In The Godfather. About blacks, “One Godfather said, “They are just animals anyway. Can you imagine that getting past the censors in a modern movie?

[Kelley1]

[blueonblack22]

The Godfather came out in 1972. Different rules back then. You could get away with Blazing Saddles (although the genius of that movie is that it was actually MAKING FUN of racism.) back then.

Anyway that was probably the only (extremely) racist line against black people in that movie. But it was also (unfortunately) accurate for the time era and how racist some people really were back then.

I argue that it could be still made today if you are argued it was authentic for the time era.

[beefcakebradybatson]

"Blazing Saddles" was FREAKING BRILLIANT !!! However, it was an "N-athon" so couldn't be made in 2025. At least Cleavon Little clubbed buxom Madeleine Kahn !!!(You think people are THAT much less racist today than historically? Why is Trump polluting 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. again?)

[blueonblack22]

@beefcakebradybatson I laughed so hard my stomach hurt the first time I saw blazing saddles. RIP Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder.

But again the absolute brilliance of Mel Brooks. Yes the N word was said literally every other sentence but it the people saying it were beyond morons. The message was genius and people nowadays are so beyond woketarded they will never get it (and coincidentally extremely racist themselves).

[Snakeyes7]

Context is lost on people nowadays.

[MisterWack]

There are bigots in modern movies though, though the “trope” is played down in family media, It is still prevalent.

Also wasn’t there a movie about a black man infiltrating the ‘KKK’ that used the N Word not so long ago? Separately, do I need to remind people of an R rated movie from 2012 called ‘Django Unchained’ which had slavery depictions also racism from The South?

I believe the ‘censors’ would 100% allow it. Now the question is, would ‘The Godfather’ as a whole change if it were made today? Probably. Can’t give any examples since I’m not a time traveller.

Just my opinion though.

[Gwendoline]

Well its an authentic line demonstrating what mafia leaders really thought. It would be like censoring shindler's list over antisemitic lines or 12 years a slave.

[Kelley1]

So what? That is what every media site does, including GAG. Post "B****s are just a********s anyway" on GAG and GAG will remove your comment.

[Gwendoline]

But movies have ratings.

[Kelley1]

That doesn't matter. It is a monopoly. The movies and the media are all owned by the same group so they all have the same rules.

[beefcakebradybatson]

If Trump were a censor, yes. (By the way, the reason Sicilians, La Cosa Nostra's [" Our Thing's"] founders, are so swarthy is because Sicily is less than thirty miles from Africa, so you don't think some had some African blood in them from a few ancestors ago? Also, until about the time I was born in the early fifties, Italians weren't regarded fully white by Caucasian society.) The above quote is typical of the ugly, nasty ethnic working class attempting (successfully in this case) to purchase their ticket into white society."Saturday Night Fever" features more racist blue-collar Italian Americans who are shunned by their class betters and use anti-blackness to truly whiten themselves.

[NaultD]

They are criminal empire in a time piece movie. django unchained was more on the nose racist.

Also godfather is in of itself is rated R. Movies tend to SELF CENSOR to keep a PG13 for highest profits. Also Motion Picture Association film rating system is industry self regulated with no government involvement.

So you are basically questioning capitalist society and profitable investment platforms then anything on society and it's fragility.

[Joshydavid25]

It was a different time.. Archie Bunker in "All in the Family" was a racist or at least said racist things all the time.. But so was George Jefferson from "The Jeffersons".. They in fact made an episode together where they were both racist towards each other.. It was actually funny.. It was in a lot of media back then.. I appreciate the realism of what a lot of the characters thought.. But then again they were organized criminals as well..

[Finchie40]

I’m shocked to hear a lot of things get passed censors these days , I was shocked to hear tv shows saying bad words when they finally started doing it lol

[KostasKouvalis]

I've seen even more racist comments in older movies that would never fly today. The most recent is probably Gran Torino. After that, things changed. I'm surprised they even still show these movies uncut.

[godfatherfan]

So in movies you can use the "N" word a thousand time, but a comment like that, which is very much true to the way the people in that situation thought, would be too much? WTF? Everything is context.

[slatyb]

Yes, I can. It's the opinion of a character in the movie, not of the producers, screenwriter, or cast.

[Kelley1]

Not even the truth is allowed anymore.

[slatyb]

Sorry, I didn't follow that. This discussion reminds me of the people who want to ban "Huckleberry Finn" because some of the characters in the book use the N-word, even though "Huckleberry Finn" is an anti-racist parable, with Jim and Huck the only honorable characters.

[abc3643]

Yes it would be fine. There's no censorship in motion pictures, just voluntary ratings by MPAA which is an industry, not government, organization.

[abc3643]

This comes from Wikipedia:

=====
en.wikipedia.org/.../Film_censorship#United_States

The United States has no federal agency charged with either permitting or restricting the exhibition of motion pictures. Most instances of films being banned are via ordinances or proclamations by city or state governments. Some are instances of films being judicially found to be of an obscene nature and subject to specific laws against such material (i. e., child pornography). Such findings are usually only legally binding in the jurisdiction of the court making such a ruling.

The established film industry in the United States began a form of self-censorship in the late 1920s called the Motion Picture Production Code to forestall any possible formation of a federal censoring agency. In 1968, the Production Code was superseded by the MPAA film rating system. ...

[abc3643]

And, by the way, he wasn't discussing "Blacks" exclusively.
Here is Don Giuseppe "Joe Z" Zaluchi's comments about selling drugs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmucyqOOKZU

"In my city, we'd keep the traffic in the dark people, the coloreds. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls."

This is all a bit ironic because the Mafia consisted primarily of Sicilians; Sicily being the large island southwest of the "boot tip" of the Italian peninsula. They were considered "the dark people" by the northern Italians who were more white who looked down on Southern Italians.

nuitalian.org/.../

Anyway, by "the dark people, the coloreds", he's referencing pretty much anybody who isn't of European descent (possibly excepting Iberians - Spanish and Portugeuse - and maybe Greeks). So, this would be Blacks, any Asians, and Puerto Ricans and other Latino groups.

[BCA6010]

Only if it's said by some cartoonishly retarded villain like Calvin Kandy or whatever his name was from Django.

[RavVid]

No way in hell. Don't think it was justified then (when was that?) other than to illustrate ruthlessness and de-humanizing.

[TallAnon]

Yeah, I can even see a certain orange president saying that. We live in weird times, we'll see weirder things happening.

[Iron_Man]

Well it’s like all in the family. How would that work If that show came out today brand new

[jamesgoldman]

Probably not but it was made in the 70's and based in an era were segregation still existed

[Kelley1]

Segregaation was abolished in the 1950's (President Eisenhower enforced integration in 1957 in Little Rock) and 1960s; not the 1970s when there was no lawful segregation.

[jamesgoldman]

One was based in 1946 to the early 50's

[bellicose]

All humans are animals. What's the issue?

[SmokinAces2000]

You’re complaining about there not being enough racism in modern media?

[Kelley1]

I believe we should be allowed to speak the truth.

[SmokinAces2000]

Ah so you are racist got it

[Danzigdawson]

Agreed. If you believe that "Black people are animals" is the "truth", then you're a racist piece of shit. That's the truth that you won't allow others to speak.

[Dargil]

They couldn't make Blazing Saddles either.

[msc545]

yes it would