US Professor Explains Why Mary Poppins Is Racist, And Here Are The Top Internet Responses
Let me start by saying this: Racism is still a pressing and widespread phenomenon, one that is a stain on our society and should be confronted wherever it is found. That being said, the modern tendency to increasingly seek out racism in places where it likely doesn’t exist only trivializes the issue and insults the memory of those who have truly been affected by it.
Image credits: Disney
This story is being seen by some as a prime example of this. During the much-loved chimney sweep scene in the 1964 classic Mary Poppins, the nanny, played by actress Julie Andrews, dances and sings with soot smeared all over her face. Pretty normal stuff for a chimney sweep, right?
Image credits: pollackpelzner
Not according to Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, who sees something more sinister in the scene. “Instead of wiping it off, she gamely powders her nose and cheeks even blacker,” he wrote in a piece for the New York Times titled: ‘Mary Poppins,’ and a Nanny’s Shameful Flirting With Blackface.
Image credits: Disney
The article continues by highlighting racist tropes in the original Mary Poppins novel, written by P. L. Travers in 1934, and linking Disney’s history of “blackface minstrelsy” all the way up to the latest incarnation of the iconic nanny, Mary Poppins Returns.
Image credits: Disney
Of course, he is not wrong in this respect, the original novel and films are full of things that we would find ‘problematic’ in this day and age. But what’s the point? Social norms change over time, we all know that. In 1934 the Nazis were in power for god’s sake. Of course people had different attitudes towards race back then! Going back to try and ‘sanitize’ the past doesn’t achieve anything except deflect attention from real cases of injustice. If anything, exposing people to the prejudices of the old days shows how far we’ve come, even if there is still plenty of work to do. But let’s focus on the real issues, shall we?
Image credits: Disney
Most people reacted with a mixture of disbelief and mockery
Image credits: PeteBarronMedia
Image credits: Kimmiekie85
Image credits: Jessx90x
Image credits: blh2019
Image credits: diygurudave
Image credits: MissMalone2002
Image credits: socialmissfit3
Image credits: dAmAgEeFFeCt
Image credits: shriveledwevos
Image credits: wickedenchantme
Image credits: GunmamaQ000
According to Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, getting dirty by being covered in soot is racist. He is an idiotic troll that needs to have his academic honours removed. This triggered PC nitwit is seeing racism where there isn't any.
Yep -as some one already pointed out, he must be racist to see chimney soot as racist.
Load More Replies...Are Black people working as Bakers getting flour on themselves also racist?
To be fair to D**k Van Dyke, he has apologised many times for his appalling attempt at a Cockney accent. 😂
After I started studying sociology I started to notice so many themes commenting on society when re-watching my childhood movies. To me the film Mary Poppins, not the character, touches on class, capitalism, functionalism, and a tiny bit of feminism. But nothing about race! Just because it's old it doesn't mean it's completely behind!
@Oki, nevermind Bill. I think he read the word feminism and freaked out.
Load More Replies...The soot is indicative of freedom in the books. It's a departure from Victorian convention in the upper and upper-middle classes, where the ideal was a white-clad nanny presiding over the lives of passive, decorative children who live their lives in complete silence and being perfectly clean 24/7. ...///... The entire point of Bert and Mary's friendship is about crossing class lines and teaching children that class is less important than people.
Good grief. Marry Poppins gets sooty from actual soot, around a chimney sweep. She sees that she is hilariously dirty, and instead of freaking out about it, she shrugs it off, has a little fun and dusts on a little more soot as if it was regular face powder. .... How is that in any way, shape or form, racist? This guy is just trying to be 'edgy' and 'profound', and is failing miserably. Instead, he only comes across as a profound idiot. It'd be great if people could stop crying 'racist' at the drop of a hat. Racism is a huge problem, and ridiculous c**p like this isn't helping people take it seriously.
exactly! I was going to write same, this kind of people are discrediting whole job people did against racism, homophobia, women's rights etc. they are the worst enemies. and he is professor! how cold he even get that degree with that level of intelligence.
Load More Replies...I'm black, I never thought this scene was offensive.It's just soot! I actually found it funny when i was a kid. She ironically puts on soot on her face as if it was makeup XD. I'm impress how someone can be so easily butthurt.
