Triggered?

Is Disney+ right to put warnings on older films?

The Walt Disney Company’s new streaming service Disney+ launched this week. It prove so popular that the app crashed the very first day.

The new rival to Netflix will host classic Disney films, the company’s Marvel Comics films, “Star Wars” offerings and more.

Some of the older films will carry what have become known as “trigger warnings.” These are notices that the films contain “outdated cultural references” in the way minorities are depicted that could be offensive to some viewers. Among the films with such warnings are 1941’s “Dumbo,” because of two crows speaking in stereotypical African American voices, and “Lady and the Tramp” from 1955 because of two Siamese cats deemed Asian stereotypes.

The warnings have drawn some fire, with critics saying the films are a product of their time and that the idea that anyone could actually be emotionally harmed by them is silly. But some say that the warnings allow the films to be presented intact without the studio removing the offensive parts.

We want to know what you think. Is it a good idea that Disney+ is displaying these warnings before some films? Or is this just a case of politically correct overreach?

Send your response (50 words maximum) to opinion@texarkanagazette.com by Wednesday, November 20. You can also mail your response to the Texarkana Gazette Friday Poll, at P.O. Box 621, Texarkana, TX 75504 or drop it off at our office, 101 E. Broad St., Texarkana, Ark. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. We will print as many responses as we can in next Friday’s paper.

Last Week: Where Were You?

Last week’s question was about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Where were you when you heard that President Kennedy had been killed? Do you recall your thoughts or emotions at the time?

I was 14 years old & in the 8th grade at Bright Star School, Bright Star, Ark. With only 112 students in the whole 12 grades, we were close. Came back from the lunch room and all the teachers were in the hall crying. A day I will never forget. — M.E., Texarkana, Texas

I had stayed home from work, and had the TV on in my apartment on Capital Hill in Washington, D.C. I immediately called the Congressman’s office to let them know. I was shocked and saddened. Also, sad it had happened in Texas. — S.W., Texarkana, Texas

I was working at Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas. Stanley Marcus called a store meeting and announced that the president had been shot. He closed the store and sent everyone home. We were all devastated! — B.H.C., Texarkana, Texas

Fifty-six years ago, I was 8 years old and in third grade at P.S. 75 elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y. I remember my teacher Mrs. Koop being called into the hallway and when she came back in the room she was crying. She told us we were released for the rest of the day and to go straight home. When I was a block from home I remember someone’s window open and the news, but wasn’t quite sure what was being said. When I finally got home I found out President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas. — R.K., Texarkana, Texas

I was in 12 grade English class. Someone came into our classroom and whispered to our teacher, then we were told. I told my friends after class but they hadn’t heard about it yet. This was in Philadelphia and the entire city just shut down. I still have the newspapers from that day. — J.B., Texarkana, Arkansas

Our New Zealand elementary class had just marched into school to the strains of “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Phillip Sousa when our teacher announced that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Immediately, I and several other classmates burst into tears. We were nine years old and over 12,000 miles away. It felt like the death of a friend. I will never forget. — V.H.,

Texarkana, Arkansas

When President Kennedy was killed I worked on the top floor of Sears. We could see inside the plane as it came into Dallas. We later were told of his death. I got home behind Love Field. As the plane left it caught our field on fire. I remember well. — D.A., Texarkana, Arkansas

I was sitting in my sixth-grade classroom at D.C. Johns Elementary School when my teacher Leon G. Sherwood told us. My first reaction was tears running down and saying: Oh no!” It was a sad day in Eudora, southeast Arkansas. — J.B., Ashdown, Arkansas

I was working at Collins Radio company which was located by the freeway, I was going back to work from lunch when I saw and heard the sirens and motorcade go by on their way to Parkland. I asked what was going on and was told Kennedy had been shot. — J.A.G., Atlanta, Texas

From www.facebook.com/texarkanagazette

■ I was in the 5th grade at James Bowie Elementary in Simms, Texas. I was exempt from a 6-week test and was allowed to go outside while everyone else took the test. When the class was dismissed the other students told us that President Kennedy had been killed in Dallas. I still remember the exact spot where I was standing on the playground when I was told.

■ I remember. I was in biology class. A student office volunteer came down the hall to each classroom and tearfully told us. I was stunned, sad and very emotional with the rest of my class. What a sad day. How could this happen in America? Our president was killed! I found out later a distant cousin was guarding him and died.

■ Kaiserslautern American High School, Kaiserslautern Army Base, Kaiserslautern, Germany in school. They sent us all home when they discovered the Commander in Chief had died.

■ DeKalb High School, in the hall between classes.

■ Home from school sick. Was watching when it happened.

■ In the 4th grade at Liberty school and I was walking from the white building to the office when Joe Henry ran up to me and said that the President had been shot.

■ I was in the 6th grade but at home sick that day.

■ I lived right by Love Field Airport on Denton Dr. We watched the news broadcasting this horrible event.

■ Senior in high school, don’t remember what class.

■ I was there in Dallas. I saw the Kennedys. I will never forget it.

■ I was in 3rd grade at Union Elementary. They called all the teachers to the office to tell them first. Then we were told. Sad day … and it was my daddy’s birthday.

■ One of the other kids told me, I was outside playing in my parents house.

■ Not even thought of but the officer killed later that day was married to my grandfather’s first cousin on my dad’s side, J.D. Tippit

■ In class at DeKalb, Texas, school. I was 13 years old. They announced it over the speaker system that was heard in all the class rooms.

■ Driving through an underpass in Monroe, La. The radio was on. It was raining.

■ I was 9 years old and at school in Southern California. I knew he was shot when all the teachers were crying and they let school out early that day. I got home and Mama was crying too

■ In school and I think it was the first time I thought of a world outside of my small universe.

■ It was lunchtime. I was on the steps of the auditorium talking to Ann Nelson.

■ I was 9 years old and living in Birmingham, Alabama.

■ I was in 3rd Grade in Mrs. Carr’s class at College Hill Elementary. We were just about to take a Math test when Mr. Ushery the principal announced it over the intercom. I remember Mrs. Carr crying.

■ Junior at Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge, TN. They called a fire drill and each teacher told us while we were outside the building. We were glued to the TV all weekend.

■ I was home sick with a tummy ache. We lived in Belton, MO. Dad was stationed there.

■ I was 5 years old but I remember it on the radio in my grandmothers kitchen, and on the TV in our living room. I remember her crying and praying. The Army depot where my grandfather and my mother worked, closed down and they came home. I remember feeling the sadness and disbelief from all of the adults in my life. It’s was terrible.