First it was HBO announcing their plan to pull the 1939 classic film Gone with the Wind from their streaming services, to have it return later with a disclaimer at the start about its racist depictions of African Americans. Now, Netflix Australia has removed four of comedian Chris Lilley's programs from its service because of his criticised portrayals of Asian and Tongan characters. These media decisions have generated widespread debate, with some saying they were a long time coming and others arguing the texts should be taken as fiction and in the contexts of when they were made.
Now, sincerely, I abhor racism and bigotry of all kinds and any regular readers I may have will know just how very political I am. But truthfully, I've read and heard responses from both sides of this divide and as well as understanding numerous points they've both made I have separately formed the opinion that this all comes down to censorship. Regarding that issue, except in the most extreme of cases (i.e. snuff films, child porn etc.), I am in opposition. Why? Because I believe we, the viewers and consumers, as free- and independently-thinking citizens, should be able to choose for ourselves whether we actually want to see, hear or read the text in question, whether we have a chance to or not.
Make no mistake, I am in no way praising the controversial elements of the texts that have been pulled from streaming here, or condoning real-life actions which may reflect them. I am simply arguing their being pulled from streaming constitutes censorship which to me (in most cases, as I said) violates free will, and I should also like to emphasise that it took a global uprising against institutionalised racism and police brutality to happen for these films and shows to be re-evaluated.
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