One Of The Most Classic Crime Movies Just Got Censored By Film-Loving

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I hear that bell, crumbsroom...

While Cleese has claimed he will never take it out, I seriously have no idea what broadway talent is going to go onstage and do that bit?


It will get pulled eventually I'm sure



Criterion almost certainly didn't do this. The French Connection isn't part of the collection. According to the internet--which is never wrong about this stuff--Disney now owns the rights and most likely this is an alternate version that they've licensed to stream. Criterion shows all kinds of dubious stuff (e.g., the opening sex scene from Sweet Sweetback's Badasss Song) so I'm very skeptical that they're suddenly sticking at the n word. Ideally they would label this as an alternate version but I can't get too worked up about it.



Yeah, I'd like to know more of the facts before rushing to judge Criterion here. Maybe there was some legal issue and this was the only copy they could get? It doesn't make sense for Criterion to start taking out naughty words when there's much more challenging stuff elsewhere on their channel.



Can we mention the current movie-related news story where certain groups are seeking to have all copies & airings of Monty Python's The Life of Brian (1979) edited to cut out one specific part AND cut the scene from an upcoming stage play that John Cleese is producing?

Doesn't that have more to do with the beef Cleese and Idle have over ownership of the scene?



Disney. What a joke of a corporation. I shudder to think of what they'd do if they ever got the rights to To Kill a Mockingbird! It would be edited to shreds and the whole point of the movie reduced to rubble.

As for Python, I love how they've gone on about oppression and repression for ever and a day.

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Disney doing this instead of criterion makes a lot more sense.


As kgaard mentioned in regards to Sweetback, not censoring the opening of that is about as steadfast as you get when it comes to leaving films as is.





It's so interesting that one of the most common sense approaches to these situations came from a cartoon show. So simple and yet so effective.
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It's so interesting that one of the most common sense approaches to these situations came from a cartoon show. So simple and yet so effective.

Then there are the people who go ape shit over warnings like these...but who gives a **** about those people



Disney Plus Censorship: All the Movies and TV Shows Edited and Censored on the Streaming Service


From the article above:

Splash
To remove a number of instances of nudity in the movie, Disney has blurred out some bare butts, cropped others out, and in one scene that has gone viral on Twitter, covered Daryl Hannah's backside with digital hair/fur.

Toy Story 2
The Disney+ version of Toy Story 2 follows the version that came to BluRay in July 2019. In this edited edition, a "casting couch" joke that sees Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer) flirting with two Barbie Dolls implying he can get them into the movie was removed from the mid-credit "bloopers".

Adventures in Babysitting

Though Adventures of Babysitting is not on the U.S. Disney+ yet, it does appear on the service in other countries. The Disney+ version has two changes that have been part of the TV version for decades. In the movie, the famous line "don't f*** with the babysitter" in the 1987 version has been changed to "don't fool with the babysitter," while another scene changes the word "homo" for the word "weirdo."

Free Solo
The streaming version replaces a line where climber Alex Honnold calls something "f***ed up" with "messed up." They also later remove the word "*******" from the National Geographic documentary.

The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin
One Reddit user noted that the 1967 Roddy McDowall western has had racial slurs removed for its streaming cut.

Santa's Workshop
The 1932 animated short film has had what one Reddit user called "stereotypical black dolls" removed from it—though some stereotypically Asian dolls seem to have been kept in.

Hannah Montana
In a change thought to come from a prior digital edition of the Miley Cyrus comedy, a character in Season 2, Episode 26 has had their character named changed from "Isis" to "Ice." However, a scene from Shia LaBoeuf comedy Even Stevens showing a character using Isis as an alias has been kept in.

Gravity Falls
In an edit that has mystified even the show's creator, a symbol from Grunkle Stan's fez has been removed. This led to a tweet from Alex Hirsch which read: "Lol apparently the geniuses over at Disney+ decided to remove Grunkle Stan's fez symbol for no reason, but then accidentally left it in the thumbnails because even they can't keep track of what they're pretending to be concerned about this week."

The Simpsons
Though Disney+ has kept the brief shot of Bart Simpson's penis in The Simpsons Movie, they have removed Season 3 episode "Stark Raving Dad," which featured a vocal performance from Michael Jackson. The episode was previously removed from Hulu following the release of the documentary Leaving Neverland.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
I thought some more about the issue of altering old art, and there's a completely non-political side to it: AI-enhanced early silents.

There's that trend of people using neural network AI to color and touch up early silents. This is mostly done with short films from the 1890s & 1900s. But I saw that dangerous trend with later full-length movies, such as Pather Panchali and Late Spring.

The same argument here: Altering the past is creating a lie. The consequences are different but no less grave. It conditions the younger generation to look up those more "attractive" versions of the old films instead of experiencing the original versions.

Sure, AI needs something to work on. I'm not against feeding it cinema. But I'm against uploading the results of that interference with art and celebrating it as something that IMPROVES the movie. The touched-up movies usually have many more views than the originals, and THAT'S dangerous. Because the youth doesn't experience the past, but a changed version of it.

Imagine a sped-up, recut, 90-minute-long version of Gone with the Wind that caters to TikTok attention span uploaded onto all major streaming platforms. Sure, the original is still available on DVD and BluRay. But more people are going to stream it than buy a physical copy. And so their experience of the movie will be utterly ruined.

Also, all the AI work makes those films look hideous.
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As for what Disney is doing: Piracy will never die. Good job, Disney!
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Criterion usually just puts warnings in their film descriptions, which I appreciate. A nutrition label isn't censorship.
It's soft censorship, but this is not objectionable by logical necessity. After all, we have ratings systems for kids and it is only fair to let people know what they are purchasing.


It is, however, concerning, especially as these messages spread and artworks are altered, truncated, and veiled in the name of the new religion. YouTube plays this game with some videos. "Are you sure you really want to watch this wrong think? If so, click yes to confirm that this is not a mistake, that you meant to do this..."



We must always ask, "Who is writing the nutrition label? For what purpose?"



It's not bad that we draw lines in this way, but there is discussion to be had about how and where to draw them.



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The only thing I'd like from AI is to make my own movie using any actors. Typing down their dialogue.



I'm also tired of this notion of how people can't handle a few seconds in a movie. They're condescending. "Well me and you understand it, but what about all the others?"



It's coming folks, it's coming...


“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Unfortunately it’s been here, is here, will always be here. The players and the parties shuffle around a bit but it’s all facism.
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