MovieChat Forums > Babes in Toyland (1934) Discussion > Anti-Semitism and racism

Anti-Semitism and racism

posted 10 years ago by paulyriobr-1
11 replies | jump to latest

I found this post on a YouTube discussion of "Babes in Toyland". Personally, I think it's ridiculous but I'm putting it on this message board for opinions here.

"Keep in mind the year this was made: 1934. Anti-Semitism was rampant, fear of Blacks was high, and the Nazis were seen in a positive light. Here we have an old, wealthy, money-grubbing Jew (Barnaby) trying to deflower a young blonde-haired White woman by threatening her with the foreclosure of her family's home. When he fails he resorts to criminal kidnapping and false accusations against her lover as revenge. When his plan for revenge backfires, he leads the Afro-haired, dark skinned, half animal, half-man bogey men to destroy the peaceful White town. To top it off, the tall, goose-stepping, boot crunching, Aryan soldiers march in fearlessly to save the White women and children from the Jew and his violent uprising.

Considering Barnaby is not a Jewish name, that the wooden soldiers had no knees ergo had no choice but to "goose step", that they were mistakenly 6' tall to begin with, and that they were not human, puts a lot of holes in this guy's argument. Barnaby, villain that he may be, wanted to marry the girl. Deflower hints at something other than marriage. Regarding the Bogeymen, half man half animal yes but I don't remember dark skin, but rather covered in hair as described by Ollie Dee. Any thoughts?

[–] bookstore451 10 years ago

Anyone who sees the bogeymen and thinks "obviously a stand-in for black people" has some soul-searching to do regarding his own racist tendencies.

[–] Taylorfirst1 10 years ago

The person who wrote that is a moron.

They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!

[–] lonewolfie 10 years ago

Just some left wing Liberal politically correct jerk looking for racism, sexism, homophobia, and any other bias in everything they see! Ignore these idiots.

[–] Enigmatic-Ocean 10 years ago

That was written by a psycho.

VHS>DVD

[–] nycruise-1 9 years ago

More like: keep in mind the fact that the original stage operetta debuted around 1915, when things like racism and anti-Semitism in the form of "ethnic joke" humor were par for the course. I'm sure that is behind some of the characters and plot in this film - although they've probably been revised due to the fact that 1) this musical is notorious for re-interpretations of the original (since the staged original was sooooooo dated) and 2) "modern" sensibilities (even back in 1932) probably toned down some of the more blatant aspects of racism and anti-Semitism.

"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

[–] aciolino 9 years ago

:"modern" sensibilities (even back in 1932) probably toned down some of the more blatant aspects of racism and anti-Semitism. "

Utter nonsense.

[–] mercury4 9 years ago

That was written by a psycho.

It most certainly was. I had to laugh though because it was so stupid.

[–] lenahan-38933 8 years ago

Keep in mind that the majority of the film is based on fairy tales that far predate the 1930's or even the 1910's. So whether or not racism or anti-semitism was rampant in the 1930's isn't particularly relevant. The YouTube poster is hardly a left wing liberal and more like a delusional nut.

[–] Mad_Monkey 9 years ago

I just roll my eyes and shake my head at morons like this. Bleeding heart liberals scratch and claw at anything to try and make things sound racist to fit their agenda, no matter how stupid it makes them look.

[–] johnno74 9 years ago

I tend to agree with paulyriobr-1. I may be a lefty, but I saw nothing racist about this film whatsoever. How can one tell that Barnaby's jewish? - We can't. He doesn't express his beliefs, nor does he say anything about Judaism.
Clearly, whoever made that YouTube discussion is over reacting.

[–] bookman7772000 8 years ago

By all accounts Stan Laurel and producer Hal Roach did not have a prejudice bone in their bodies. And Stan always said that there were no layers of interpretation, no hidden meaning in the Laurel and Hardy films, that all they were trying to do was get laughs.