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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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 Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:49 pm Post subject: Politically Incorrect Disney Classics |
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I rented Dumbo this week, and one of the songs was jaw-droppingly inappropriate by today's standards. I'd be very very surprised if this scene was still in the North American releases of the DVD. Have you ever seen this scene?
The circus is being set up by burly black... not men, exactly, more like mud golems. They have no faces, no hands-- they're just shapes wearing clothing.
The song they sing portrays them as simple, rather low creatures. It doesn't seem to mock them, but it sure wouldn't pass muster today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcTDXb6-WCI
Here are the song lyrics, and a link to the video:
Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!
We work all day, we work all night
We never learned to read or write
We're happy-hearted roustabouts
Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!
When other folks have gone to bed
We slave until we're almost dead
We're happy-hearted roustabouts
Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!
We don't know when we get our pay
And when we do, we throw our pay away
(When we get our pay, we throw our money all away)
We get our pay when children say
With happy hearts, "It's circus day today"
(Then we get our pay, just watching kids on circus day)
Muscles achin'
Back near breaking
Eggs and bacon what we need (Yes, sir!)
Boss man houndin'
Keep on poundin'
For your bed and feed
There ain't no let up
Must get set up
Pull that canvas! Drive that stake!
Want to doze off
Get them clothes off
But must keep awake
Hep! Heave! Hep! Heave! Hep! Heave!
Hep! Heave! Hep! Heave! Hep! Heave!
Hep! Heave! Hep!
Swing that sledge! Sing that song!
Work and laugh the whole night long
You happy-hearted roustabouts!
Pullin', poundin', tryin', groundin'
Big top roundin' into shape
Keep on working!
Stop that shirking!
Grab that rope, you hairy ape!
Poundin'! poundin'! poundin'! poundin'!
Oh...
What other old Disney movies have you been shocked by? I remember watching Peter Pan in a room full of "North American Indian" kids (it's hard to find a word that everyone will understand, so I picked a less PC one.) That was very awkward. |
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newton kabiddles
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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| You're shocked by that? |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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| newton kabiddles wrote: |
| You're shocked by that? |
The word "shocked" was part of a question addressed to the reader. I guess I was stunned, though, as I've been trained by my culture to be very very sensitive to the way black people are portrayed. |
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newton kabiddles
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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| I asked you if you were shocked. Why are you mentioning the word shocked as part of a question to the readers? |
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SuperHero
Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Location: Superhero Hideout
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:53 am Post subject: |
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| of course it's still there. Just like Peter Pan has the Indians. I have an original NA release so I know it's still there. |
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giggles84
Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Location: Loch Ness where the Monster lives, Inverness, Scotland UK planet Earth (according 2 google earth)
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:21 am Post subject: |
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well, surely it was an accurate potrayal of the system at the time, rather than being racist?
Remember there is something called temperal space i.e. time and through time things evolve and change! dumbo was made in 1941 so it highlighting something which was part of american society and culture at the time! if you stunned it maybe shows your misunderstanding of USA history and/ or too senstive. or you u r closet racist feeling pity on them. u choose which one! i rather say u just plainly didn t know when dumbo was made!(?) |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:26 am Post subject: |
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| kermo wrote: |
| I guess I was stunned, though, as I've been trained by my culture to be very very sensitive to the way black people are portrayed. |
BLACK PEOPLE?!!!
That song is NOT about black people? Weren't you trained to be careful about the prejudice of your own assumptions. Ignorance kermo, doesn't become you.
In Dumbo they are circus workers, "roustabouts":
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A roustabout is a labourer typically performing temporary, unskilled work. The term has traditionally been used to refer to traveling-circus workers or oil rig workers. A variation in spelling, rouseabout, is commonly used in Australia and New Zealand to refer to workers handling wool after it has been taken from the sheep's back during annual shearing operations
"Roustabout" is also an official classification of oil rig personnel. Roustabouts working in the North American oil fields typically perform various jobs requiring little training. However, they frequently turn out to be long term employees and take on more difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs as they gain experience. Most go on to at least become roughnecks if they work for the oil rig company for more than a few months. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roustabout
ELVIS was a roustabout:
THIS is a roustabout:
This is the Roustabout Old Time String band:
Here is a roustabout cartoon character:
And the most famous real roustabout of all was boxing great Jack Dempsey:
Not only is "roustabout"mentioned three times in the song but also they are described such:
| Quote: |
| grab that rope, you hairy ape! |
You HAIRY ape! ...
