Tom And Jerry Argumentative Essay

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Recently there has been a large debate in the U.S. involving racism and the media. In this time of turmoil and unrest, the argument that people of minority race are portrayed unfairly is occurring.However this has been a debate that has been going on for years. It is in discussions of films, news outlets and music however one of the most provacitive arguments has taken place in the supposed fun field of animation and the history of the U.S.'s negative portrayal of people of color. In October 2014, subscribers of Amazon Prime Instant Video received a disclaimer warning the viewers that the Tom and Jerry shorts they were about to view features racial and ethic stereotypes that were common in the early days of the cartoon's history. This has …show more content…

However, racism in these shorts have been in the forefront of the debate. One charcter that some have a problem with is Mammy Two Shoes which according to Tom and Jerry animator, Jack Zander in an interview states, 'Now the mammy in Tom and Jerry was an outright racist chartoon character. [She] has the typical nego voice and served as a foil for the two animal characters." Later, Mammy was redesigned and redubbed to be less stereotypical. In addition, certain shorts that feature the characters in blackface are censored or cut entirely from being played on …show more content…

To state that it is "PC gone awry" is not acknowledging that these sort of portrayals were common place and could be upsetting to those who do not know the historical context. That during a time where the rights of minorities were greatly tread upon, they were not treated with respect in the media. The Disclaimer is accurate as it displays outdated stereotypes in the Tom and Jerry series. The Amazon disclaimer is not censoring the material as it had been in the past. Censorship is not a positive thing to have in the media. To erase or edit a negative part of history is to almost acknowledge that it didn't happen at all. The Tom and Jerry collection is not censored but instead acknowledges the past racism. A disclaimer is not censorship but rather acknowledging the racism that could be seen as

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