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Censorship in The Indian (Season 1, Episode 21)

posted 9 years ago by Skye_Reynolds
13 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching the censored version shown on ME TV. The episode concerns the racism which US Deputy Marshal Sam Buckhart faces on account of being an Indian. The line "I drunk with an Apache," is muted. Minutes earlier, there's this odd exchange,

Lucas McCain: "Mister, you must fancy yourself a real [half-mute] poker player."
Sam Buckhart: "Depends on who I'm playing against."

I seem to vaguely recall McCain claiming "You must fancy [himself] a real white man." But if that were the case, Buckhart's response -- "Depends on who I'm playing against." -- wouldn't make sense. A "real white poker player" seems a little too stilted though. If it seems a bit out of place for McCain to be racist, the episode gives him a degree of prejudice and has him overcome it by the end. With the context of the episode, the line would have made sense.

If anyone has this on DVD, or otherwise has access to the unedited version, can you confirm what the line was originally? This episode is skipped on Hulu.

[–] anthny_platt 9 years ago

I think it's a mistake to censor the racism out of old shows. If we aren't warned about the mistakes of our past, how can we have enough sense to avoid repeating them?

[–] Skye_Reynolds 9 years ago

I agree.

And it makes sense in context because the episode is about racism. It's not like they just gratuitously made the characters racist. It's a period authentic attitude and it's presented in an episode condemning racism.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Skye_Reynolds 9 years ago

When dealing with old TV or old movies, it should be understood that the standards of the past aren't always going to meet with the standards of the present. People shouldn't be surprised by it. They shouldn't expect to have scenes cut or lines muted like that. I think it has some potentially scary consequences to completely sanitize the past.

[–] maxman-5 9 years ago

1984

[–] anthny_platt 9 years ago

Once upon a time the public discourse on subjects like this was constructive, and it moved us forward. Nowadays it seems all of this is being used as a way to divide us against each other, stir us up, and keep us distracted from far more important problems.

The news media doesn't seem to want us to converse like adults any more.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] maxman-5 9 years ago

"Mister you must fancy yourself a real poker player".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmQbqozyVIU&index=21&list=PLcpzsaOWnjTHSc03c4Us3jCerO7Z72SMP

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Skye_Reynolds 9 years ago

"Mister you must fancy yourself a real poker player".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmQbqozyVIU&index=21&list=PLcpzsaOWnjTHSc03c4Us3jCerO7Z72SMP

Thanks. I guess I can attribute that one to faulty memory. The line "I drank with an Apache!" is muted though, so the censorship issue remains.

[–] maxman-5 9 years ago

This episode was just added to Hulu.

[–] Skye_Reynolds 9 years ago

Thanks for the update. I wonder why that one was previously left out.

[–] maxman-5 9 years ago

I know; a lot of them were and were just added.