# Holy crud! Racist Tom and Jerry episode on Cartoon Network Japan **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370 "2018-12-19T15:06:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/41 "2018-12-20T02:24:40Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Put it this way–if someone in America died their face black, then claimed that it wasn’t blackface, how well would that fly? You evidently missed the discussion of blackface vs. "black"face in [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=837429). [This is blackface](https://thegrio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/danson-blackface.jpg); [this is not](https://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/glazar_blackface-800x430.jpg), but still a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/42 "2018-12-20T03:01:52Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I also favored Slow Poke. Partly due because I was an awkward kid that sucked at all things sports. So I sort of related. You packed a gun and mesmerized cats? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/43 "2018-12-20T03:02:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > If you want to up the stakes… I don’t. And whatever the intent, I don’t think thowing one unrelated, offensive thing at another is going to solve anything. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/44 "2018-12-20T03:10:06Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Send them a letter, they might very well respond, couldn’t hurt. But they also might very well run this same strip for the next 70 years. I did. Hence: > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > …I figured, if I’ve got the time to write about it here, I might as well write a complaint to the network. > Now I feel a little like a fussy old parent, but I’m damned if I’m gonna let them show that shit to my kids when I’m paying for their service. I have no illusion it will makea difference, but you never know. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/45 "2018-12-20T03:45:02Z")
Ask Cartoon Network Japan when their next airing of that wartime classic “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” will be. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/46 "2018-12-20T04:54:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this episode of Tom and Jerry airing in the US as late as the mid-80s. I also very much remember the stereotypical portrayals of “Mammy” who is at least the caretaker of the house T&J live in (or perhaps the owner–I don’t recall if this was ever explicitly defined.) Do they still show those cartoons here? All of those were still airing in the US in the 80s, including ones where some sort of explosion gave the character [a black face](https://acidcow.com/pics/7989-tom-jerry-victims-of-political-correctness-59.html) [and nappy hair.](http://bestcartoongallery.blogspot.com/2011/03/did-you-miss-me-gopher.html?m=1) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/47 "2018-12-20T05:11:30Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > _Especially_ Tijuana Toads! That shit would have us ALL in tears from laughing so hard. > > I also favored Slow Poke. Partly due because I was an awkward kid that sucked at all things sports. So I sort of related. Huh. I don’t remember [those guys](https://youtube.com/watch?v=uLS_h1YT_yE). ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/48 "2018-12-20T06:27:53Z")
what about “bunny and claude a rabbit and his broad” ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/49 "2018-12-20T12:49:03Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > No idea. All I know is that I was a confirmed Tom & Jerry junky (still am), yet I had never seen nor heard of that cartoon. That’s a pretty radical assumption isn’t it? There’s no committee of political correctness deciding what is and is not allowed to air. Culture changes and so do tastes, I haven’t seen an episode of the Monkees since the '70s, but that doesn’t mean the episodes have been banned, just that tastes have shifted. The fact that audiences no longer enjoy casually racists cartoons from 70 years ago isn’t a banning anymore than the fact that we don’t see Charlie Chaplin movies during prime time means that he’s been banned. We’ve moved on. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/50 "2018-12-20T13:32:12Z")
Also, you can buy the DVD with this “banned” cartoon on Amazon or stream His Mouse Friday on Amazon Video. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/51 "2018-12-20T14:38:10Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Now I feel a little like a fussy old parent, but I’m damned if I’m gonna let them show that shit to my kids when I’m paying for their service. … And you obsess about shit like this, eh? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/52 "2018-12-20T15:16:41Z")
It may be worth registering a complaint. It can’t hurt to let the network and/or provider know that not all their customers are happy to see such blatant racist stereotypes. Whether they take any action is another matter entirely. Obviously, different cultures approach these issues from different angles and levels of awareness. In Russia, for example, openly racist depictions of many minority groups are par for the course. It would be impossible to watch Russian TV without seeing them. And they appear in films/programs that are being produced today, not just in decades-old cartoons. For instance, a film called “My Boyfriend is an Angel” from a few years ago. Not only does it portray a Central Asian character in a stereotypical fashion, but there is an entire subplot in which a violent racist lout is magically turned into a black man by the angel of the title. This is meant to teach him a lesson and encourage him to mend his ways. But it is partly played for laughs and the idea of blackness as punishment is (at best) extremely problematic. I like to use authentic materials in my Russian language classes at a US university, but I would never show my American students scenes like these. And this is just the first example among many that spring to mind. Alas, complaining about such things in Russia is an exercise in futility. Perhaps you will have better luck in Japan. It would be interesting to know how the network and/or provider reacts to a complaint. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/53 "2018-12-20T15:43:17Z")
