Sixteen films including Aliens, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Flash Gordon, The Jungle Book, and Lawrence of Arabia have been given trigger warnings for their “outdated attitudes” by Comcast-owned Sky in the UK as a Black Lives Matter inspired Cultural Revolution sweeps the country.
Viewers of the films on Sky Cinema — a pay-per-view film service — were greeted with a message that informed them that the films may contain “outdated attitudes, languages and cultural depictions which may cause offence today.”
The sixteen films that received the treatment, according to The Sun, are Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Goonies, Aladdin, Dumbo, Gone With The Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, Tropic Thunder, The Jazz Singer, The Littlest Rebel, The Lone Ranger, Balls of Fury, The Jungle Book, Flash Gordon, and The Last Samurai.
A Sky spokesman defended the censorious action, saying: “Sky is committed to supporting anti-racism and improving diversity and inclusion both on and off-screen.”
“We constantly review all content on Sky’s owned channels and will take action where necessary including adding additional information for our customer to allow them to make an informed decision when deciding what films and TV shows to watch,” the Sky spokesman added.
Warnings on “outdated attitudes” were also added to recent films such as the 2016 remake of The Jungle Book and the 2019 remakes of Aladdin and Dumbo. Some were later removed, with the broadcaster claiming error.
The trigger warnings were met with considerable backlash on social media, however, especially over the decision to add the disclaimer to Aliens, which is widely considered a feminist triumph for Sigourney Weaver’s success as a strong female lead. The warning was reportedly added to the film over a white woman playing the part of Private Vasquez.
“This is nuts. I’m guessing this is true and not a wind up. Sky Cinema warnings on films, even Disney ones,” one person wrote on social media.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is also notable as the star of the film, Audrey Hepburn, endured years of near-starvation during the period in which Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands, where she spent most of her formative years.
As a child, Hepburn assisted the Dutch resistance against the Germans, helping run food to British and American pilots who were shot down in the country by the Germans.
Sky’s move follows other British broadcasters and media entities scrubbing supposedly insensitive television programmes.
Last week, for example, the BBC Studios-owned network UKTV temporarily removed an episode of the classic comedy Fawlty Towers episode entitled ‘Don’t Mention the War’ because it contained “racial slurs”.
In response to the move, Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage said: “If Fawlty Towers is now being removed by the BBC then humour is dead. The puritans are winning because the establishment is weak and has no self confidence.”
Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka
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