Culture The Muppet Show: Disney adds content warning over 'negative stereotypes' - Insensitive depictions of Amphibian-Americans

Disney Plus has added a content warning to the beginning of 18 episodes of The Muppet Show, which started streaming on the platform on Friday.

"This programme includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures," it reads.

"These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now."

The disclaimer has been added to each of the episodes for different reasons, including one where Johnny Cash sings in front of the Confederate flag.

The Confederacy was the group of southern states that fought to keep slavery during the US Civil War and the flag is seen as a symbol of racism by many.

Disney's disclaimer added: "Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together."

The advisory note comes after several months of revisionism around films and TV programmes which could be considered offensive by the standards of today.

The re-assessment of old content was prompted by the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, and has sparked debate around programmes and films ranging from Fawlty Towers and Gone With The Wind to Little Britain and Bo' Selecta.

The 18 episodes of The Muppet Show with the warning have been picked out from five series of Jim Henson's series, which was a big hit in the 1970s and 1980s and starred Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

Aside from Cash, other guest hosts of the episodes in question include Steve Martin, Cleo Laine, Spike Milligan, Debbie Harry and Kenny Rogers.

According to the LA Times, the warning refers to negative depictions of people from other cultures including Native Americans and those from the Middle East.

The publication also notes that two episodes from the final season are left out entirely - one featured Chris Langham, who was a writer on the show and stepped in to host after a celebrity guest pulled out.

The actor, who went on to star in Armando Iannucci's The Thick Of It, was sentenced to 10 months in prison in 2007 for downloading indecent videos of children from the internet.

However, another episode, starring guest host Brooke Shields, is absent from Disney Plus for a different reason - music rights.

Several songs have also had to be edited out of other episodes because of copyright and licensing issues.

Disclaimer warnings have previously been added to Disney films such as Aladdin, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats and Dumbo.

The Disney Stories Matter website offers several of the films above as examples of films they feel require a disclaimer and the reasons why but there is no reference to The Muppets as yet.

 
I wonder why
A9DD110A-D5DE-4F67-BDB9-40C50404FEA7.jpeg


4FE5537D-94CF-46FA-83B3-DC6DE10810FA.jpeg
 
It's kind of like asking why people support Google or Microsoft. They own so much shit that it would take more effort to avoid giving them money than it does to just give it to them without thinking.
tbf those you don't normally pay out of pocket for
The Mouse wants cash up front
 
  • Feels
Reactions: Vyse Inglebard
Disney Plus has added a content warning to the beginning of 18 episodes of The Muppet Show, which started streaming on the platform on Friday.

"This programme includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures," it reads.

"These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now."
....

Disclaimer warnings have previously been added to Disney films such as Aladdin, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats and Dumbo.

The Disney Stories Matter website offers several of the films above as examples of films they feel require a disclaimer and the reasons why but there is no reference to The Muppets as yet.
"Disney Stories Matter"? Talk about problematic. If these stories are so wrong, purge them completely. If we are going to project the values of the present to those of the past, we should also foresee the values of the future and hold ourselves accountable now. If these stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now, it will be wrong in the future and airing them now is just as wrong as airing them in the future regardless of a disclaimer.

Oh wait, it's all about the money people will spend to watch these "wrong" shows, despite any content warning. They are a bunch of unprincipled cowards who will bend the knee now and won't understand why it wasn't enough in the future.
 
The main relationship of the muppets is between a diva pig and a frog that plays the banjo.
How the fuck can any of this shit be racist? They're god damn animals.
Thank you. Apparently people see something we don't.

Had to remind myself of The Swedish Chef today and a time when this cereal was possible...
 
Last edited:
I've never once looked at the Muppets and thought of race.

This reminds me of the D&D fiasco, and people trying to cancel Tolkien because the Orcs reminded them of black people and they felt too uncomfortable with that revelation to let it slide. Nevermind just, y'know, doing some introspection on WHY they correlate violence, chaotic evil tendencies, garbled speech, and gorrila-like appearances with black people. They tried pulling the same shit with Gori from Aggretsuko too but she's literally Japanese.
 
The Brooke Shields ban because of the damn Oz song, while makes sense, is also kinda dumb because you could easily edit the song out. Carol Burnett did it on her show rereleases.

The other guy, the British pedo is fucking disgusting and im glad its unavailable. It would just be an uncomfortable watch.

All in all the censorship isn't that bad tbh. The warnings confuse me though.
 
  • Feels
Reactions: Vyse Inglebard
That's what it feels like to me.
They use that exact same disclaimer for stuff from the 1930s and 1940s don't they? The "These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now." thing.

The umbrella of what's now politically incorrect keeps getting bigger and bigger, eventually content from a few years ago, a few months ago, a few hours ago, a few minutes ago will be politically incorrect and will get that disclaimer, eventually simply being alive will be politically incorrect.

How long is this insanity going to go for before people finally say "enough"?
 
Back