Old-school cartoons are rife with racial stereotypes, and Amazon.com is doing its part to warn people about them. The e-commerce leader has now slapped warnings on Tom and Jerry cartoons because of the negative racial content.
Tom and Jerry’s complete second volume, which is available for streaming on Amazon.com, now comes with the following warning: “Tom and Jerry shorts may depict some ethnic and racial prejudices that were once commonplace in American society. Such depictions were wrong then and are wrong today.”
If you need a reminder of just how racist the cartoon is, take a look at the “Mammy” episode below:
But of course there are those who scoff at the warning:
https://twitter.com/C_Mcfc/status/517583878929022976https://twitter.com/JuliePars1983/status/517567096319139840https://twitter.com/Cameron_Gray/status/517388491068829699
Is there a need to slap a warning about racism on cartoons? If so, I suspect that every cartoon from Woody Woodpecker to Bugs Bunny will eventually come with a warning.
Ironically, the Tom and Jerry volume already comes with a warning about the content from Whoopi Goldberg, who explains how some may find it offensive and gives historical background about the period in which they were made.
But what about present-day cartoons? A lot of them do cater to adults with sexual and racial innuendos and satirical content that actually make them more popular. Maybe this move by Amazon.com will be the first of many warnings it will add to cartoons. Imagine how many South Park would receive!
Do you think the Amazon.com advisory is necessary, or is the company doing too much?