‘Outdated attitudes’ in a 2019 movie? UK’s Sky Cinema blasted for adding ‘trigger warning’ to remake of Aladdin

Sky Cinema in Britain has placed disclaimers alongside its descriptions of several popular motion pictures, claiming that some “attitudes” in those films may be outdated. But one of its ‘trigger-warned’ movies is only a year old.

Sky’s movie service informed its viewers that 2019’s ‘Aladdin’ contains “outdated attitudes, language and cultural depictions which may cause offence today.”

Sky’s “trigger warning” has drawn a predictable backlash online.

People were perplexed that a remake from only last year is now being called “outdated.”

“Wait til they catch up with ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’! Banned by the end of the week!” Mansfield MP Ben Bradley tweeted.

Viewers claimed that absolutely no one has been offended by 2019’s Aladdin.

With the movie’s remake, Disney made multiple attempts to “fix” the original movie. The lyrics in ‘Prince Ali’ were smoothed up to avoid describing a Disney hero as a slave owner. The remake also changed lyrics from the “problematic” original’s ‘Arabian nights,’ which had already been made more “politically correct” prior to that, in July 1993. 

Sky Cinema went ahead and marked several other movies, apart from the 2019 ‘Aladdin’, as well. 

2008’s ‘Tropic Thunder,’ which previously drew attention due to Robert Downey Jr’s blackface, also got tagged.

The same description was added to several older classics.

The viewers claimed that Sky Cinema is tearing down movies for no reason, and should probably fire their description writer. 

‘The Goonies,’ ‘Flash Gordon’ and ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ all fell victim to the controversial disclaimer and got service users thinking of cancelling their subscription. Some even accused the service of being “anti-feminist” for marking 1986’s ‘Aliens,’ which features a strong female lead.

Viewers suggested that Shakespeare and Dickens should now come with a warning, too. 

Getting a “racist” label is not rare for Disney Classics. ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Dumbo,’ ‘The Aristocats,’ ‘Lady and the Tramp,’ and ‘Fantasia’ all courted controversy in the past, due to their “offensive” content, and received a “sensitivity warning” from Disney+. 

Now, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, multiple movies and TV shows are being flagged with trigger warnings or completely removed from different services. Most outrage was caused by HBO Max deleting ‘Gone with the Wind’ from its library. The 1939 US Civil War drama is widely considered a cinema classic, and HBO’s decision has left many baffled. Popular American reality TV show ‘Cops’ has also been dropped by its network, following allegations that it was normalizing police brutality. 

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