Lionsgate to address blackface episode with title card warning

[hewontgo]

A #MadMen episode featuring John Slattery’s character in blackface will now have a title card in front of it to "provide context for the scene" https://t.co/iBx79fp44B
- Variety (@Variety) July 1, 2020
The season 3 episode “My Old Kentucky Home,” in which Roger Sterling (played by John Slattery) appears in blackface will have a title card in front of

Comments

[just444]

i think this is better than just removing episodes

[soapboxrhetoric]

same. i worry if we try to scrub away history or act like it never happened instead of providing educational material in context, it will be forgotten and lessons will stop being continually learned at some point.

[isetlights]

agreed.

[zoaster_toaster]

This

[veggie]

same, in that it provides a content warning and doesn't try to sanitize the historical context (whether the story takes place in the past OR if it's like "hey here's a joke we thought was hilarious 10 years ago but now realize was fucked up, and here's why it's fucked up")

[crucified]

Same.

[bellwetherr]

this is how it should be done imo

[adaffadowndilly]

Yes, i've never watched this show (I'll get round to it) and was surprised they had such an episode, but it makes sense to explain the context. More recent comedies such as 30 Rock, the office though... no excuse that shouldn't have been allowed in the first place

[kebedes]

+1

[xpirate_queenx]

Same. Going full nuclear and just removing examples of blackface (or things that aren't even actual blackface, but were removed "just in case" as with Community and Golden Girls) without any context or content warnings is stupid and just as bad as pretending that blackface (and the stigmas attached to it) never existed.

[sweetheart_450]

Community? I hadn't heard about this one. Please tell me it's not the DnD episode.

[xpirate_queenx]

I've uh...got some news 😔

[spellgabbana]

same. disclaimers seem like a much better way to address these episodes so the insensitive and racist actions of the creators and performers are not washed away but recognized for what they are.

[misscrystal]

I think this makes sense because the show is literally set in the 1960s and you're meant to feel horrified by the sight of Roger in blackface. It's not something the viewing audience is supposed to laugh at.

But for shit like Scrubs that was made in the fucking 21st century but is still using blackface as a comedy gag, I say throw those episodes right in the trash.