Just when you think the political mishmash of wokeness, identity politics, cancel culture and political correctness cannot get more foolish – and even more dangerous – we get yet another example of how extreme these oppressive authoritarian concepts can get.
In case you missed the story, the folks at Disney have added a warning to the viewing of the once highly-touted kids’ educational program “The Muppets,” which has appeared for generations on our government-run public broadcasting system. Mickey Mouse acquired Kermit the Frog in 2004.
Movies and television shows tend to reflect the zeitgeist of the times. In the early 1900s, the new movie industry was producing films with decidedly racist imagery of Negro Americans. This culminated in the Ku Klux Klan glorification movie, “Birth of a Nation.” The 1930s version of “Show Boat” billed a singer as a “Coon Shouter” – a white person who sings in the “Negro tradition.” Incidentally, the song in the movie was “Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man of Mine” by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein.
It is not always about race.
Early movies depicted the wilder times of the Roaring 20’s – semi-nudity, drug use and all forms of naughty sexual behavior. Maureen O’Sullivan swam noticeably naked with Tarzan in the 1932 episode – in case you were wondering. And that was a children’s movie. All that was suppressed by moral movie codes that limited the length of a kiss, no two people in the same bed, no divorces, and bad guys always lose in the end. The Gay Divorcee, starring Fred Astaire, managed to get released just before the imposition of the code in 1934. And the word “gay” was a generation from taking on its contemporary meaning.
We often look back on historic times with amazement and shock – maybe even disgust. But the current wave of wokeness has something in common with the movie codes of those days of yore. They are a form of censorship. They both are an impediment to free speech. Basically, they deny reality.
Today’s political correctness and identity politics is far worse than some ineffective movie code.
It has deeply divided American society into competing – and even warring – tribes. The wokeness of today breeds an oversensitivity that translates into oppressive political and cultural conduct. It subjugates societal action to the level of the most easily offended – with the offensives too often the result of exaggerated interpretation or hyper-sensitivity.
Disney apparently has reviewed the past episodes of “The Muppets” with a unfocused eye of wokeness and political correctness. Anything that remotely could offend – or be agonizingly interpreted as offensive – in The Muppets, Disney must now address with warning or banishment.
It never occurred to me– or affected my positive view – that the Disney’s Siamese cats were a slur on Asian people. Perhaps in a fit of wokeness, we should rename the breed of cats – along with German Shepherds, French Poodles and Russian Wolfhounds.
It never occurred to me in the past. But now that I am woke up, I take great offense to the cranky characterization of Statler and Waldorf – those two complaining old white men in the balcony. And just think. I once thought they were funny.
According to Disney, the past programs include “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.”
At this point, Disney does not find the content so offensive that they will edit or trashcan any episodes. “Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together,” they say. At least that is not as base as erasing history – something the cancel culture pursues with a vengeance.
Is Miss Piggy a problem because the character is a female pig? Is the Count’s accent an insult to eastern Europeans? And is the garbage can-dwelling Oscar the Grouch a slander against homeless folks?
If we continue down this slippery slope of hyper-aggrievance, we may find that the only culturally acceptable entertainment from Disney will be the perpetual playing of that utterly annoying “It’s a Small World” theme song. That is unless there is protest from the dwarf community.
For generations, Disney has been the happy escape from the realities and burdens of the world through the doors of the “magic kingdom.”
Disney theme parks have been credibly advertised as the happiest places on earth. But no longer. It is just another venue to engage in intramural hostility. And to remind us that one person’s mere existence can be an offense to another.
The Disney warning on The Muppets is not just foolish. The hypersensitivity being inbred into our citizenry is needlessly undermining the civil comity of the entire country. We are becoming a nation of open wounds.
So, there ‘tis.
Oh the horrors forced upon me by the Swedish Chef. The Eagle is a “deplorable”. Fozzy MUST be sent to a re-education camp for all his bad jokes.
In the words of the sargeant from Stripes “Lighten up”
There are deeper issues than the inconvenience of some ridiculous warning as if we did not realize the difference between now and then. A recent visit to the local Wal Mart showed how this woke mentality can actually cause harm to those it seeks to protect. As I passed the self check out lines because I was paying cash I saw that three check out lanes were open. Noticing that time was running short before I had to leave I became concerned on how long it was taking. As the line slowly crept forward I now saw the reason for the extremely slow process. A young lady that was checking out each item with seemingly deliberate slowness and with a long scrutinization of each and every item along with a brief discussion or comment by the checker was beyond annoyance. I had been to this particular store before and realized this was a mentally handicapped person at theregister. I decided to pull myself out of line and try another as I had experienced this young lady and her methods of cashiering before. Though I’m not yet late for a very important meeting I have no reason to be upset. After another five minutes in a second line my annoyance becomes more than aggravating and I struggle to maintain my positive attitude as we all have done so often. Now I’ve waited ten minutes and am becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. Others in the same line are making comments that imply they too are frustrated. Finally it’s time for my items and of course more of the same. In my frustration as now its clear I’m going to miss my scheduled appointment for a surgeon that bills regardless of whether or not I show up not to mention it takes six weeks to get another appointment which guarantees my surgery to be rescheduled I say “please find second gear” to the young cashier. He begins to visibly shake and tremor. He double scans an item and I now must either pay twice for the item or say something. I said “sir you have double scanned that last item”. He says nothing and corrects the error while maintaining his maddeningly slow pace. A second item is double scanned and third and I’m literally angry at this point. It’s become evident that this young man was also handicapped or at least having severe issues in dealing with the public and the very job he was trying to do. I was beginning to feel bad for him and yet unwilling to pay twice for who knows how many items. It happened again and again. I payed for my things and moved out of the way to check my receipt for any errors. This clearly annoyed the young checker and he barked at me which caused everyone including the employees that were in earshot to look. I let the comment go without response and felt as of I was a bad person if I lodged a complaint so I just left without finishing my receipt check. In the spirit of political correctness and the new concept of ignoring reality I had been forced to reschedule my appointment pay for the missed one and push back my surgery for three months. During covid this is not uncommon but more than inconvenient for myself. Removed from the immediate issue I began to reflect on exactly what had just transpired. It’s clear the young man was struggling to do a job he simply wasn’t capable of doing. It was evident that this caused him undue anxiety as well. This woke idea of employing people who have certain issues should not be thrust upon an unsuspecting public. Aggravating customers and putting too much pressure on the individual they are attempting to help by giving him a position he simply couldn’t deal with. It’s unfair to both and ridiculous to even try. Wal Mart could have given him a job stocking unloading trucks or any number of other positions that would not directly affect their customers. Just another seemingly innocuous proactive response to the woke ideal that has real world consequences that help neither the public or individual. Perhaps logical thought should not be abandoned in the name of political correctness.