Comments on: Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah-Day

By: The Wren’s Nest » Song of the South: History and Premier

The Wren’s Nest » Song of the South: History and Premier — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:42:04 +0000

[...] Related: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Day [...]

By: The Wren’s Nest » Gullah Geechee in the Economist and the Super Bowl Pandas

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:16:08 +0000

[...] It’s not like Harris drew a couple of pandas and gave them ching chong accents to shill for whatever it is they’re selling. Nor did Disney’s Song of the South do anything to Uncle Remus like Salesgenie did to these pandas. [...]

By: The Wren’s Nest » Is Uncle Remus Racist?

The Wren’s Nest » Is Uncle Remus Racist? — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:04:00 +0000

[...] Previously: [...]

By: lain

lain — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:17:12 +0000

Thanks for the heads up, William. Your blog post is excellent.

I think it’s surprising to a lot of people that it is legal to buy the film–it’s not illegal, it’s just not that easy to find a copy. Funny how some more innocuous things can take on a life of their own as contraband, despite the fact–as you’ve pointed out–it’s relatively easy to pick up all sorts of pornographic material that in most people’s eyes is much more controversial and demeaning.

Ah well.

By: William Cotter

William Cotter — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:42:17 +0000

As noted in my blog entry entitled “Bluebird On My Shoulder,” I own a treasured home video copy of “Song of the South,” which I purchased legally on the internet from an overseas source several years ago for me and my grandchildren to enjoy. My discussion of this film is more serious than some I have posted on my blog, which is called Paw Paw Bill and is easy to find (just enter that name in your browser), if you are interested.

By: elementaryhistoryteacher

elementaryhistoryteacher — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:30:02 +0000

I would strongly support you showing the movie, however, I do feel in this day and time it would be necessary to give a talk along with it regarding context. I believe it would be a worthy endeavor.

By: lain

lain — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:16:52 +0000

Oh very nice Josh, thanks.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, take it from Team Wren’s Nest: they make great music.

In some ways, Merritt’s problem is similar to SotS’s. From my point of view, the writer of this article is just as guilty of dismissing Song of the South as his counterpart is of dismissing Stephin Merritt. At the same time, both Merritt and SotS share a sometimes fanatical fan base. In both situations, on either side of the coin you’ve got folks accusing each other of racism.

To me, SotS isn’t as great as it is influential and an important historical artifact. It broke a lot of barriers, and paved the way creatively for a slew of films that followed.

What amazes me is that the same folks who can’t say Song of the South without “racist” in the same sentence often can’t identify that same brand of racism in a film like The Legend of Bagger Vance, the Green Mile, or any other film with a magical black person who serves to help out the stronger white people. Granted, those didn’t occur in the South’s reconstruction era, but I’d even say that fact should bolster the credibility of SotS.

The relationship between Uncle Remus (clearly the hero of the film) and the white adults (clearly the dimwitted antagonists) occurred time and time again historically, whereas in more fictional films (The Green Mile, The Shining), the black character is little more than an archetype or device.

In sum, this hullabaloo is plain silly.

By: Ronni French

Ronni French — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:48:59 +0000

Marshall – I think this is a fabulous idea – though I agree that July 3 mighta be a bad time. I love the idea of having someone(s) speak before the movie – it would be great to start a dialogue about the issue -

By: josh

josh — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:51:42 +0000

Speaking of Song of the South, Slate just posted an article discussing rocker Stephin Merritt’s supposed racism and including comments about his feelings for “Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah” (“great song”) and the movie overall (“unwatchable”).

http://www.slate.com/id/2141421/

By: Deb

Deb — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:30:09 +0000

It would be cool. Might I also suggest preceeding the movie someone speak to put the movie into historical context and name the issues that some have with the movie. Best to be upfront about it and then say you are showing it so people can make their own decisions. But I’d come to that. But I would say that the night before July 4th might not get the crowds. I would suggest a nice May or Sept date.