In a recent opinion piece for the Orlando Sentinel Anne Elizabeth Zimmermann wrote about Disney's outdated cultural depictions. She's an expert on all things Disney and lectures frequently at Rollins College on the subject. Over the years Disney stories like "Dumbo" and "The Jungle Book" have depicted cruel caricatures of black Americans. On the other hand she lauds Disney's tradition of storytelling that clarifies right and wrong.
She likes the straight forward disclaimer that Warner Brothers uses on their vintage Looney Tunes cartoons:
The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some the the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in American society. The depictions were wrong then and are wrong today.
I agree. No need to censor or throw out old stories that capture who we were, but to acknowledge them and move on. And, despite our current tribal mentality, we are moving on. I love some old films that are delightful, with good over all messages, but then show a big song and dance number done in black face. That distresses me. I, like millions of others, loved Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn books. I wish they came with a disclaimer.
Likewise, one of my favorite poets, James Whitcomb Riley's, "Little Orphan Annie." Annie's harsh upbringing, and then Annie herself telling horror stories to the family's (real) children to keep them in line, would be punishable offenses in today's world.
I'm not feeling well this week so have been home rereading old poems and other classic stuff. Most of us in today's world are aware of "Ageism." This morning I loved rereading You Are Old Father William, written in 1865. Many of us oldies will have Thanksgiving with family next week and our loving children might question some of our current decisions - as is happening with Father William. He sets them straight. Here is the first verse:
"You are old Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white:
And yet you incessantly stand on your head-
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.
Yesterday my son asked me if I was lonely. I'm not. I miss David and I miss not doing some things that are important to me, but, to quote Robert Lewis Stevenson:
The world is so full of a number of things
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.
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