African Americans were called many things but "hairy ape" tends to a phrase used toward more chest-furry European working class brutes.
Eugene O'Neill's 1920s play entitled "The Hairy Ape" was about the industrious working class, which was quite white, the main character called "Yank", is a firefighter and labour organizer.
These are the sorts of guys talked about:
The only thing non-PC about this thread is the op's assumption that the song is talking about black people. That is offensive!
Last edited by VanIslander on Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:35 am; edited 1 time in total |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:33 am Post subject: |
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| SuperHero wrote: |
| of course it's still there. Just like Peter Pan has the Indians. I have an original NA release so I know it's still there. |
They have trimmed/altered some of the stuff we grew up on though. For instance, the original Sesame Street shows are now being sold with the sticker "May not be suitable for children." The "Three Gay Cabaleros" obviously goes under a different title.
Even Aladdin had to change their lyrics when Arabs protested the lyrics "They'll cut off your hand if they don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home!"
My lad just reminded me about the "Song of the South," a film which Disney tried to "permanently retire" in 1970 (but reconsidered later, to the consternation of the NAACP.)
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/sots.asp
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038969/ |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| kermo wrote: |
| I guess I was stunned, though, as I've been trained by my culture to be very very sensitive to the way black people are portrayed. |
BLACK PEOPLE?!!!
That song is NOT about black people? Weren't you trained to be careful about the prejudice of your own assumptions. Ignorance kermo, doesn't become you.
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You must be joking. I looked up the word "roustabouts" and I know what it refers to. Watch the clip. The "roustabouts" are all very very dark. The white people in the film all have facial features. I found the images remarkable before the I noticed the words. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| kermo wrote: |
| Watch the clip. The "roustabouts" are all very very dark. The white people in the film all have facial features. I found the images remarkable before the I noticed the words. |
 By that logic there are several black elephants in the film as well. (Elephants as roustabouts, Dumbo joining in to do the work alongside them.)
It's stylized to be dark, roustabouts are known as dirty white guys, oil rig workers and circus stage hands. There might be an attempt to universalize by playing on the ambiguity to add race to the plight of the working class (well known by then in America, to say a roustabout is "happy" is absurd, the realm of fantasy. Any attempt to equate roundabout and working class and industrial workers with the status and lives of black people would have been seen as socialist propaganda in the 1940s when the film was released!
Last edited by VanIslander on Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Cheonmunka
Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:50 am Post subject: |
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| The song was made in the time of the Golliwog is 'spose ..., quite a cute doll-toy really, the Golliwog. It's a shame it had to be discontinued. Much better than those Cabbage Patch ugly things, and more substantial than Barbie. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:54 am Post subject: |
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I guess some people find these guys as non-PC. |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:55 am Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| kermo wrote: |
| Watch the clip. The "roustabouts" are all very very dark. The white people in the film all have facial features. I found the images remarkable before the I noticed the words. |
By that logic there are several black elephants in the film as well. (Elephants as roustabouts, Dumbo joining in to do the work alongside them.)
It's stylized to be dark, roustabouts are known as dirty white guys, oil rig workers and circus stage hands. There might be an attempt to universalize by playing on the ambiguity to add race to the plight of the working class (well known by then in America, to say a roustabout is "happy" is absurd, the realm of fantasy. Any attempt to equate roundabout and working class and industrial workers with the status and lives of black people would have been seen as socialist propaganda in the 1940s when the film was released! |
I don't follow what you're saying about the elephants, but if you want to say that the guys look ambiguous, that's your call. They look black to me. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| kermo wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| kermo wrote: |
| Watch the clip. The "roustabouts" are all very very dark. The white people in the film all have facial features. I found the images remarkable before the I noticed the words. |
By that logic there are several black elephants in the film as well. (Elephants as roustabouts, Dumbo joining in to do the work alongside them.) |
I don't follow what you're saying about the elephants |
The elephants are doing half the work of the roustabouts! qua roustabouts themselves; look again at the clip at the images of shadowy dark rows of elephants lifting the tent in unison and setting in the poles.
Any equation of roustabouts with elephants with race is alluded to rather than shown, seen as implied by those interpreting it, and it really depends on one's vantage point.
And the moral of the story of Dumbo is ENDURE PREJUDICE. Don't let people get to you with their criticisms and ridicule. gawd i loved the film as a kid.
The only racism in the film might have to do with the crows, a well-known criticism. The roundabout song though? That is a reach. |
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Jeju Rocks
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:13 am Post subject: |
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| mud golems? |
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