You have probably seen all the uproar lately over movies being criticized for being racist, homophobic, sexist, or encouraging bullying. It first started this holiday season with "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."
Critics slammed the movie for its portrayal of their black character, Franklin. They said in the scene of everyone sitting at the table, Franklin was sitting in a rickety old lawn chair on one side of the table by himself.
Not only was there criticism over this movie, but now there is an attack on "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
This movie is now being called bigoted and "seriously problematic." Last I checked, I KNOW Rudolph gets looked down upon for having a red nose, even Hermey gets remarks about the fact he wants to be a dentist instead of toy maker. I don't think it's right in anyway for anyone to get bullied, but these characters learn how to stand up for themselves and prove their worth.
Again, let me be clear. I DO NOT CONDONE racism, sexism, bullying, bigotry, etc. but I also do not support slamming every single little thing and labeling them such things. We really need to realize these classic movies are over 40 years old. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" aired in 1973 and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" aired in 1964. When these movies were first created they were created based on what was the "norm" or what was occurring at the time. These creators didn't know their movie would still be around years and years later. They didn't think to create a movie that would relate to the future. They created movies for their time.
Over the years as these movies grew older we changed as a society.
We realized how deeply rooted racism, sexism, and even bullying was in our society and we decided to change ourselves. Changing ourselves is a huge, positive thing, but it doesn't mean we have to change every little thing; including history.
If we stop airing movies like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" we are ignoring and essentially deleting our history.
It's important to look at how far we've come rather than criticize what once was. Franklin in Peanuts was one of the first black characters in a cartoon and that's huge. Why can't we focus on that rather than how he was seated at the table?
We need to stop slamming old movies, shows, etc. for what they portray and rather learn from them. We need to know what society once was like so we can make sure that it doesn't repeat itself. If you decide to ignore history, it will repeat itself.
