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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Childhood memories flood back!, October 20, 2000
This review is from: Little Rascals, Vol. 1 & 2 (DVD)
I grew up with TV (the old, fuzzy black & white kind). One of my fondest memories was of watching The Little Rascals after school. When the restored versions showed up on VHS tape, I immediately bought several, but the others soon disappeared from the store shelves. I discovered and bought this double DVD set and LOVED the restored quality of picture and sound! My childhood memories came flooding back to me, and made me hunger for more. I can only hope that the rest of the series will be released also, and soon! Any lovers of The Little Rascals will appreciate the great quality of this set. Don't be misled by earlier cheap releases of The Little Rascals DVD's. This one is THE one to get!
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our Gang and racism, September 7, 2003
This review is from: Little Rascals, Vol. 1 & 2 (DVD)
First of all, to argue that there are no racist elements in the Our Gang comedies is nonsense. The unfortunate fact is there are, but they *must* be taken in the context of the time the shorts were made. To quote OUR GANG: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE LITTLE RASCALS by Leonard Maltin & Richard W. Bann: "Black film historian Donald Bogle, in his excellent 1973 volume TOMS, COONS, MULATTOES, MAMMIES AND BUCKS, sums up the OUR GANG comedies this way:
'The Our Gang series revolved around a group of lower-middle-class American youngsters making their way through childhood in entertaining ups and downs, ins and outs, as black and white together tried figuring out life and play. Thoughout the series the black children spoke in a dialect of the familiar "dats" and "deres" as well as the "I is's", "you is's", and "we was's". On more than one occasion, Farina was seen banqueting on a colored man's favorite dishes - fried chicken and watermelon. In these respects, the adventures and lifestyles of the black children conformed to the accepted notions and attitudes of the day. But for the most part the approach to the relationships of the black children with the whites was almost as if there were no such thing as race at all. Indeed, the charming sense of Our Gang was that all the children were buffoons, forever in scraps and scrapes, forever plagued by setbacks and sidetracks as the set out to have fun, and everyone had his turn at being outwitted.'" I can't put it better than that. There was no maliciousness meant in the content of these shorts - it was comedy and nothing else. So lighten up and deal with the past.
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ONE MORE TIME FOLKS, stop looking for a captive audience, March 25, 2005
This review is from: Little Rascals, Vol. 1 & 2 (DVD)
After making some major amazon purchases $500+ this week, I noticed one thing most of my purchases had in common: there was always someone posting negative reviews based on looking at all of these videos from a "racial" perspective. There are people out there who would deter you from buying "heart warming" videos like these, just because they are searching for a crusade.
This is my 2nd attempt to place a review here. I spent so much time on my 1st one, that I couldnt even attempt to go into that detail again & don't have the time. So I will be brief.
In short, these are CHARMING films, that will make you laugh and remind you of what being a kid was all about in a simpler time. This series, and something as innocent as the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series are American popular cultural TREASURES!
***It never ceases to amaze me how some people "go out of their way" to look for racism. These people keep agitating & try to keep things stirred up. How many posts have I read this week in this vein? The black man is still oppressed by the white man. Lets' remember why we are here - - to buy videos, not rehash tired old stereotypes.
Some reviewers are looking for a platform & an audience to preach to. They do it on these reviews, and ruin this forum in the process. Something tells me they were indoctrinated into the victim mentality, and are brainwashed into believing that they cannot succeed in life. Some self proclaimed black leaders make a living doing this. Please disregard all of those rediculous posts.
TAKE MY ADVICE and buy this series YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!
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