Amos 'n' Andy and Leo

Leo the MGM Lion first roared at moviegoers in 1924. He's even older than I am! I watch old MGM musicals just to hear him roar and to see those wonderful words "Ars Gratia Artis." Art for its own sake. Thank goodness I grew up back in those old, incorrect, insensitive days when we enjoyed radio, books, movies and all art forms just the fun of it. We didn't analyze it to death or indulge in hand wringing and teeth gnashing about the bad messages that were filling our minds.
Should I apologize to my 8 year old African American Grandson for loving the nightly radio adventures of Amos 'n' Andy when I was not much older than he is? I guess I could say I didn't know any better. The roles were played by two white guys using what in those days was "Negro dialect." Must I feel guilty for loving MGM's all Black film from 1943, "Cabin in the sky?" What a beautiful and touching tale. There was Ethel Waters, the great lady who kissed me on the cheek after I did a radio interview with her. Eddie Anderson, as her "Little Joe" was so closely associated with his long running radio and TV role as Jack Benny's valet that the movie credits call him Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. When Ethel Waters sings one of the great all time torch songs, "Happiness is just a thing called Joe," I lose it. Goosebumps big time. The song was nominated for an academy award. The title song is a superb piece of songwriting, too. The first eleven notes climb upward, just like the mystical stairway to the heavenly cabin that Petunia and Little Joe climb in the film's wonderful dream sequence. Ethel Waters continued to sing "Cabin in the Sky," along with "His Eye is on the Sparrow" in her later years when she joined the Billy Graham Crusades.
The DVD release of the film is preceeded by an apology for the racial stereotypes and it's followed by a long, detailed social commentary, complete with clips illustrating various stereotypical situations and characters. The commentator took a slap at what he perceived as the simple minded religious faith that was portrayed in the film. I didn't find it at all simple minded, but "simple" in the best sense of the word, a charming, well crafted and acted tale of the battle between good and evil, God and the devil. Lena Horne, now in her eighties, played the temptress who seduced Little Joe. She was on the commentary. I would like to have heard what she said, but I got bored to death before her part came on.
When my now 8 year old grandson gets older, must he apologize to his grandkids for loving old Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons?" They're violent, they're full of racial, ethnic and gender stereotypes. You can find something demeaning about some group in every famous cartoon character and story. Dangerous music, too. The NPR interview with a fellow who has written a book about cartoon music ended with Louis Armstrong's recording of "Chinatown My Chinatown" as an example of an unfortunate stereotpye. Will 8 year old Alexander have to wring his hands and gnash his teeth about his youthful cartoon habit when he gets to be an old granddad??