> It's decisions about market fit by executives, not a moral crusade (as we have seen, Hollywood execs aren't really the type for that).
As a Criterion Channel subscriber, I take them at their word when they say in their mission statement [1]--
> No matter the medium... Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen...
Which leads me to ask, did the maker of The French Connection want those slurs removed from his film? (William Friedkin is, after all, still with us.) He certainly seems to have left those slurs in when he and his distributor released the film to audiences in the 70's.
Which makes me curious--just how tough were those previous audiences to be able to withstand the onslaught of slurs that today wilts the average modern viewer? Those moderns could probably use a bit of that stern stuff when looking at the past...
> It's decisions about market fit by executives, not a moral crusade (as we have seen, Hollywood execs aren't really the type for that).
As a Criterion Channel subscriber, I take them at their word when they say in their mission statement [1]--
> No matter the medium... Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen...
Which leads me to ask, did the maker of The French Connection want those slurs removed from his film? (William Friedkin is, after all, still with us.) He certainly seems to have left those slurs in when he and his distributor released the film to audiences in the 70's.
Which makes me curious--just how tough were those previous audiences to be able to withstand the onslaught of slurs that today wilts the average modern viewer? Those moderns could probably use a bit of that stern stuff when looking at the past...
[1] https://www.criterion.com/about