I heard about a theory that ca.10% of the members of any layer of society or group or profession are idiots... here is the proof
"Professor"!!! By the same logic, Mary Poppins is also a mysoginistic movie: The role of the nanny is stereotypically held by a woman. A man is too good for this role? Huh? Before the answers and the downvotes start, read it a as a sarcasm, I'm using the same logic as this "Professor"!
And to think someone is paying this Professor to educate our young adults.. No wonder conservative student organizations have thrown binky's at liberal protesters. .
I'm amazed someone could watch that movie and even think about race. This is the kind of guy who would say Wizard of Oz is racist because the only black character was the dog. I hope he's been properly educated on why everyone thinks he's complete idiot and I hope he's a little embarrassed by it.
This professor doesn't deserve a response, retweet or anything else. He deserves to be unfollowed so he has one less platform to spew idiotic thoughts to garner attention.
Kids play in dirt, and mud, and get dirty and get in trouble. Mary was all about fun for kids. Do you remember a little bit of sugar makes the medicine go down? Dirty faces were freedom to kids. That is the point of the entire scene. FUN. This prof must have always been a**l retentive.
This guy is just trying to be relevant. Please do not take something that is harmless and make it into something it's not to fit your narrative. There are real racism that needs to be addressed and bringing up irrelevant situations just takes away from what we need to be looking at.
the point is.....getting dirty is fun for kids......Mary was all about fun, and allowing play in dirt is a kid's dream nanny. This way, no one got in trouble for messing up their clothes. This so called professor is an idiot. Apparently he never got dirty, or played in the mud.
Reminds me of the Monty Python bit "Working Class Playwright" where the father and son were nattering at each other about the father writing for a living while the son is a coal miner. "Naught wrong with gala luncheons!"
Let's also not forget what newspaper printed this load of c**p just to stir up more trouble and scream "Foul". Just a bunch of spineless snowflakes looking for attention and wanting to intentionally stir up c**p where it's not needed or wanted or EVER HAPPENED. GET A LIFE!
We have actual issues. If this professor is so riled up, why not work against true discrimination? Instead of rambling about soot? “Oh dear, I’ve smudged pencil graphite on my hand!” It’s not a joke that demeans people of color. It’s not an intentional insult. It’s soot. Ash. You know, what comes from burning logs? People face serious issues. There is truly harmful discrimination.
Unfortunately there are thousands of idiots who support this kind of bullsh... We live in an era of pompous idiots finding racism, sexism and discrimination everywhere. Instead of doing something to solve real problems and help real people, they devote their time to concoct affronts out of thin air. They should be obliged to work in an NGO for a while, to see real life and learn what discrimination, poverty, hunger, racism, etc, look like.
Load More Replies...As a black person, this greatly offends me. I wish people would stop looking for racism in everything. Mary Poppins is such a cute, sweet musical and I can't see where someone can see racism in it. The character of Bert was a chimney sweep and therefore covered in soot.I get more offended more by people pointing out racism where there never was any, rather than actual racism. I can name a real racist situation that occurred in the 2016 election: Trump got endorsed by David Duke, the head of the modern day Ku Klux Klan. Now that's racism.
Oh!! Thank God!! To everyone who wrote how ridiculous this professor is!!! It's such a relief knowing I am not alone .
Domnule - și profesor și american -, du-te, domnule și te tratează la nervii capului! Ia ceva, să-ți treacă marxismul cultural și intransigența bolnavă. Că nu degeaba este supranumită stânga: „stânga psihiatrică” Și nu mai citi, domnule, cărțile copiilor, dacă ai uitat că ai fost copil! Aș râde dacă nu ar fi de plâns! - Sir - and Professor and American - go, sir and treat you to the nerves of your head! Take something, to get your cultural Marxism and sick intransigence. That it is not vain to be called left: "left psychiatric" And do not read, sir children's books, if you forgot that you were a child! I would laugh if it would not be crying!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wTVaWOdusM Is this child racist, Mr. Professor. Your students should require a refund for any tuition paid for anything he "teaches". Kids like to be dirty. They are not racist bc they enjoy a good mud bath or painting of the face.
Ignorant ones get more ignorant trying to pull out Race Card. Just stop.
