Exactly.
Again, problem is context. If you see the mocking Asian features then, it is one thing. When innocent Asians are attacked on the streets blaming them for corona as an excuse for racism to run rampant, no thanks. We do not need more kindle in the fire.
Same with anti semitic imagery. Quite problematic when synagogues can be bombed.
The racism issue is not over by any chance. Like cockroaches, imagery like this cannot be ignored. It comes from a dirty origin.
And this:
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I wonât argue that Dr Seuss was anti-racism, but the context here is that all of his books were very humane, and some of them addressed genuinely important social issues (eg., deforestation). They were well-loved (by kids and adults) for that reason. None of them have poisonous hidden messages.
Agree. But kids are very impressionable and adults like to manipulate stuff.
His estate is calling the shots in his name, and an artist, as creator, has the prerogative to adjust his work as per his creative vision. If they want to take these books out because they do not like the message in the images because they believe it does not carry the message they intend, well, they can.
They are, but not (I think) in the way that adults imagine that they are. Kids are quite capable of distinguishing nonsense-drawings (which all Dr Seussâs drawings are) from reality.
If the book had been a relentless series of images showing Chinese people doing silly things, interposed with Westerners doing clever things, Iâd completely agree with you. But I donât see any malice intended here.
As for his estate, they donât represent Dr Seuss in any sense except the legal one (a copyright is transferable). He had no children, so Iâm not sure who âhis estateâ actually are.
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And yet I can still easily access and enjoy all those things, so I guess they didnât perfect the cancel culture we are now enduring.
I think a lot people here easily confuse âcancellingâ with accountability. which is ironic cause the conservative mindset is about personal responsibility lol
So the men who wear their eyes at a slant and eat with sticks are not racist portrayals, just silly characters?
If youâd like context look up Seussâs political cartoons from the 40âs. You will quickly see that it wasnât a fluke or just âsilly charactersâ.
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And then they see adults doing slanted eyes, taunting Asians, calling them dirty and sickness ladden⌠thatâs how things roll downhill, as stereotypes and bad messages are reinforced.
And again, no one is forcing the estate of Dr. Seuss to do anything. They had s look around and decided this wonât do.
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Canât disagree with that. But I really donât think childrenâs books had much to do with it. Some people are just assholes, unfortunately.
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I feel itâd only be the right thing if Dr Seuss was personally doing it, not his estate. But heâs dead of course.
I donât know the others, but theyâre ceasing publication of âAnd to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Streetâ, his very first book and (until recently I suppose) an undisputed classic of his canon.
Nah, Iâm not on board with this. Let people choose what books, TV shows and movies they want to consume. We donât need be told whatâs okay for us and what isnât by other authorities. Itâs his estate though, so nothing anyone can do⌠especially in politics. So the whole political discourse about it is ridiculous.
Finally, what I donât understand is if they HAD to take action, why couldnât they censor the individual offending drawings and not ban publication of the whole books? Seems like a fair, if not ideal, compromise and itâs not like the plots of the books are dependent on one or two dated panels.
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Funny pictures thread guys, I can start a thread for you on Dr Seuss if you like, or start one yourselves.
Edit/ @RickRoll below, good idea, done!
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Or just move them all to âCancel Cultureâ thread. 
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To be honest this whole story reminds me of the recent discussions about âTintin in Congoâ which was muuuuch more racist than anything Iâve seen from Dr. Seuss. Though in that case people seemed to have had a much more composed attitude to the issue.
Brussels parliamentarian Kalvin Soiresse Njall had expressed astonishment on the RTBFâs JT programme on Saturday at the fact that âTintin in Congoâ was not among the issues in the news in recent weeks.
The parliamentarian, who is of Togolese origin, said he was not calling for the comic to be scrapped, which would be counter-productive, but, he said, âthere is an absolute need to contextualise it from within.â
He felt that this could be done, for example, by asking a graphic artist to produce a âwarning message with a brief textâ at the beginning of the comic.
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We ought to do a âCancel Culture Poolâ or âCancel Culture Bingoâ to see who can accurately predict who or what will be the next to be cancelled.
Months ago I correctly predicted Tin Tin! One point for me.
Next up will have to be Jonny Quest with its awful portrayal of spear-chucking savages!
Pepe Le Pew on the chopping block.
Yep. All rapists probably acquired their raping skills from this cartoon!
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Europeans tend to be much more reasonable and realistic about these issues than the US; not having to really deal with the legacy of colonialism in the same way the US still grapples with slavery is likely a part of the explanation
I thought he was already gone!
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A good watch and good points.
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Thereâs probably some of this. On another hand, being a fan of Donald Duck comics, I was surprised that no serious controversy emerged from Fantagraphicsâ reedition of Carl Barksâ work (the publisher chose to keep the original comics rather than the later redrawn, more politically correct versions, but added mentions explaining the racist exagerations). Granted, that was about 10 years ago, so maybe cancel culture wasnât that big of a deal yet.
https://www.cbr.com/white-ducks-burden-race-in-walt-disneys-donald-duck-lost-in-the-andes/
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