Sex And Race In Children's Film Analysis

Last week I attended a lecture on Sex and Race in Children’s films in the 1920’s - 1930’s. During this lecture child labor laws, questionable actions, and blatant racism applied to children and children’s films in the twenties and thirties. People didn’t like seeing anything too sexual or rique on the movie screens because they believed that every movie should be viewable for everyone. The film industry got around this by putting having toddlers or babies act out these scenes. These children became known as Baby Burlesks. They would use these children to play exotic dancers and call girls. We cannot be sure how exactly this affected these children and their views of sex and relationships as they grew older. Not only were these children not protected from adult themes, but they also were not protected by the child labor laws being implemented at the time. The film industry and the children’s parents advertised it as an educational experience and not actual work so these babies and toddlers were left unprotected by these laws. Therefore they could be forced to work as long as their parents and the company saw fit. Another problem with children's films of the time is that they …show more content…
They are everywhere and we can’t guarantee that our kids don’t understand the jokes being told. It has also brought my attention to how much our film industry still hasn’t fully let go of its racist tendencies. We still see more white actors than those of any race or color and many times when there is a role for a character of another race or ethnicity, Hollywood will whitewash it and put in a white actor instead. Though we have come a long way in the film industry in terms of equality, child labor laws, and adult content in children’s films, we still have a long way to