Are you f*****g kidding me. So children playing in mud are racist, because of the mud on their faces? A steel worker is racist because he or she gets dirt on their faces? F**k me, this world is high on acid
Huh? Disney'd better stick both Mary Poppins films in the vault with Song of the South. P.S. Sarcasm.
....Really, mate? My whole family was just watching it a week ago. A BLACK family, and the only thing we thought about the soot was, "Bit weird, dancing with soot on your face, but whatever." Jesus.
Oh for goodness sakes, people will get offended over any little thing. Mary Poppins was with a chimney sweep. If you're too young to know what one of those is, google it. Soot is a byproduct of coal fires. Not black face, just dirty. And as folks like to say, check your privilege. Some of us grew up in houses with no central heating, just coal fires.
Lol omg , if any of you are still wondering how and why Trump got elected here is a prime example. People are just f***ing tired of the left and there absurd bulls***. These idiots have diminished the word "Racist" and its concept by falsely claiming every mother f***ing god d*** thing is racist. There in a never ending race to prove who is the most virtuous is just pathetic. Colleges are pushing grievance study courses and failing to prepare the people for the real world.
According to Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, getting dirty by being covered in soot is racist. He is an idiotic troll that needs to have his academic honours removed. This triggered PC nitwit is seeing racism where there isn't any.
Yep -as some one already pointed out, he must be racist to see chimney soot as racist.
Load More Replies...Are Black people working as Bakers getting flour on themselves also racist?
To be fair to D**k Van Dyke, he has apologised many times for his appalling attempt at a Cockney accent. 😂
After I started studying sociology I started to notice so many themes commenting on society when re-watching my childhood movies. To me the film Mary Poppins, not the character, touches on class, capitalism, functionalism, and a tiny bit of feminism. But nothing about race! Just because it's old it doesn't mean it's completely behind!
@Oki, nevermind Bill. I think he read the word feminism and freaked out.
Load More Replies...The soot is indicative of freedom in the books. It's a departure from Victorian convention in the upper and upper-middle classes, where the ideal was a white-clad nanny presiding over the lives of passive, decorative children who live their lives in complete silence and being perfectly clean 24/7. ...///... The entire point of Bert and Mary's friendship is about crossing class lines and teaching children that class is less important than people.
Good grief. Marry Poppins gets sooty from actual soot, around a chimney sweep. She sees that she is hilariously dirty, and instead of freaking out about it, she shrugs it off, has a little fun and dusts on a little more soot as if it was regular face powder. .... How is that in any way, shape or form, racist? This guy is just trying to be 'edgy' and 'profound', and is failing miserably. Instead, he only comes across as a profound idiot. It'd be great if people could stop crying 'racist' at the drop of a hat. Racism is a huge problem, and ridiculous c**p like this isn't helping people take it seriously.
exactly! I was going to write same, this kind of people are discrediting whole job people did against racism, homophobia, women's rights etc. they are the worst enemies. and he is professor! how cold he even get that degree with that level of intelligence.
Load More Replies...I'm black, I never thought this scene was offensive.It's just soot! I actually found it funny when i was a kid. She ironically puts on soot on her face as if it was makeup XD. I'm impress how someone can be so easily butthurt.
I heard about a theory that ca.10% of the members of any layer of society or group or profession are idiots... here is the proof
"Professor"!!! By the same logic, Mary Poppins is also a mysoginistic movie: The role of the nanny is stereotypically held by a woman. A man is too good for this role? Huh? Before the answers and the downvotes start, read it a as a sarcasm, I'm using the same logic as this "Professor"!
And to think someone is paying this Professor to educate our young adults.. No wonder conservative student organizations have thrown binky's at liberal protesters. .
I'm amazed someone could watch that movie and even think about race. This is the kind of guy who would say Wizard of Oz is racist because the only black character was the dog. I hope he's been properly educated on why everyone thinks he's complete idiot and I hope he's a little embarrassed by it.
This professor doesn't deserve a response, retweet or anything else. He deserves to be unfollowed so he has one less platform to spew idiotic thoughts to garner attention.
Kids play in dirt, and mud, and get dirty and get in trouble. Mary was all about fun for kids. Do you remember a little bit of sugar makes the medicine go down? Dirty faces were freedom to kids. That is the point of the entire scene. FUN. This prof must have always been a**l retentive.
