Streaming platforms like Netflix and HBO Max have removed content from their services due to ethnic and racial prejudices in them.
The move includes HBO Max pulling the multiple Academy award winning Gone With The Wind from its listings after it received slack for the racial portrayal of slaves and slaveholders.
Likewise, Netflix, BBC iPlayer and BritBox have removed the show Little Britain and its follow up Come Fly With Me in the UK.
Little Britain, created by Matt Lucas and David Walliams, has come under the fire for the use of ‘blackface’.
The show first aired in 2003 and BBC and BritBox stated that times are now different from the first time the show was aired.
A BBC spokesperson stated:
Times have changed since Little Britain first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer. Come Fly With Me has not been available on the service for six months.
HBO spokesperson stated: “Gone With The Wind is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society,” in a statement to AFP.
They also added:
“These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible.”
Disney+ has also reportedly pulled Song of the South from its platform due to the. showcase of some racial stereotypes.
Bob Iger, Executive Chairman of Disney admitted:
It was just not appropriate in today’s world.
The move to eliminate content that racially discriminates was also followed by cable networks as the reality series Cops was pulled by Paramount Network. Cops had been running for nearly 30 years but has come under the radar for issues like misrepresenting race and crime.
Protests have been ongoing in the US and other parts of the world for justice after the wrongful killing of George Floyd by a white cop in Minneapolis. Streaming giants also recently announced solidarity against the matter.
HBO Max also made a decision of removing Elmer Fudd’s rifle in their iconic Looney Tunes Cartoons due to increasing gun violence.
Additionally, due to COVID-19, most streaming platforms have suffered tough times with a halt or decrease in productions. However, they have been setting up funds and doing all they can to restart with caution.
Also read: Netflix bags several nominations at Critics Choice Real TV Awards