Gone With the Wind ... gone

Slap Shot and Blazing Saddles are better movies than Gone With The Wind. Fight me.

 

I guess this is going to be a thing with old television shows as well. I posted this on the racism thread, but it probably belongs here.

Some members of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation actually want one episode from the first season of the show pulled from replays of the series. I guess that means pulling it from Netflix as well. The episode, "Code of Honor," was among the worst in the series when it ran and it certainly isn't a good look today.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Stars Criticize Racially-Insensitive Episode

I do understand the sentiment, but I would much rather see disclaimers at the beginning of such content than have us act like they didn't happen. I could be wrong about this. It just seems dishonest to pretend such content wasn't part of these shows or movies from our past.

The early episodes of MASH had an African American character whose nickname was Spearchucker. Fred Williamson portrayed the same character in the movie. One story I've read, but I'm not sure it's true, is that the character was dropped when the writers learned that the U.S. had no African American surgeons in Korea during the war. So do we ban the movie and the first few episodes of the show?

The funny thing is these were both series that often contained messages that were against racism, sexism and many other forms of discrimination.

 

To pile on Star Trek, I recently hate-watched TOS and Jesus that doesn't hold up well. Maybe it was a challenge of some norms for women, but one episode features Mudd living with a bunch of perfect androids but also keeps a recreation of his wife who does nothing but nag. He switches her on just so he can essentially tell her to shut up and then shuts her down. When he's finally thwarted by the Enterprise crew, he's forced to live with nothing but android versions of his wife nagging him.

There's some other references by Bones that women effectively are only useful in a work environment until they get married.

But despite all that, the planet that effectively became a giant Chicago mob movie after being contaminated by a Federation ship is unintentionally hilarious .

 

Yeah - I watched TOS, start to finish, for the first time a couple years ago, and the sexist stuff is really glaring. TNG has some not-so-great individual episodes, but it's probably the best Trek from a quality and quantity standpoint, even if I have a soft spot for Voyager.

 

Yeah, the sexism in TOS is really glaring. Part of that is the show being a product of its time, but it is there in the things you mentioned and the uniforms. There was an episode of Deep Space Nine that is a sort of crossover with TOS, specifically "Trouble With Tribbles." Some of the DS9 disguised themselves as member of the Enterprise crew. At one point, Cisko explains that operations officers wore red and command officer wore gold. Dax interrupts by saying, "And women wore less." Then we got a look at Terry Farrell modeling the old uniform style, complete with very short skirt, a nod do the way Roddenberry's original series under-dressed its Starfleet officers.

 

Stuff produced today isn't going to stand the test of time either.
We watched a sitcom on Netflix last night - "I'm Sorry" - pretty funny. Andrea Savage is the star. She's talking about how big her vagina gets while giving birth, with her five year old. Another episode, the co-star talks about his first date, and how he was eating ice cubes from his date's ass. And you're talking about a short skirt?

 

I'm more of a DS9 fan, but you're probably right in terms of the quality of the shows. DS9 and Voyager both had ways they pushed the progressive ideals of Star Trek a little further. DS9 featured a black commanding officer and had episodes that took a hard look at racism and social inequality. I don't know Voyager as well because I didn't watch the entire run, but a female captain as a lead in the main cast was a change. I know that TNG had women as admirals, but it's not the same as having one in command of the main cast.

 

Talking about sex in a dating scenario is not the same as putting women in sexy uniforms in what is supposed to be an egalitarian society.

 

TNG was on when I was a kid and will have a place of nostalgia for me even if some of the early episodes are a chore to get through.

On re-watches, I really disliked Dr. Pulaski because she wasn't Dr. Crusher and was just annoying. But I recently saw a couple of episodes with Pulaski and her prejudice against Data. It hit me she actually does have an arc that is worthwhile. First, she is a strong woman from start to finish who takes no shit from anyone, including Capt. Picard. But her real story is how she navigates seeing Data as a machine and not an individual. Eventually, she accepts her prejudice, works to fix it and eventually respects Data. If ever there was an allegory for today, it might be that. And the early Data arc of needing to prove he is not just a walking computer and logically dealing with Pulaski's ignorance served to ground the Doctor's arc on Voyager.

 

It was interesting because in Voyager, they treated Janeway much as they treated Picard or Cisco. They were wise, but flawed. Clearly in charge, but had to yield to others at times. And had love interests that were more about a main character expressing romantic feelings because all main characters have romantic feelings rather than Janeway needing a relationship to define her. She gets emotional, but isn't controlled by her emotions. She's a mentor not a mother figure in many ways.

B'elanna is an exceptional engineer even if she is controlled by her emotions (excused as her being Klingon rather than a woman).

Seven of Nine is A-Sexual in the beginning in that she doesn't see the need for sexuality even if her appearance is overtly sexual. She eventually does have a romantic pairing at the very end, which is a pairing of someone who is her equal with Chakote. Even though the Doctor clearly loves her, she doesn't succumb to the wise professor/male savior.

 

I think the difference is normalizing sex and feminine issues versus sexualize women for the male gaze. Especially when the costume is so short, the act of walking gives you flashes up her skirt for no other reason than giving you a glimpse at her ass.

 

We will meet back here in 50 years to discuss this. I will be proven correct in June, 2070.