I just saw Disney's Song of the South. It was unlike anything I have ever seen, and I thought I saw it when I was a kid. I guess I just remembered what my parents wanted me to remember like how the leopard got its spots and zip-e-do-da and singing and telling stories. But wow, for all of the blackface I have seen and the Jim Crow art I was not prepared for that. All I can say is thank God that I had no idea what was going on when I saw it the first time. AHHHH!
So that brings me to an actual school topic. I watched a bootleg copy. When it showed up as a donation I nearly fell out of my chair. So I just had to watch it. Generally I think censorship is a bad thing, but this self-imposed censorship that Disney has taken up is not all bad. There could be a little more access to the film for school purposes, when I was deep into American race relations it could have been a very powerful teaching tool. But a teaching tool to college students, not kids and it should not be something you can go to Blockbuster and pick up. So in 2039 Song of the South will enter the public domain.
Usually I think Disney is enemy #1 when it comes to keeping things from the public domain. But on this one, I am with them. So the question arises, what happens in this one instance where the copyright holder wants to keep the art from the public for the publics' good? Because out there in the public domain the work could be used in the worst kind of ways, is it maybe better if Disney could just lock it up in their "vault" and throw away the key?
So that brings me to an actual school topic. I watched a bootleg copy. When it showed up as a donation I nearly fell out of my chair. So I just had to watch it. Generally I think censorship is a bad thing, but this self-imposed censorship that Disney has taken up is not all bad. There could be a little more access to the film for school purposes, when I was deep into American race relations it could have been a very powerful teaching tool. But a teaching tool to college students, not kids and it should not be something you can go to Blockbuster and pick up. So in 2039 Song of the South will enter the public domain.
Usually I think Disney is enemy #1 when it comes to keeping things from the public domain. But on this one, I am with them. So the question arises, what happens in this one instance where the copyright holder wants to keep the art from the public for the publics' good? Because out there in the public domain the work could be used in the worst kind of ways, is it maybe better if Disney could just lock it up in their "vault" and throw away the key?
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