Confederate Flag in the movie.

[StonewallBrigade]

From a few things I found on the net, the Execs at WB werent sure what to do about the Confederate Flag that adorns the General Lee in the upcoming movie. Apparently they decided to leave it on, but the compromise was that there had to be a scene which dipics the Flag as 'unfavorable' to some people. Whata y'all think about this controversy? I think if they left it off, the movie would be a joke.(If it's not going to be anyway).

[Eddiemunster]

"Unfavorable" My A--.

[StonewallBrigade]

I think if people have a problem with the flag, then too fu*#ing bad.

Almost everyone who is offended by the Confederate battle flag is uneducated on the whole subject anyway. Proof of this is, if you hung up the first National Flag(The Stars and Bars) those same people would say nothing, because they wouldnt even know what it was. They would probably assume it was an early United States flag or something. I really hate when people who have no knowledge or understanding of the Confederate flag and it's history have to run their mouths.

[JBama01]

From the pictures I've seen, it looks as though there's an African American hanging out with "Daisy" (Simpson) wearing African clothing. That's probably where the story will be coming from. He's probably the leader of some group protesting the flag on The General Lee or something.

Now, before you jump on me, I'm NOT being racist, but if people of African heritage can wear their clothing, why can't the white man be proud of their heritage by flying a flag that honors the South's fallen heros? Who fought for a cause that they held dear.

Keep on flying....

[jaydee311]

The flag will be left on and should be left on. Anybody that has problems with it are indeed ingnorant of the history and what it stands for. Many fly the flag for pride of heritage. If they had left the flag off the car you can be damn sure i would never have even considered watching the movie.

[StonewallBrigade]

About that scene with the 'African-Americans' and the Confederate flag on the General's roof.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1311058/posts

[jaydee311]

Thank you Stonewall!! A friend of mine told me a while back that he had seen that on FreeRepublic but I could never find it. Much appreciated.

[Dirtdiva]

I think it would be horrible if they took the flag off the car. I would just not be the same. I am not trying to be racist, I have black friends, and I have even told them, the whole war and slavery thing was years ago, I have a sticker on my car and that does not mean that I promote slavery. Hell I am Irish and my ancesstors were slaves to. I agree with the fact that Blacks can wear things about Malcom X and they are just proud of thier heritage but Whites can not be proud of thiers or else they are skin heads or something.

[BH03]

I agree with yall about removing the flag off the General Lee. It would not be the same car.

[Eddiemunster]

The thing that always got me was that it took all these years to figure out the Confederate Flag was "offensefull." People are comparing it as a same difference to the Nazi swastika. If the flag was so darn offensefull, why wasn't it considered it years ago? Why start sqauwking about it now? Heck, I've been living as a Yankee here in New York State all my life, and I can definately see what the Confederate Flag is all about. I say let the southerners chose to fly the flag if they want, even if the Confedrate Government isn't in existence anymore.

[fathead]

Man, the scene depicted in that article sounds ridiculous. And hilarious... like "gimme a freakin' break!" hilarious.

I hope it gets cut. Way to ruin the flow with petty details. Sheesh.

[Capt_Redneck]

And if the scene gets cut from the film, I just hope it doesn't show up as a deleted scene when the DVD comes out.....

[StonewallBrigade]

Apparently in this scene, the duke boys are made out to be oblivious to the fact that there is a Confederate Flag painted on their hood, and do not seem to know too much about it. All of us who have seen the TV show, know that the opposite is true. The show was totally pro-confederate.

Examples:

1.Bo Duke's name is short for Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard.

2.The Duke boys car is named after Confederate Gen. Robert E Lee and has a Confederate flag painted on it's hood.

3. There are other characters in the show named after Confederate Generals, One named after JEB Stuart, and Longstreet B. Davenport, named after Confederate Gen. James Longstreet. Not to mention J.D. Hogg is named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

4. Boss Hogg has paintings hanging in his bank and office of various Confederate Generals including Stonewall Jackson.

5. The Duke's refer to the Confederacy during the Civil War as "we", example: Bo-"If the Confederates had that much fire power during the Civil War, WE would never had lost Atlanta"

Did I forget anything?

The Duke family in the TV show was obviously aware and proud of their Confederate and Southern Heritage. However, in the movie, they feel that this is nothing to be proud of, and portray the boys as having no knowledge of what the flag on their roof is all about, and is only there because "their friend who fixed their car is a Civil War buff and painted it on their car without their knowledge."

