Is 'Tom and Jerry" really racist? And, does Maroon 5's song 'Animals' really glorify troubling stalking behavior?

[loveisbeautiful]

These are two things that I saw today. First was that they're going to
be putting a warning on the Tom and Jerry cartoon because of character
on there named Mammy Two Shoes who's a heavyset black maid. How
does that make the cartoon racist? I mean, if that makes Tom and Jerry
racist. Does that mean the characters of Elmer Fudd and Porky Pig in
Looney Tunes, are not just innocent characters. But, instead making fun
of people with speech problems and stutters? I mean, there are people like
Elmer Fudd that talk like that and can't prononce there R's properly
and just have speech problems in general. There's people like Porky
Pig that have a stutter that they can't control. Right?

As for Maroon 5. Apparently RAINN (Rape, Abuse , Incest, National
Network), say's ""Maroon 5's video for 'Animals' is a dangerous depiction of a stalker's fantasy -- and no one should ever confuse the criminal act of stalking with romance," said the sexual assault organization." I saw the video, is it creepy? Sure, it is. But, not
because he's following her. But instead, because they had blood poured
on them and I think that's gross. See, if a guy watches this video and thinks
stalking someone is romantic. It's not because of Maroon 5's video,
it's because they lost there grip on reality long ago and Maroon 5 isn't
responsible for that. See, if you go over everything in this world with a fine tooth
comb. You'll most asuredly find something offensive or that you don't like.

What do you think?

[meowcow]

Tom and Jerry (and other cartoons) were created in a generation where ethnic stereotypes were widely accepted. This included blacks portrayed as maids or uncivilized bush people. People of Asian decent always had squinty eyes, rice hats and spoke very poor English (if they ever spoke in cartoons), and always knew Kung Fu or karate.

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At the time of creation, nobody would have thought this would be considered racist. I certainly did not when I was a child. However, racism and stereotypes are two different things which the majority of people are too stupid to distinguish. The mass majority of the public will see a racial stereotype... and call it racism.

I would define racism as both prejudice and discrimination against another race. While attaching a stereotype to blacks, Chinese, Mexicans... etc may fall partially within the category of prejudice, it does not fall within discrimination.

[thisGUYknows]

Looking back, there are plenty of racist stereotypes seen in those cartoons. But they were widely accepted and normal. Minorities back then didn't have equal opportunity for schooling, which is why they have the thick accents, poor grammar and such. Now I do watch other shows like south park and do laugh at the racist jokes there sometimes. But these shows now are for adults. T&j was for children. Although now I don't think children would understand those stereotypes anyways. I would still let my kids watch it however. And I would be ready to answer any questions regarding those minority characters.

As for the maroon 5 thing, that's just stupid. Same thing like when back in the 90s, mom's thought letting their kids watch beavis n butthead would make them start fires and kill each other

[loveisbeautiful]

Haha, really? I didn't know that about Beavis and Butthead. People will just find
anything to complain about, won't they?

[goldenspice]

'No' to the Tom and Jerry thing - I think it just reflected the time they were in, you have got to know that the first appearance of Mammy was created in 1937. The last was in 1952. A big gap from then to now. I think too many people are too quick to scream 'racist' nowadays.

As for the 'Animal' video - I think its quite sickening (even though I LOVE the song) but no to that as well. A video can't 'glorify' stalking. lol In the video he clearly is, but I don't see how that would be a glorifying type of thing, or a promoting kind of thing either. Its just a concept for ratings and attention and it worked like a charm. I'm sure there are some sick individuals that will take it serious, but that has nothing to do with the director or the group - people need to learn when to stop taking things so literally.
What else was he going to do for that video? lol Think about it. What? Have animals themed into a sexual video somehow? That would be worse.

[Hidden_P]

Excuse my French.

Complete bullshit. People need to stop reading into harmless things and along problems that aren't there. Tom and Jerry is a pure entertainment for kids; there was a cartoon in Russia where a wolf who smoked. It was banned because children might get the idea to smoke.
No, it's a stereotype that bad guys smoke, not an obligation for children. Parenting has to play a role, if a young child starts smoking, chances are the parents should have locked their smokes out of kids reach (an example). If you take that attitude, all children are going to grow up to be power rangers, super human spiders or talk to cars and hope they change.

Songs are normally written to something closely related to the artist - people say that "blurred lines" by robin thicke is about rape. No, it's about a horny dude who thinks he's super fit...

So yeah :) people need to calm down...

[PrettyBama]

consider when tom and jerry was made. no the cartoon is not racist but the way they portrayed her is racist. if you know what a mammy is youd understand the racism. a mammy is a slave that was forced to take care of children. after slaver they were briefly called mammies still but very shortly after they started being called by their first names or Ms. (first name). in 1940, when it was made, mammies no longer existed lol so why draw a mammy? why make her act the way she acted? Mammy Two Shoes was actually discontinued in 1954. so are you telling me that the most racist people in the world, white people circa 1950s, felt that it was wrong... but you dont?

