(AP) – Loving classic films can be a tense pastime. Consider the cultural storm over “And the Wind Gone” last summer.
Nobody knows this better than movie lovers at Turner Classic Movies, who are daily confronted with the complicated reality that many of the most celebrated films in old Hollywood also tend to be a stereotype kitchen sink. This summer, amid protests from the Black Lives Matter, the channel’s programmers and hosts decided to do something about it.
The result is a new series, “Reframed Classics”, which promises comprehensive discussions of 18 culturally significant films from the 1920s to 1960s, which also have problematic aspects, from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and Mickey Rooney’s performance as Yunioshi to The Routine Fred Astaire’s blackface in “Swing Time”. It starts Thursday at 8:00 pm (Eastern Time) with nothing less than “And the wind has taken”.
“We know that millions of people love these films,” said TCM host Jacqueline Stewart, who is participating in many of the conversations. “We are not saying that this is how you should feel about ‘Pyscho’ or that this is how you should feel about ‘E the Wind Has Taken’. We’re just trying to model ways to have longer and deeper conversations, not just cut to ‘I love this movie. I hate this movie. ‘There is a lot of space between them. “
Stewart, a professor at the University of Chicago who in 2019 became the channel’s first African-American host, spent her career studying classic films, especially those from the silent era and black audiences. She knows firsthand the tension of love films that also contain racial stereotypes.
“I grew up in a family of people who loved classic films. Now, how can you love these movies if you know that a maid or mom will appear? Stewart said. “Well, I grew up with people who could still love the movie. You appreciate parts of it. You criticize other parts of it. This is something you can do and it can really enrich your experience with the film. “
Although TCM audiences know her as the host of Silent Sunday Nights, last summer she received a greater prominence when she was selected to present “E o Vento Gave” on HBO Max to provide the proper context after her controversial removal from the streaming service . She remembers writing her comments for this while also creating this series.
“I still feel a sense of urgency around these topics,” she said. “We are showing films that really shaped the way people continue to think about race, gender, sexuality and skills. It was very important for the group to come together to think about how we can work with each other and work with our fans to deepen the conversations about these films. “
TCM hosts Ben Mankiewicz, Dave Karger, Alicia Malone and Eddie Muller will also be part of many conversations. The films they selected are also not among the radar news. As Stewart said, “They are the classics of the classics.”
The series, which runs every Thursday, March 25, will also feature “Guess who’s coming for dinner”, “Gunga Din”, “The Searchers”, “My Fair Lady”, “Stagecoach”, “Woman of the Year “and” Children’s time. “
The selections allow presenters to also think about Hollywood films more broadly. For “Psycho”, which will air on March 25, the hosts talk about transgender identity in the film and the implications of equating gender fluidity and dressing in women’s clothing with mental illness and violence. This also sparks a major debate about sexuality in Alfred Hitchcock’s films.
During the “My Fair Lady” conversation on March 25, they talk about why the film adaptation has a less feminist ending than the play, and the physical and psychological abuse of Henry Higgins by Eliza Dolittle. Not feeding it and filling your mouth with marbles are interpreted for funny laughs in the movie. Is it a commentary on misogyny or simply misogyny?
In the series, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” will face scrutiny over its representations of transgender identity and gender fluidity in conjunction with mental illness and violence.
And on the night of “Guess who’s coming for dinner,” which airs on March 11, Stewart discusses Sidney Poitier’s complex legacy.
“His career is so important because of the ways in which white Americans really started to have more sympathy and understanding for black people. But at the same time, there are aspects of your films that are clearly aimed primarily at the white audience, ”said Stewart. “This opens up all kinds of complications for black viewers who thought he was not a representative of the race as a whole.”
Recently, companies started adding disclaimers before programs and films that depict outdated or stereotyped characters and themes. And in some cases, the films have just become unavailable. Disney said that its 1946 film, “Song of the South”, will never be on Disney +. The classic film podcast “You Must Remember This” brings an excellent series about the controversial film and how it came about.
The purpose of “Reframed Classics” is to help give the audience the tools to discuss films from a different era, and not just discard or cancel them. And Stewart, for his part, doesn’t believe that you can simply remove problematic films from culture.
“I think there is something to be learned from any work of art,” said Stewart. “They are all historical artifacts that tell us a lot about the industry in which they were made, the cultures they were talking to.”