|
|
Post by vannorden on Mar 20, 2023 1:20:48 GMT
In truth, Lubtisch's Trouble in Paradise (1932) is a superior film, not in scale or technical awe, but it holds up better as a topmost example of the "Lubitsch Touch." Sure, the vaunted "touch" originated in his German silent films and early musicals. However, this was the full realization of combining his knack for wit, sophistication, irony, visual elegance, and emotional depth, even giving Herbert Marshall a pulse!
|
|
|
|
Post by Lucky Dan on Mar 20, 2023 5:22:03 GMT
Gone With the Wind has already fallen out of favor culturally. ... What a shame. Gone with the Wind has become a pariah ... In 2019, my film school removed two posters related to Griffith's The Birth of a Nation ... the large Gone with the Wind poster still hangs proudly in the lobby hallway, but I fear someday, faculty could vote to have it removed.Would it be the faculty? Or the students who would want it removed? |
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on Mar 20, 2023 17:28:52 GMT
Gone With the Wind has already fallen out of favor culturally. TCM has a trigger warning in its description, a prominent black director has called for it to be cancelled, among many, many, others, Disney removed the poster from its Hollywood Studios park in Orlando, Florida, Warner Bros. conveniently but not so subtly left it off of its montage and its box set celebrating the studio's 100th anniversary. GWTW is now the black sheep of Classic Hollywood, and I suspect, it always will be from here on out. What a shame. And I have heard that very criticism of the "white savior" in regards to To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't think it will suffer the same fate as GWTW, but the modern critics won't leave it untouched. Such a shame is right. Sadly, Gone with the Wind has become a pariah due to rehashed controversies that feel outrageously redundant in the twenty-first century. Although far from my favorite film, I appreciate its beautiful aesthetics and groundbreaking feats that set new standards for scale, scope, and technical innovation in Hollywood. In 2019, my film school (Chapman's Dodge College) removed two posters related to Griffith's The Birth of a Nation that was gifted to the university by Cecil B. DeMille's granddaughter. Thankfully, the large Gone with the Wind poster still hangs proudly in the lobby hallway, but I fear someday, faculty could vote to have it removed. I wonder who is hyping the outrage: I.e., those that have negative views or those that suspect there are "many" with such a POV. I put "many" in quotes since cineclassic used the term "many". But I would hope this is more like some or a I.e., terms like many are used by design to create anti-cancel-culture-outrage. E.g. I would be interested in actual polling data from US directors. How many would actually wish that a station like TCM would never show GWTW again? I would hope it was < 1%. Even with directors-of-color I would hope that the percentage would be < 10%. My overall point here is that unless I see actual data, I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon that PC activist are going to win and get their way. An activist's mission is to take a provocative stance but, in my experience, in most cases, they get their 15 minutes but not their wish. I certainly hope that is the case with films and all art forms. Let them be shown!!!! Don't give in to their demands!!!! |
|
|
|
Post by kims on Mar 20, 2023 18:06:32 GMT
good point jjguitar. Is this who yells loudest about whether to condemn/ban films is winning regardless if they are in the minority? With all the book banning going on, it was bound to go to banning films. Oddly, newscasts covering banned books in schools show a couple of vocal people against book, then a mass of people appearing to object to the banning of the books. Maybe it's the bias of the newscaster, but I would be interested in the numbers. I suspect the vast majority of people don't care either way.
|
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on Mar 20, 2023 18:57:57 GMT
good point jjguitar. Is this who yells loudest about whether to condemn/ban films is winning regardless if they are in the minority? With all the book banning going on, it was bound to go to banning films. Oddly, newscasts covering banned books in schools show a couple of vocal people against book, then a mass of people appearing to object to the banning of the books. Maybe it's the bias of the newscaster, but I would be interested in the numbers. I suspect the vast majority of people don't care either way. With films, those wishing to ban films only "win" if they can convince the copyright holder (e.g., Disney), to suppress a film (e.g., not lease or sell it) or networks like TCM to not show a film or only show sanitized versions (which have to be first be created by the copyright holder). I just don't see any evidence of this happening to any degree that gives me concerns. Yes, there have been some cases (Disney and Song of the South being the most well known example I have encountered), but generally I see unfounded concerns; E.g. That TCM showed an edited version of The French Connection. There was no evidence TCM did this to appease PC activist. As for books: I view this as a much different subject than films, since most of the so-called-banning has been done by school-boards (both left learning but mostly right learning). When minors are involved the topic of banning\censorship if much different: access has always been restricted when it comes to minors and IMO parents have a right to decide what is appropriate for their children and thus who they vote for as school board members. |
|
|
|
Post by Lucky Dan on Mar 20, 2023 22:21:35 GMT
Is this who yells loudest ... is winning regardless if they are in the minority? ... I suspect the vast majority of people don't care either way. |
|
|
|
Post by Lucky Dan on Mar 20, 2023 22:28:22 GMT
I see unfounded concerns; E.g. That TCM showed an edited version of The French Connection. There was no evidence TCM did this to appease PC activist. |
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on Mar 21, 2023 0:02:54 GMT
I see unfounded concerns; E.g. That TCM showed an edited version of The French Connection. There was no evidence TCM did this to appease PC activist. My position has always been that there should be NO editing (self-censorship). If a copywrite holder decides to edit their own work (self-censorship), that is, of course, up to them, but I can't support it or the company that does it. Clearly self-censorship is caving to PC activism. My point in that other exchange was with the theory (suspicion), that TCM's management knowingly leased a film they knew was self-censored to appease PC activist. My point in bringing The French Connection up again here, relates to what I feel is paranoia of PC activism by others (even though we have the same stance as it relates to self-censorship). We need to vocally support copywrite holders and networks when they stand up to PC activist and boycott the companies that do support self-censorship. |
|
|
|
Post by Lucky Dan on Mar 21, 2023 1:24:36 GMT
I'd have to re-read that exchange but wasn't it your position that censoring the N word is the right thing to do? And isn't that the PC position? And if so then isn't censoring it PC activism? My point in that other exchange was with the theory (suspicion), that TCM's management knowingly leased a film they knew was self-censored to appease PC activist. My point in bringing The French Connection up again here, relates to what I feel is paranoia of PC activism by others ... Understood. I would push back a tad and say there is a difference between awareness of PC activism, or it's new name, woke activism, and paranoia about it, but I get you. |
|