This guy is just trying to be relevant. Please do not take something that is harmless and make it into something it's not to fit your narrative. There are real racism that needs to be addressed and bringing up irrelevant situations just takes away from what we need to be looking at.
the point is.....getting dirty is fun for kids......Mary was all about fun, and allowing play in dirt is a kid's dream nanny. This way, no one got in trouble for messing up their clothes. This so called professor is an idiot. Apparently he never got dirty, or played in the mud.
Reminds me of the Monty Python bit "Working Class Playwright" where the father and son were nattering at each other about the father writing for a living while the son is a coal miner. "Naught wrong with gala luncheons!"
Let's also not forget what newspaper printed this load of c**p just to stir up more trouble and scream "Foul". Just a bunch of spineless snowflakes looking for attention and wanting to intentionally stir up c**p where it's not needed or wanted or EVER HAPPENED. GET A LIFE!
We have actual issues. If this professor is so riled up, why not work against true discrimination? Instead of rambling about soot? “Oh dear, I’ve smudged pencil graphite on my hand!” It’s not a joke that demeans people of color. It’s not an intentional insult. It’s soot. Ash. You know, what comes from burning logs? People face serious issues. There is truly harmful discrimination.
Unfortunately there are thousands of idiots who support this kind of bullsh... We live in an era of pompous idiots finding racism, sexism and discrimination everywhere. Instead of doing something to solve real problems and help real people, they devote their time to concoct affronts out of thin air. They should be obliged to work in an NGO for a while, to see real life and learn what discrimination, poverty, hunger, racism, etc, look like.
Load More Replies...As a black person, this greatly offends me. I wish people would stop looking for racism in everything. Mary Poppins is such a cute, sweet musical and I can't see where someone can see racism in it. The character of Bert was a chimney sweep and therefore covered in soot.I get more offended more by people pointing out racism where there never was any, rather than actual racism. I can name a real racist situation that occurred in the 2016 election: Trump got endorsed by David Duke, the head of the modern day Ku Klux Klan. Now that's racism.
Oh!! Thank God!! To everyone who wrote how ridiculous this professor is!!! It's such a relief knowing I am not alone .
Domnule - și profesor și american -, du-te, domnule și te tratează la nervii capului! Ia ceva, să-ți treacă marxismul cultural și intransigența bolnavă. Că nu degeaba este supranumită stânga: „stânga psihiatrică” Și nu mai citi, domnule, cărțile copiilor, dacă ai uitat că ai fost copil! Aș râde dacă nu ar fi de plâns! - Sir - and Professor and American - go, sir and treat you to the nerves of your head! Take something, to get your cultural Marxism and sick intransigence. That it is not vain to be called left: "left psychiatric" And do not read, sir children's books, if you forgot that you were a child! I would laugh if it would not be crying!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wTVaWOdusM Is this child racist, Mr. Professor. Your students should require a refund for any tuition paid for anything he "teaches". Kids like to be dirty. They are not racist bc they enjoy a good mud bath or painting of the face.
Ignorant ones get more ignorant trying to pull out Race Card. Just stop.
Are you f*****g kidding me. So children playing in mud are racist, because of the mud on their faces? A steel worker is racist because he or she gets dirt on their faces? F**k me, this world is high on acid
Huh? Disney'd better stick both Mary Poppins films in the vault with Song of the South. P.S. Sarcasm.
....Really, mate? My whole family was just watching it a week ago. A BLACK family, and the only thing we thought about the soot was, "Bit weird, dancing with soot on your face, but whatever." Jesus.
Oh for goodness sakes, people will get offended over any little thing. Mary Poppins was with a chimney sweep. If you're too young to know what one of those is, google it. Soot is a byproduct of coal fires. Not black face, just dirty. And as folks like to say, check your privilege. Some of us grew up in houses with no central heating, just coal fires.
Lol omg , if any of you are still wondering how and why Trump got elected here is a prime example. People are just f***ing tired of the left and there absurd bulls***. These idiots have diminished the word "Racist" and its concept by falsely claiming every mother f***ing god d*** thing is racist. There in a never ending race to prove who is the most virtuous is just pathetic. Colleges are pushing grievance study courses and failing to prepare the people for the real world.
54
69