This is why I prefer physical media.

[Cephus]

The problem is, that's not how reality works. There is no "correct" view. There is only what some people think today. In another 20 years, people are going to look back at the actions and beliefs of today and think they were all wrong. If we accept that just ripping out all mentions of the past because it doesn't agree with what we think today is a good thing, there will never be any social stability. People need to grow up and deal with the fact that everything, every book, every movie, every TV show, everything is inherently a product of its time and that you don't get to go back and try to rewrite history. You have to just deal with it. Hell, in another decade or so, you'll probably change your mind about a great many things. Are you going to go back and rip out all of the things you already did? Where does it end?

 

[Spyhunter2k]

The problem is, that's not how reality works. There is no "correct" view. There is only what some people think today...Are you going to go back and rip out all of the things you already did? Where does it end?

Yes, there is a correct view: racism = bad, and I don't think people 20 years from now will object to current society making reasonable efforts to address the effects of racist acts of the past.

And they're NOT "ripping out" the racist stuff, or trying to "rewrite history." The racist depictions will remain (as far as we know at this time). They're just adding a disclaimer of sorts to make it clear that we as a society have progressed past the beliefs/attitudes that caused these stereotypes to have been included at the time this film was made, and out of respect for those most affected by these stereotypes.

 

[cboath]

If they're doing that, it should have been done decades ago. Unless you want to believe either people were smarter then ( like the 70's) or racism was OK...

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Having lived through the '70s and '80s, a lot of things that were acceptable -- societally and in media -- no longer are. I mean, heck, anyone ever see the Rock Hudson/Doris Day rom-com "Pillow Talk"? The finale of that film, when I first saw it, stunned me. But it was not just acceptable at the time it was made -- it was considered a source of humor. His solution to her hanging up on him was to walk the couple blocks to her apartment, kick in the door, kick in her bedroom door, pick her up out of her bed, and carry her back to his place. And all the bystanders are laughing at the silly woman screaming and kicking and punching him and yelling at him to put her down. Even the cop. These days, we'd call that B&E, aggravated assualt, kidnapping...

A lot of the stuff through the '70s and '80s was satire or spotlight. Like All in the Family or the Jeffersons, but removed from its original temporal setting, the context can be lost. The things Archie Bunker was saying would be considered racist, misogynistic, homophobic, etc., today -- but at the time, that was the whole point, to shine a light on stuff that was perfectly normal and acceptable at the time, which really shouldn't have been.

Margaret Mitchell waxing rhapsodic about the Antebellum South perpetuated a world that wasn't just "gone with the wind" -- it never existed. Except in the minds of the privileged few. People in the '30s who actually knew history could read/view it as Scarlett having her delusions/illusions stripped away, but many at the time (and, unfortunately, now) saw it as a paean to a lost, idyllic world. Taking a moment to say "it wasn't actually like that" can't hurt. Set a context.

 

[Bigdaddy]

Hmmm, I wonder how Hattie McDaniel's family feels about this, being the first African American to be nominated and wining an Oscar?

She was also segregated from the other award ceremony attendees and not allowed to the premier of the film....context.

 

[Psab keel]

Well we are also running on the assumption that younger viewers would even bother watching a film from the 1930's (the vast majority of which wouldn't bother) and also assuming they even read the disclaimer before the movie starts.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Yeah, that's a good point. Pretty sure it's slipped more and more into the niche of serious film wonks and a few older fans looking to stimulate their nostalgia oblongata. But even if people aren't watching it en masse any more, it's been re-released so many times since 1939 that it's as much of the zeitgeist as The Wizard of Oz and It's A Wonderful Life. And for similar reasons. If it had come out once in 1939 and done, it probably wouldn't be so omnipresent in the cultural mind, nor be the top of the all-time box-office list.

 

[Cephus]

 

[PumpkinKing]

As a rule of thumb, physical>>>digital

 

[Tan Djarka]

Yesterday I ventured out to pick up the latest releases of interest only to discover... I wanted Ahsoka s1 and the Mandalorian s3. I'd come to terms with the fact that I couldn't get it on DVD and I have to fork over extra for the steelbook I don't want. But now? It seems the content is only available in 4k!

I do have a 4k player, but I grow increasingly irritated having to pay a premium for something I'd be happy to have on DVD.

 

[Cephus]

Yesterday I ventured out to pick up the latest releases of interest only to discover... I wanted Ahsoka s1 and the Mandalorian s3. I'd come to terms with the fact that I couldn't get it on DVD and I have to fork over extra for the steelbook I don't want. But now? It seems the content is only available in 4k!

I do have a 4k player, but I grow increasingly irritated having to pay a premium for something I'd be happy to have on DVD.

Then pirate it. Burn it in the format that you want to have. If enough people do that, they'll have to comply. The consumers are the ones that really matter. We have all the power and we need to stop giving in to the big media companies.

 

[Paul Andrew]

Then pirate it. Burn it in the format that you want to have. If enough people do that, they'll have to comply. The consumers are the ones that really matter. We have all the power and we need to stop giving in to the big media companies.

Be sure to send them a nasty letter detailing your efforts so that they understand the depths of your displeasure while you're at it. Can't just have a spite pirating in silence, if they don't know they'll never LEARN THEIR LESSON.

 

[Tan Djarka]

I'm not above acquiring some content early from unofficial channels, but when it's officially available, I'll usually buy it.

But I don't think any amount of complaining will change Disney's business model. The demand for physical media is dwindling. I got seasons one and two of Stranger Things at Target for $5 each because they just weren't selling. For most, buying a copy of something they could easily stream is a hard sell.

I didn't think it would change anything. I was just venting. The world is changing and I don't like it.

 

[cboath]

Most peoples players are their game consoles which have been BR for a decade or so. I would also venture that players anymore are BR as well. Factor in most people dont buy anymore, they just go to straming and there isnt a whole of incentive to master and burn two versions.

 

[division 6]

Target has stopped selling DVDs.