[IsabelleBk]

Oh my God. Everything is racist nowadays, Tom&Jerry, Family guy, Tv shows, movies, commercials etc etc like seriously? I grew up watching Tom&Jerry and I'm not a racist person neither am I fucked up in the head. Tom&Jerry is an awesome cartoon, and my future kids will watch it.

[sfauo]

Mammy Two Shoes may just be seen as a stereotype of a black mother. I believe 'mammy' also is considered an ethnic slur. However, it doesn't make the whole show racist, but if she's a repeating character then perhaps it's justified. I've certainly never felt Tom and Jerry was racist though, and never seen her enough to feel the warning necessary or needed.

Just saw the video, I can agree with them to a certain extent. The guy stalks the girl and then is seen getting physical with her. There's the fantasy aspect of it, and from the stalker's pov (which the video is in), he's in love.

I agree with you on the fact that anything can be considered offensive. People and organizations nowadays more than ever seem to be fussing over this and that.

[psykobrahe]

You're white. That means you likely have little idea of what it is like to be on the receiving end of racism. Which makes it a good idea to not make a scene about freedom of speech when minorities express offence at racist depictions of them.

Regarding the 'culture is never to blame, crazy people will do crazy things' argument, it is, and has always been paper-thin. Like it or not, people are not islands, we are greatly shaped by the culture we live in, and that includes modern pop culture.

I am not (necessarily) arguing for censorship, I am suggesting people stop and think before they bawl 'freedom of expression' whenever concern is raised about cultural output.

That said, interesting question.

[been_waiting]

I suppose who support feminists who talk extensively about rape culture? Since you're not a female and you don't know what it's like?

[been_waiting]

*you not who

[psykobrahe]

I'm against rape culture, sure. What do you mean?

[theperfectdater]

Well here is something to consider that simpletons will overlook and be naive to. Tom and Jerry was created in 1940 when people were openly racist as fuck. I hope no one would dare to dispute that fact. Keeping this in mind it's not a stretch to think that the Tom and Jerry maid was created with some stereotypical skews in mind... Now if the cartoon came out in 2011... Probably could be confident that they were just putting in a maid and not looking to stir the pot.

Again, most people won't look at it from that perspective because they are naive, ignorant, and dense as shit...

[been_waiting]

To my knowledge, wasn't Tom and Jerry originally produced in the 40s and 50s, when "black help" was much more prevalent? It was just a societal norm back then to have a black maid. I can understand how nowadays people might see that and feel offended, but changing her into a white woman, really?

I have not seen the Animal video by Maroon 5 and I probably won't. Their music gets irritating really fast. I'm sure there's some feminists out there who will call every single song produced by a male artist "rape culture-y" somehow. She'll find a way. And people who are extra extra extra sensitive to racism will find a way to make everything seem racist. I'm not worried about those people...

[Anonymous]

Songs/poems/stories/etc. for the entire history of written and spoken language have been about chasing girls and getting their attention, only people are suddenly having a fit about it now?

We live in a world where people have to be offended by something, otherwise the frustration will explode inside them. People standing behind less important topics in society have seen other, larger social issues make progress by constantly drawing attention to them. So what they do is try this with the most inconsequential bullshit as a kneejerk reaction, it seems.

So I think it's important to keep this in mind when you hear about the latest "I'm offended" topic lol

[Mesonfielde]

I think it's more racist that later on they altered her to be white instead so that it wouldn't cause "racial conflicts"...

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I mean, really? Was that necessary?

[SandPlanet]

They should have kept her black but without the racist stereotypes. Just a normal, black - woman.

[Mesonfielde]

@sandplanet I do think they think a bit too much about this, I'd be more concerned about the episode where they end up stranded on an island with those tribal people if anything.

[EmmieLovesAkuma]

@SandPlanet Just to point this out, not starting an argument: Tom & Jerry was created in 1940, a time when black people were presented as weird, stupid, etc. Remember that this continued until the late 1960's, hell today even, but not as much. So of course there will be racist undertones in a kid's show with black people in it.

I don't like it, but they never should have altered it. Even if there was, most children do not see it. They are too busy laughing at the cat and mouse trying to kill each other to see any racism. I believe they should not have altered the show just to shut the PC crowd up. They should have preserved it's artistic integrity and held their ground.

[SandPlanet]

@EmmieLoveAskuna:
I'm aware of that and actually pointed that out in my answer. I don't think they should alter the old episodes, I was talking about later on, when they produced new episodes, instead of making her a white woman suddenly, in order to avoid accusations of racism, they should have just kept depicting her as a black woman, but simply without the ridiculous stereotypes.

