Sunday, November 16, 2003

Forbidden Cinema

I've always been fascinated by movies, newsreels and other bits of cinema that were societally acceptable during the era in which they were made, but have since proven wince-worthy in an era where we like to believe we're more enlightened. No, I'm not talking about Xanadu or Car Wash, but those bits of entertainment and propaganda where I usually observe that "you can't blame people for not being ahead of their time." Case in point, via Ampersand, is this fascinating overview of "Banned Cartoons." I remember first watching a lot of these in Leonard Maltin's cartoon class at the New School and "Cartoozday" at the Thalia Theatre back in the pre-VCR days (and long before the Thalia was bought by Symphony Space and renamed for Leonard Nimoy). And I would think, "what's the real difference between Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarves and, say, [the then-contemporary movie] The Wiz?" I found neither terribly offensive, and both quite entertaining. Likewise with the idea of "oh, we're ever so much better now" - the Banned Cartoons page makes an admirable argument for resurrecting these important glimpses into entertainment history, certainly as discussion starting points, but at the same time implicitly asks, is it really such a great leap forward from something like Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips to South Park's portrayal of Saddam Hussein (or the way entertainment still stereotypes ethnicities and The Other in general)? Incidentally, whilst I was looking for sites that described the Thalia, I came across this neat page about 42nd Street in the Late Forties. Says the author, "This is not nostalgia. There is no desire to return to the settings I’m about to describe, nor longing to live once more the life that centered on them. All in all, it wasn’t cheerful. It had its rewards, though, as what’s called a learning experience…in a unique and impermanent environment, the like of which no one will ever see again." Worth a glimpse.

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