Reporter Wants Indiana Jones and John Wayne Movies Labeled as Racist
A reporter for Variety is on a canceling crusade, insisting that movies including Dirty Harry, Forrest Gump, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom be labeled with warnings for racist and offensive stereotypes.
The reporter, Tim Gray, has posted a list of ten films on the publication’s website that he claims “could benefit from an explainer or disclaimer about outdated depictions of race, sexuality, disabilities and more.”
The impetus for his list is the recent removal of Gone with the Wind from HBO’s streaming service, until disclaimers about the film’s dated content can be added. He decided more films should get warning labels like Gone with the Wind, and is happy to list his top ten, complete with his reasoning for the choices.
While Gray mentions some films with some truly racist content like Birth of a Nation and Song of the South, he lists ten “offensive” films that many would find laughable.
Gray’s reasoning for what is offensive appears to boil down to anything that triggers his liberal sensibilities. He also seems unwilling to accept any film that features racial minorities as villains or unsavory characters. He is, for example, triggered by depictions of terrorists as Middle Eastern, apparently oblivious to news headlines from the past fifty years.
The ten films Gray finds offensive and worthy of warning labels are:
Dirty Harry, because it “mocks liberal judges and do-gooders, and the villain claims police brutality, planting the seed that other such charges are fake moves to get sympathy.” No, really, that’s his reason to put a warning on this film.
Forrest Gump, because “it is condescending to anyone with a disability, Vietnam vets and people with AIDS, among others, it’s actually hostile to protesters, activists and the counterculture.” He also points out that Forrest was named for his grandfather, who was a member of the KKK. Apparently, Gray sees this as some sort of endorsement, and not in the ironic tone that Winston Groom (the author of the original novel) intended.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom earns Gray’s ire because of what he sees as racist depictions of the people of India. “Villains are portrayed as primitive and bloodthirsty foreigners, resulting in negative and stereotypical depictions of India and of Hindu customs,” he said.
Me Before You, because it features (spoiler!) a disabled man who kills himself so his girlfriend (Emilia Clarke) can live a full life instead of dealing with his disability. That’s offensive to people with disabilities, he claims, while just about everyone else is offended that we are supposed to believe a man would choose suicide over being with Emilia Clarke.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, from director Quentin Tarantino, gets blasted for its negative depiction of Bruce Lee, and because there aren’t enough black people in the film. Never mind that most of the characters are members of Charles Manson’s “family.” Apparently, Gray thinks there should have been more black actors depicting white hippies hoping to start a race war.
The Children’s Hour, the classic drama starring Audrey Hepburn, was based on a play by a liberal playwright. That makes little difference to Gray, who says the story about a lesbian teacher has “depictions of LGBT people….showing them as self-loathing, pitiable and perverted.”
The Searchers is a landmark western starring John Wayne. Gray doesn’t like it, because the villains are the Comanche Indians. Wayne’s character hates Native Americans, and Gray even mentions that many understand his hatred is part of the film’s message. He doesn’t seem to care, and like the other films, seems triggered by any depiction of racism on-screen, and angry that “Native Americans are depicted as savage or comical.”
The Silence of the Lambs deserves a warning label, Gray argues, because the film’s serial-killer villain is transgender. That’s it. That’s his argument.
Holiday Inn, the Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire classic, is the one film that actually has a serious racism problem. In one scene, Crosby wears blackface while singing a song. It’s indefensible as a practice today, so including some sort of disclaimer makes sense here. Many versions of the film shown on TV do not include the scene, so many aren’t even aware it exists.
True Lies gets praise from Gray for being an entertaining action film, but he takes issue with the Arab characters being “religious fanatics or terrorists.” He doesn’t quite explain how you can make a film set in the early 90s about terrorists that aren’t Arab. Remember, this was before the Oklahoma City bombing, so the idea of domestic terrorism wasn’t part of the public psyche yet.
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