Netflix censored an episode of the Community series by making it disappear altogether from its platform. The reason ? A sequence of “blackface” that could be considered racist.
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The streaming giants continue to scrutinize their catalogs to rid them of any racist or hateful allusion. The last victim of this great household is surprisingly the humorous series Community, broadcast on Netflix.
Since last week, the leader in VOD services has made disappear episode 14 of season 2 of Community, considered one of the best in the series. In this episode called Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the characters from the series Community play the famous role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Ben Chang, played by Ken Jeong, covers the body with black makeup and wears a white wig to get into the skin of “a black elf”.
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Netflix problematic blackface sequence
This passage could be considered as using the blackface, that is to say the technique which consists in making play a black person by a white actor. This practice is increasingly frowned upon. Following the George Floyd affair, the studios and streaming services launched into a big hunt for “black faces” and content that may be deemed racist. Several other series have recently lost some of their episodes. This is particularly the case for 30 Rock, which its creator Tina Fey herself chose to censor, to Scrubs, or even The Office. HBO max removed Gone with the wind from his catalog.
However, the episode of Community obviously does not convey any racist message, and would rather denounce this problem. When Ben Chang’s character insists that he wore black makeup to play an elf, his comrade Shirley reacts by declaring that this is a hate crime. It is undoubtedly this open allusion made by this character that embarrassed Netflix. A few hours later, the American VOD platform Hulu has also eliminated this episode from its catalog. The creator of Community Dan Harmon did not comment on the deletion, but the Sony Pictures Television studio that produces the series has expressed support for the streaming services decision.
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Source : DEN OF GEEK
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