De Sebben Dwarfs
Profunksticated commented on stereotypes over at his man Lord Hannibal’s spot, where he posted a video of an insurance spot starring a black couple being married. He responded to one of my comments and I quote: “Blacks are most often portrayed as coons with no measurable intelligence or cultural refinement. ”
If LH thinks in 2008 that commercial was bad, he ain’t seen nothing yet. Let’s head back to 1943, when Warner Brothers released a piece of animation called by some one of the greatest cartoon shorts ever made. Only one problem: It features, by today’s standards, some of the most racist, over-the-top caricatures of African Americans ever committed to celluloid.
This World War II-era short is called Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs. It was one of those many cartoons that that was shown in theatres prior to the main feature film before the advent of television. It’s likely many of you have never seen it. I’ve seen the cartoon for the first time only four years ago. That’s because this piece of animation was deemed so racist that it was banned, along with other racist cartoons, from the mainstream media.
My advice would be to read this piece about the cartoon, which puts it in a historical context, before you watch it. And once you watch, be ready to feel something.
Murder Inc??? Gold fronts?? You sure this wasn’t a BET production circa 2008?!
Hey, it’s not unreasonable to think such, but this was from the 1940s. That was some crazy ish, wasn’t it?
Comment by Hostess — June 27, 2008 @ 9:33 am
I don’t think it was crazy for the time. The sad thing is that not much has changed. Instead of white portraying us this way, WE are willingly portraying ourselves this way. *sigh*
Ain’t that the truth. I’ve always said watching shows like Flava of Love is like passing by a 22-vehicle pileup in the opposite highway lanes with bodies strewn about. You know you shouldn’t look, but you slow down to rubberneck anyway.
Comment by Hostess — June 27, 2008 @ 11:00 am
ummmm…
wow. i can’t even know what to say…
Nothing much you can say. Just a sign of some not so enlightened times……
Comment by dragonflysoul — June 30, 2008 @ 10:33 am
I was watching Tom & Jerry on random night last year and they showed one of episodes where there was a mammy in the house. They didn’t show the face but the body, skin tone, speech, and clothing was just like what’s shown in this clip. It never ceases to amaze me. I’m always like…”are they really serious?” And serious they are!
The producers of this cartoon, according to the account I linked to, said they meant no malice when they made it. Like Hostess said, it was a cartoon that was a product of its time, and it’s important to view it and other offensive-by-today’s-standards pieces of animation through a historical and educational lens.
Comment by K. — July 1, 2008 @ 4:47 pm
With the Tom & Jerry thing, I was just wondering why they’d air it TODAY. They should’ve just buried it in the archives.
A good question. Someone decided it wasn’t that offensive. Was this a local affiliate or a cable network that showed this T&J episode? If you feel that strongly you might want to write ‘em a letter or email.
Comment by K. — July 2, 2008 @ 9:50 am
It was the Cartoon Network.
I suspected such. LOL!
Comment by K. — July 3, 2008 @ 11:50 am
Don’t ask why I was watching the Cartoon Network either! LOL.
Hey we all need a break from daily life. My guess is you were channel-hopping with the remote, landed on CN, and didn’t move for awhile.
Comment by K. — July 3, 2008 @ 11:51 am