On August 12, Netflix added a small screen monument to its catalog. The platform took advantage of the summer to grab the series Mad Men, broadcast between 2007 and 2015 on AMC. Set in the 60s, around an advertising agency, Matthew Weiner's creation was a ratings and critical success. The winner of several Emmy Awards (in the category of best drama series) is regularly cited among the series that marked the previous decade.
Netflix subscribers who have not yet had the opportunity to discover it can now, for a few days now, embark on a marathon, with 91 episodes on the program. This will not have escaped the attention of fans of the Mad Men universe, a chapter has been deleted. The series, as it was broadcast in the United States and later in France, included 92 chapters. Error or deliberate omission? Many subscribers wondered about this censorship, which at the same time makes the term “Mad Men Complete” obsolete.
The episode in question is in season 3, it is My Old Kentucky Home. Released in 2009, it depicts a party hosted by Roger, the boss of the main character Don. During this event, Roger sings an anti-slavery song in front of his guests, with his face painted black. If the audience is hilarious, Don is uncomfortable… the spectators too. The scene addresses the subject of “blackface”Netflix clearly didn't understand the subtlety of the story. Mad Men is a time capsule that addresses many societal themes, from racism to sexism. Netflix prefers to avoid any disappointment and prefers to censor the series.
What is “blackface”?
The term “blackface” refers to a theatrical practice from the early 19th century. At that time, in the United States, minstrel shows featured white actors who disguise themselves to portray stereotypical caricatures of black AmericansIn the 1960s, the practice was called into question with the start of the African-American civil rights movements.
An old debate
The case of Mad Men is not isolated, Netflix had already applied the same sentence to the series Community in 2020, removing an episode that also involved a “blackface”. During a game of Dungeons & DragonsKen Jeong's character appears with black face paint and pointed ears. While he explains that this is his way of impersonating an elf for the purposes of the game, Shirley's character (African-American) explains that it is a “racial crime”The removal of the episode had not been mentioned by Netflix either.
These sudden disappearances revive the debates concerning the censorship of contemporary or non-contemporary content, which is based (intentionally or not) on racist or sexist stereotypes. For several years, Disney+ has offered a prevention message before some of its films. This is the case for animated films that invoke stereotypical visions, such as The Aristocats Or The Little Mermaid. Before viewing them, a warning message is displayed:
“This program includes outdated depictions and/or negative treatment of people and cultures (…) Rather than removing this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful influence so as not to repeat the same mistakes, to engage in dialogue and to build a more inclusive future.”
Netflix could have used this kind of method to warn its subscribers, as the platform already does for shocking scenes or lighting effects. New viewers of Mad Men should not notice this absence of an episode, the platform having renamed episode 4 to ensure continuity.
🟣 To not miss any news on the Journal du Geek, subscribe to Google News. And if you love us, we have a newsletter every morning.
