Little Rascals, Vol. 1 & 2

Little Rascals, Vol. 1 & 2

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Movie Reviews of Little Rascals, Vol. 1 & 2

Movie Review: A few bound-to-be-unpopular comments
Summary: 5 Stars

Yes, the films were funny, and the ones in Vol. 1 & 2 are mostly better than average. Yes, its plots pitted the poor against the rich rather than black against white. And yes, overall it had a very positive, groundbreaking attitude toward blacks and integration, as compared to its contemporaries in the twenties and thirties. It deserves credit for that. Most of the Our Gang films (including all the ones on this DVD) are still pleasant to watch today in this regard, which is more than you can say for most other scenes in mainstream Hollywood films of the era that used blacks in substantial roles.

But if anyone honestly believes that a series that includes "A Lad An' A Lamp," "The Kid From Borneo", "Chicken Feed" and every other film making a joke comparing black kids to monkeys was never guilty of some really ugly sentiments, I would like to know why. If anyone truly thinks that it's not creepy when we're told, in all seriousness, that the Wild Man in "The Kid From Borneo" only has the mental capacity of a seven year old, I am curious to hear the rationale. And that's not the worst of it. ("Lodge Night", anyone?)

This kind of thing was rare in the films, and none of it appears in the ones collected here, but when it DID happen, it's hard to overlook, and it tends to make people at least look twice at the lesser racial jokes (like those constant offhand comments from Stymie and Farina about their daddy being in jail).

I don't want anyone reading this who is unfamiliar with the Little Rascals to get the wrong impression of the series as a whole or this DVD in particular. Everything in my second paragraph is true, and that aspect of the series leaves the stronger impression. But I am really tired of comments that imply Our Gang wasn't racist PERIOD. It just wasn't like that.