There has been a lot of controversy lately over the use of blackface in television and in movies. While sometimes the use of blackface is more an issue of accidental ignorance , sometimes it can be used on purpose to convey a specific point about the issue or about the characters involved.
Mad Men is taking a stance that the use of blackface on their show operates as the latter.
Tina Fey recently made a statement that she wanted four episodes of her show *30 Rock* pulled off the air because they contained blackface.
“As we strive to do the work and do better in regards to race in America, we believe that these episodes featuring actors in race-changing makeup are best taken out of circulation,” Tina said , “”I understand now that intent is not a free pass for White people to use these images.”
On top of that, an episode of *The Golden Girls* that featured the characters in a mud mask was also removed for blackface.
In the episode, Rose and Blanche don mud masks that cause a Black woman to assume that the two characters are in blackface, however it seems that this episode in its entirety to be pulled from circulation .
It looks like the AMC show Mad Men will not be following suit.
Episodes of *Mad Men* containing blackface will not be removed, but will be prefaced by a title card giving context.
“This episode contains disturbing images related to race in America,” the title card will read, according to The LA Times . “One of the characters is shown in blackface as part of an episode that shows how commonplace racism was in America in 1963.
The title card explains why they’re not removing the episodes.
“In its reliance on historical authenticity, the series producers are committed to exposing the injustices and inequities within our society that continue to this day so we can examine even the most painful parts of our history in order to reflect on who we are today and who we want to become,” it will read.
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“We are therefore presenting the original episode in its entirety.”
What an interesting move, which is similar to the one that HBO Max did with Gone With The Wind!
What do you think of this decision? Let us know your opinions in the comments below!