I’d use this as a teachable moment with the child. Point out why the scene is hurtful and no longer accepted in society. Expect the child to ask a few questions. They’ll have the information to use when you aren’t there. The overwhelming episodes of Tom & Jerry are great fun and entertaining. There’s no need to obsess over the occasional scene that is dated and mildly offensive. The original writers weren’t trying to be racist. Sensibilities change over time. The writers can’t be expected to know what the viewers will consider inappropriate 60 years later. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/54 "2018-12-20T17:13:25Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Also, you can buy the DVD with this “banned” cartoon on Amazon or stream His Mouse Friday on Amazon Video. I watch 'em all on the video website Daily Motion. As well as all the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/55 "2018-12-20T19:18:44Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’d use this as a teachable moment with the child. That’s what we did with our kids. And they quickly learned that Dad thinks racism is so stupid that it’s hilarious. So they’ll see stuff like this and say “Dad, you gotta come see this [Black, Asian, Hispanic] stereotype, it’s so over-the-top!” ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/56 "2018-12-21T00:04:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > … And you obsess about shit like this, eh? :dubious: No, I don’t. Did I give that impression? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/57 "2018-12-21T00:30:17Z")
> [@chaika](#): > > It may be worth registering a complaint. It can’t hurt to let the network and/or provider know that not all their customers are happy to see such blatant racist stereotypes. Whether they take any action is another matter entirely. Yep. Like I said, already posted off a brief complaint. Haven’t received any reply yet. Don’t really expect to. > [@](#): > > Obviously, different cultures approach these issues from different angles and levels of awareness. **In Russia** , for example, openly racist depictions of many minority groups are par for the course. It would be impossible **to watch Russian TV** without seeing them. (My bolding): Now there’s an easy setup for a gag to which I shall not stoop. Interesting perspective on Russian TV programming though. Thanks. > [@](#): > > …This is meant to teach him a lesson and encourage him to mend his ways. But it is partly played for laughs and the idea of blackness as punishment is (at best) extremely problematic. … I agree with this idea that even benign/benevolent depictions of stereotypes can be harmful when they make that stereotype the butt of a joke or trivialize an issue. Sometimes the satirizing of prejudices can work, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it ages poorly and needs to be left behind. What comes most readily to mind is the blackface routines of one of my favorite BBC shows, The Goodies. I don’t think they were done with any ill will, and were likely made with the intent to shine a light on racial prejudices (South African apartheid, in one instance), but they were mostly just played for laughs and seem very cringeworthy today. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/58 "2018-12-21T00:51:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’d use this as a teachable moment with the child. > > Point out why the scene is hurtful and no longer accepted in society. Expect the child to ask a few questions. They’ll have the information to use when you aren’t there. … > [@digs](#): > > That’s what we did with our kids. > > And they quickly learned that Dad thinks racism is so stupid that it’s hilarious. So they’ll see stuff like this and say “Dad, you gotta come see this [Black, Asian, Hispanic] stereotype, it’s so over-the-top!” Well, my kid is a junior-high-schooler who already has a pretty good grasp on what racial prejudices are and why they’re bad. (T’other day he asked me what I thought of Pewdiepie’s rather questionable T-Series diss rap. We both agree it’s pretty suspect.) Thing is, I also laughed out loud in disbelief when I saw the T&J episode in question. But I don’t want my kids to get the wrong message and think it’s OK to _joke_ about racist stuff just because you’re woke to how stupid it is. Like **aceplace** suggested, it’s important that they realize not just how stupid it is, but how hurtful it can be. Not saying that T&J’s antiquated antics are in anyway the worst example. I’m more worried about the kind of casual/sneaky racism and bigotry that floats around social media and YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/59 "2018-12-21T01:27:10Z")
Heh! Watching T&J right now while waiting to get a haircut. Gotta say, this cartoon has real staying power. (Current episode: “Heavenly Puss”!) ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370/60 "2018-12-21T01:32:02Z")
This thread for some reason reminded me of the Louis C.K. standup bit about how Mark Twain was such a great author and he wanted to read his books to his daughters. But he said he refused to read them Huckleberry Finn because he refused to sit there and say nigger like a hundred times to his six year old during bedtime. He decided to read them the more wholesome tale about Tom Sawyer but goddamnit if that dirty white trash creep Huck didn’t decide to show up in that book as well. He had a magical cure for warts you see. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crud-racist-tom-and-jerry-episode-on-cartoon-network-japan/826370.md?page=4)