I have to post this crap because there are two “like-minded” stories about similar issues. The first story deals with the iconic Mary Poppins. A movie that has delighted generations of Disney fans. THE EVENING STANDARD notes however, that in a New York Times piece, a professor writes that the movie is racist (why the NYTs would publish such nonsense is telling):
The classic family film Mary Poppins has been branded racist by a US academic who accuses Dame Julie Andrews of ‘blacking up’ with soot while dancing with chimney sweeps.
In a piece for the New York Times, Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner criticises one of the film’s iconic moments, when Mary Poppins joins Dick Van Dyke’s Bert to dance on a rooftop for the classic song Step in Time.
He writes: “When the magical nanny (played by Julie Andrews) accompanies her young charges, Michael and Jane Banks, up their chimney, her face gets covered in soot, but instead of wiping it off, she gamely powders her nose and cheeks even blacker.”…
The article goes on to show support for the differing side regarding the movie… and the professor complains that the racist alt-right “likes the movie a lot” — I guess supporting his silly position. I assume anyone defending the Disney movie is now “alt-right.” Here is more:
Fans were divided over the professor’s remarks.
One wrote online: “I think this is a reach. She was friends with a chimney sweep. When she went out and danced with him she got soot on her face if I recall this correctly.”
Another wrote: “Mary Poppins wasn’t flirting with black face! It was soot in their faces from being a chimney!!!”
A third said: “This is a candidate for the stupidest New York Times article of all time.”
However others agreed with some of the points raised.
Michael Schulman, ,a writer for the New Yorker said: “This made me think about class, too – how Mary Poppins, a posh domestic, scrambles the class divide and introduces Jane & Michael to the much more fun world of pleb chimney sweeps. Further scrambled in the sequel when the Bankses are also in the poorhouse.”
Author Mr Pollack-Pelzner posted online after his article was published: “The chief reason I wrote this article was the hope that a Disney exec would read it, take another look at the forthcoming Dumbo remake, and ask if there was anything just a little bit racist they might want to rethink before it hits the big screen.
“Here’s one thing I’ve learned about the alt-right, after I wrote this article and received a zillion hate messages in response: they sure like Mary Poppins!”
Wow. His reasoning is “rock solid.” [/sarcasm]
This second story is a couple of weeks old, but worthy considering the above. And yes, this has to be the sign of the Apocalypse. The AZ CENTRAL notes the following:
A few weeks ago, I attended a holiday party at a downtown Phoenix restaurant. I walked around to view the photographs on the wall.
Then a photograph caught my attention.
Friends said, “It’s coal miners at a pub after work.” It was a photograph of coal miners with blackened faces. I asked a Latinx and white woman for their opinion. They said it looked like coal miners at a pub after work. Then they stepped back, frowned and said it’s men in blackface.
I asked the waitress to speak with a manager. Instead, I spoke with a white restaurant owner. I explained to him why the photograph was offensive. Evidently, someone else had made a similar comment about the photograph before.
Yet, the photograph remained on the wall. He said he would talk to the other owners and get back to me. While leaving, I asked him had he spoke with the other owners. He had not spoken with them, but mentioned Google said it’s coal miners after work….
Gawd. He even uses “Latinx.” The Left is nutz!