"Zip-ah-dee-doo-dah, zip-ah-dee-ay. My oh my, what a wonderful day…”
I’m sure you’re finishing the rest of that song in your head
with “plenty of sunshiiiiine headin’ my way”.
It is a Disney song, winner of the 1948 Academy Award for Best Song, well
loved, and well-remembered, from one of the great Disney movies you have never
seen. And never will.
Song of the South
was Disney’s first-ever live-action film, combining the animated stories of B’rer
Rabbit with the live-action geniality of James Baskett as Uncle Remus, a role
that gave him a special distinction Academy Award in 1948, as his performance
didn’t qualify him for any of the standard Academy Awards at the time. Beloved in its day, it was re-released in
1956, 1972, 1973, 1980 (for the 100th anniversary of the original
publication of the Uncle Remus stories), and 1986 for the film’s 40th
anniversary.
I have seen snippets of it – I remember seeing them in
elementary school as we prepared to perform “Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah” for our
concert, complete with little felt bluebirds we pinned to our shoulders. And I have watched clips on YouTube
recently. It is brilliant storytelling.
But it has never been released in its entirely for home
video. And it never will be.
The reason it will never be released is that the frame story
of Uncle Remus – Academy Award aside – is so blatantly racist in its
presentation that it is unacceptable in modern society. Baskett’s portrayal is straight-up minstrel
show with the “Aw, shucks” and “well, us colored folk” and continuing on.
Is it a brilliant piece of film history? Absolutely.
Disney himself so artfully blended animation and live action, a feat
considered impossible for the time. He created
the characters of Uncle Remus, B’rer Rabbit, B’rer Fox, and B’rer Bear that
more than hold their own against the other Disney films of the time, instantly recognizable
as Disney classics.
And yet. The racist
and stereotypical framing means that this work of art must be exiled into
memory. Roger Ebert suggested it be
studied in film school, but advocated for it to not be shown in public
otherwise. Celebrate the art to
filmmakers to observe, but for the general public, it is no longer acceptable.
In this context, we must place our beloved Dukes of Hazzard. Them good ol’ boys. Never meanin’ no harm.
And yet…
We must look at the car named the “General Lee” with the
stars and bars atop of it. We must look
at the monochromaticness of the cast, save Sheriff Little of Chickasaw County
(who was definitely identified as ‘other’ due to his competency as a law
enforcement officer and the Duke’s fear of him as a result). The ‘Dixie’ call of the horn as the 1969
Dodge Charger improbably leapt over creeks and valleys (destroying 150 of them
in the process). These are icons of the “south”
that were chosen to represent a time and place, but that time and place no
longer exists for us in 2015.
Yes, it was brilliant storytelling. Yes, the narrator breaking in with his
classic, “Now, I don’t know ‘bout y’all…” is an astounding technique that
should be studied by future generations of sitcom writers. Yes, Daisy Duke changed fashion with her
shorts.
But the simple fact is that societal acceptance has moved
on, and the show has to go. We have lost
cultural artifacts before, and it is not the result of “political correctness”,
but the idea that we have moved on as an American society regarding the
portrayal of images and themes. We have
lost great art before, and we will lose more further down the road. (The Cosby Show, another staple of my
childhood, is probably next on the list for a host of different reasons.)
Despite the clamorings of the actors, I’m sure the Duke boys
would understand. As characters, they
lived very much on borrowed time, understanding that one slip from probation
put them back in jail. Time marches
on. They will be missed, and perhaps
studies in the future by scholars as a window into the peculiarity of the 80s
sitcom.
But please stop defending the show as though it is the first
work of art lost because we have become a more enlightened society. Art is imperfect that way. And some of it cannot survive the test of
time due to what made it art in the first place.
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