[Mesonfielde]

@EmmieLovesAkuma

[SandPlanet]

A lot of cartoons from that time are racist. The producers most likely didn't mean any harm, it was simply normal back then to view black people like that. I accept these outdated depictions as historical relicts and that's that. If I see something like that in current productions, now that's something else.

[BenjaminBix]

I grew watching Tom & Jerry; I watched EVERY SINGLE EPISODE at least a million time. I can't find anything racist about it, except that the cartoon was really really old and back then those things weren't offending probably? I mean people really didn't take things seriously because of a cartoon, and they had other matters to worry about back then.
But now, LOL and SMH are all I can say.

[Dionysos]

I think we've gotten so wrapped around the axle in terms of trying to avoid hurting anyone's feelings that we're going on a witch hunt for anything that references race these days.

I think that sucks. So a character in the show was black and cleaned houses. There's nothing wrong with cleaning houses. It's a hell of a lot more honorable way to make a living than a lot of the ones that pay more.

[Roarke]

i'm going to go way tangential here about the racist thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_McDaniel

if you get any time, scan this. she's the actress who played mammy in gone with the wind.

[RationalMale]

It's like how they say Jungle Book is racist, and particularly when King Loius the orangutan sings to Mowgli how "I wanna walk like you, talk like you, duude!"

Because of course, monkeys automatically mean black people, today. :/ talk about idiocy.

[loveisbeautiful]

I didn't know people said that about Jungle Book. Doesn't anybody just enjoy
entertainment without turning into something sinster?

[RationalMale]

some people are just messed up. "this is racist! that is racist!" sheesh...

[loveisbeautiful]

I agree.

[been_waiting]

whoever is equating monkeys to black people are the racists lol

[JulyAndrews]

They used Louis Prima's voice and some say he sounds black.. but the guy is Italian and actually he was chosen to avoid controversy (so they say) I don't see racism, but maybe back in the day with all the turmoil King Louis and his monkeys and chimps were perceived as a racist caricature of African Americans (who were called monkeys, and some racist still call them monkeys)

[Folklore]

Tom and jerry isn't racist. it has general stereotypes but it is not a racist cartoon. people like whoopi goldberg are just trying to bitch about petty thhings. in hopes that people still listen to them. seriously look up whoopi tom and jerry. its so stupid

[candlewax]

It's Maroon 5. The song is about sex, lust, and carnal/animal desire for someone you're into.

I get why they'd think it was the other way around, but if you listen to the lyrics, it's clearly about attraction between two individuals. Maroon 5's songs usually have some sort of sexual innuendo going on. I highly doubt they wrote that song with the intent to glorify stalking or make it seem okay.

[KiddGames]

Well, Tom and Jerry is racist. It was made during a time when it was socially acceptable to be racist. It would be personally offensive if it was made after 1980. The video is creepy. RAINN is just telling people stalking isn't okay because people are crazy, stupid, and impressionable. They shouldn't have to, but hey it's a crazy world. Honestly though, people need stop being so sensitive. It takes the fun out of stuff.

[Rapunzel2490]

That's like saying the cartoon Proud Family was racist because some of them acted in black stereotypes or Bugs Bunny was geared towards animal cruelty because Elmer Fudd was trying to shoot him. How about we as a society stop acting like the polite topic police and just enjoy a cartoon for what it's worth.

[LittleSally]

Since Tom and Jerry was made 140-1957 it's the depiction of those times... If you think the 1940's and 1950's were racist then I guess the cartoon is racist too...

But then again, if we're going to go into it, then what wasn't racist back then?

About Maroon 5's new song - no, it doesn't glorify stalking. O. o
How could it? It just shows you what the stalker Adam is dreaming up inside his head... doesn't say anything about it being romantic to her, just to him.

[shyguy227]

I personally dont think so I mean the classic tom and jerry was in a different generation and mind set for most of that and also I feel there can A HUGE amount of erm social justice warriors out there in the world and the internet in this day and age who can some times be very picky and spesific on how they wish to interprit something or view something a certian way and claim its either rascist or sexist or something along the lines.

But that is purley my opinion

[martyfellow]

No and no. These are entertainment, and are just people having fun, or trying to get your interest.

The PC crowd is just overreactingi as usual.

[theperfectdater]

reference my comment Mr. PC crowd. you are welcome

[evenlift]

It never occurred to me as a child that 'Tom and Jerry' could be perceived as racist. I assumed that the black woman was simply wearing dark tights. I didn't realize she was black.

As for the music video, I don't know. I haven't seen it, and I don't want to.

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Political correctness has crippled the backbone of the western world. Its honestly shameful.

[Curmudgeon]

And that was by design. The communists, having failed at defeating Western Civilization, are now trying another tack. It is no accident this began when the Soviet Empire began to fall apart.