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There is a big polemic, right now, in Québec.
A few days ago, Netflix has retrieved one episode of an iconic tv series, Les filles de Caleb. The reason behind this being that in one of the scenes, a leading character had a blackface, in a nativity scene played by the village’s children at church on Christmas evening.
I think we all know that the subject of blackfaces is a big no-no nowadays. There’s no ”Yeah, buts…” anymore. It’s just offensive.
No. Just no.
But… The series first aired in the nineties, and portayed the life of the French Canadian community back in the end of the 19th century.
There’s no excuse for putting this kind of things online? Well, only a couple of months ago, another series (also iconic in Québec, La petite vie for those of you who would know about it) also set the critics on fire for a similar incident, and what Netflix did was to put a warning that some people could get offended by watching this specific episode.
Back to 2022.
As I write this, a dating reality show (also in Québec… Well, taking place in an exotic place, but airing in Québec) is apparently (I don’t watch it, since it doesn’t interrest me at all) caught with a blatlant bullying problem between several contestants. These people are basically filmed 24/7, and they know it.
It makes me wonder… As much as we wish for our society to be politically correct, is it better to ban a 30 minutes long episode of an historical series for one scene, knowing that it was filmed about 30 years ago, talking about the early days of our province. Or should we have better control over the exposure of nowadays young influencers, who know dang well what’s right and wrong in today’s world?
If you ask me, it looks easier to censor aged content, than really making a point in controlling what’s going on right now.
But I might be wrong.
Am I?
Cyranny's Cove 
Reminds me of the story I once shared on my blog of how even in 1977, Canada was “woke” enough to find the rampant racism in Doctor Who – “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” appalling enough to keep it off the airwaves (though the BBC saw no problem, so you’re definitely doing better than we are … not that this would be hard).
Reality TV is, by and large, absolutely toxic, though, and by no means a positive influence. I do wish it wasn’t a thing, but apparently there’s a huge appetite for it.
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I am allergic to reality TV. Just makes me cringe so I never watch it. I am old enough to have seen The Black and White Minstrel Show in London. Yup white actors blacked up. I am grateful those shows are gone forever.
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