Racist Stereotypes in Tom and Jerry Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis
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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Martin Ondryáš Racist Stereotypes in Tom and Jerry Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D. 2015 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Martin Ondryáš I would like to thank doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D. for supervising my work, my parents for their support, Anna for being patient with my slow writing process and Zuzana for the faith she put in me. Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6 1 Periodization and the Change of the Portrayal of African Americans in the Media ...... 8 2 Mammy ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Origins of the Mammy Archetype ......................................................................... 11 2.2 Breaking the Archetype .......................................................................................... 13 2.3 Mammy Two Shoes ............................................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Mammy Two Shoes – A Maid or a House-owner? ........................................ 20 2.4 Jerry’s Disguise as a Mammy Stereotype (The Milky Waif) .................................. 21 2.5 Tom’s and Butch’s Disguises (A Mouse in the House).......................................... 23 2.6 Language ................................................................................................................ 24 3 Blackface ...................................................................................................................... 27 3.1 History of Blackface .............................................................................................. 28 3.2 Minstrel Shows....................................................................................................... 29 3.2.1 Origins of Minstrel Shows .............................................................................. 30 3.2.2 Benefits of Minstrel Shows ............................................................................. 31 3.3 Tom in Blackface (Mouse Cleaning) ..................................................................... 32 3.4 Jerry’s Minstrel Performance (Casanova Cat) ...................................................... 33 3.5 Jerry the Cannibal (His Mouse Friday) .................................................................. 36 4 Native Americans ......................................................................................................... 38 4.1 Jerry’s Disguise as a Native American (Kitty Foiled) ........................................... 38 4.2 Pilgrims v. Native Americans (The Little Orphan) ................................................ 39 4.3 Two Little Indians (Two Little Indians) ................................................................. 41 5 Censorship in Cartoons and Censored Scenes in Tom and Jerry ................................. 45 5.1 Motion Picture Production Code 1930 ................................................................... 45 5.2 Comics Code 1954 ................................................................................................. 46 5.3 Blackface gags ....................................................................................................... 48 5.3.1 Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943) ......................................................................... 48 5.3.2 Mouse in Manhattan (1945) ........................................................................... 49 5.3.3 Safety Second (1950) ...................................................................................... 49 5.4 Pickaninny gags ..................................................................................................... 49 5.4.1 A Mouse in the House (1947) ......................................................................... 50 5.4.2 The Truce Hurts (1948) .................................................................................. 50 5.4.3 The Little Orphan (1949) ................................................................................ 50 5.5 The Uncle gag ........................................................................................................ 51 5.5.1 Old Rockin’ Chair Tom (1948) ....................................................................... 51 5.6 Asian gags .............................................................................................................. 51 5.6.1 Puss N’ Toots (1942) ...................................................................................... 52 5.6.2 Little Runaway (1952) .................................................................................... 52 5.7 Native American gags ............................................................................................ 52 5.7.1 The Mouse Comes to Dinner (1945) ............................................................... 52 5.7.2 Flirty Birdy (1945) .......................................................................................... 53 5.8 Other Cuts Because of the Comics Code ............................................................... 53 5.8.1 Flirty Birdy (1945) .......................................................................................... 53 5.8.2 Part-Time Pal (1947) ...................................................................................... 53 5.8.3 Saturday Evening Puss (1950) ........................................................................ 54 5.8.4 His Mouse Friday (1951) ................................................................................ 54 5.8.5 Nit-Witty Kitty (1951) ..................................................................................... 54 6 Present Day Censorship of Tom and Jerry ................................................................... 56 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 60 Appendix ............................................................................................................................... 63 Works Cited .......................................................................................................................... 69 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 77 Resumé .................................................................................................................................. 78 Introduction Tom and Jerry is one of the most popular cartoons of the Golden Age of American Animation. It was first created during the WWII in 1940 and new episodes are produced up until today. The two main characters were created by William Hanna and Joe Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The basic principle of the cartoon is a mouse-cat chase with slapstick comedy elements. Although Tom and Jerry were created primarily for children audience, the cartoon reflects the culture and society of its time. Tom and Jerry became witnesses of several major breakpoints in history of the United States, leaving their traces in the cartoon. Whoopi Goldberg in the introduction to Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 2 says that cartoons have effect of “revealing society’s unfair and hurtful representations of people of colour, women and ethnic groups”. And even though Tom and Jerry’s humour is mute, they tell the story of the troubled times in which they were created. Contemporary events leave their marks on both films and cartoons and Tom and Jerry are no exception. In the 1940s and 1950s there were two major events that affected the cartoon. First the main characters observed and even experienced WWII in a war-like chase in the episode Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), and then they followed the fight for the civil rights of African Americans. Especially the latter problematics influenced the cartoon throughout its first twenty years of existence and it is still debated up to these days. In 2014 Amazon published a disclaimer warning about a potentially offensive content of Tom and Jerry, stating that “these animated shorts are products of their time”. Although it was not the first acknowledgment of the cartoon’s racist history, it provoked a debate about the censorship of at-that-time 75 years old Tom and Jerry cartoons. Throughout its 6 existence the cartoon underwent several rereleases in order to fit the contemporary requirements of the society. In the first releases the episodes contained several racist stereotypes about African Americans, Native Americans and other minorities. The aim of this thesis is to provide detailed description and analysis of these stereotypes, to document the changes of the attitudes towards the minorities and to discuss the censorship of the cartoon in the beginning of the 21st century. The thesis consists of five main parts. The first part describes the periodization of the Tom and Jerry cartoon and the change of the portrayal of African Americans from the late 17th century to the first half of the 20th century. The second part discusses and analyses two major representations of African-American stereotypes in Tom and Jerry, the mammy archetype and the use of blackface. Both chapters