The ONLY reason they decided to leave the Flag on the General in the movie is because they knew that no self-respecting DOH fan would go see the movie if the General did not adorn the flag on it;s roof as we've seen it for the past 25 years. If I find out that the movie is released with a scene that insults and degrades the flag, I for one will NOT go see the movie. They worry about the people who are "offended" by the flag but don't seem to worry about the people who hold the flag as a symbol of honor and devotion.

[jaydee311]

It's disgusting how they're treating this issue. Haven't we moved past the absurdity of the flag being a "symbol of racism"? Aren't we in a day in age of thinking people? Or is it more politically motivated liberal bull? Why? A thinking person would clearly see the truth if they just searched for 5 minutes. This is the kind of ignorance that makes my blood boil. Ignorance.

[The Dukes Rules]

they should not care about the flag because so what just goes with the car so they should not worry about the flag.

[StonewallBrigade]

It's disgusting how they're treating this issue. Haven't we moved past the absurdity of the flag being a "symbol of racism"? Or is it more politically motivated liberal bull? Why? Ignorance.

You said it.

[MIsti]

i've read all of y'all posting about pride in one's heritage and not once has any one explained what that means...a five minute search will clarify things...but if you are sooo well informed, why don't you guys just explain. still, the flag is part of the good ol' General Lee and the movie is already screwed up enough as it is without them going and screwing it up some more...ok, now i'm gonna go research online to see what this whole confederacy flag business is about...i'll get back to y'all.

[Dixie Lee_01]

I think, Misti, that what people are talking about was that the Confederate Battle Flag was the symbol of the Southern people at war for freedom's sake. Actually, although no one tends to speak of it such, the South was under a great amount of political and financial pressure from the North because of the more agricultural, less business-and-industrial powered nature of the Southern economy. Slavery was actually a completely side issue to the effort to secede, not the central point like people now make it out to be - in fact, the North didn't even get involved in that issue until *after* the war had begun, if I remember right. The Confederate States of America was not about a desire to oppress, but rather a desire to keep from *being* oppressed. It was about wanting to be able to make their own decisions and have their own leaders, because the politicians up in Washington and New York seemed to be far too far away to truly understand or care about the workings of Southern society.

Nowadays, somehow, someone (probably the PC media... no-one even cared about PC until they got involved) has made it politically incorrect to use the Flag symbol, saying that as a symbol of the South it was/is a symbol of slavery and anti-black racism, when in fact the Flag, and the war, had little to nothing to do with that at all. Most of those who fought in the Confederate army were common men, not slaveowners, anyway, and in fact even a few slaves themselves were known to have fought on the Confederate side (probably those who were not only told to fight but were treated well enough to be loyal) - I don't remember where I read this but it was in history class, and an interesting point I thought.

The argument here and everywhere about the use of the Flag, therefore, rises over two different opinions - the PC and now common one that the South and its Flag was/is a symbol of bigotry, or the historical view that only the Southerners seem to know anymore, that it was/is a symbol of their pride as a people and their desire to be free.

[MIsti]

i'm still looking into this, Dixie Lee, but your explanation sounds about right. I went through several schools growing up (we moved a lot) and that's not what they teach you in school. They either straight up teach that it was a symbol of the South's rebellion against the North trying to abolish slavery, or they imply it. Hey, it's never too late to learn, right? I sincerely thank you for taking time to explain. I wil continue to learn about this...y'all have a good day, now.

[Brian Coltrane]

Misty, in case yer curious - the topic of the flag has been one of the longest-running discussions in the Dukes fandom. Here on HNet, we've had many threads on it over the years. Someday I should put them all in one pile for easy reference.

Meantime, if you're curious about prior posts on the same subject, there is another topic called "General Lee with No Flag?" on page 2 of the movie forums. (scroll down to the bottom of the Movie topics, the page numbers are in the lower right.)

Welcome to HazzardNet, by the way!

Brian

[Dixie Lee_01]

No, that's not what they teach you in school about the Civil War, or much of anywhere else for that matter... I had to go through a college in-depth history course where I started looking at some old books to figure it out. You'd be very surprised at how much our history books have been changed in the past twenty years or less. My grandpa has told me that some of the things I "learned" in school about World War II aren't true either, and then told me what really did happen. He knows cause he was there. My Dad says the same about Vietnam.

Scary, huh? That they (whoever "they" is exactly) would actually change written history, lie to the younger generations, just to fit in with a modern political/social agenda? How's a person supposed to know what's true anymore...

<shaking head, wandering away>

[crawdaddy]

Dixie Lee_01

You are right about the school teachings. My son came home from school talking about Pres. Lincoln. First grade. Good I thought. Talked about slavery being bad. Yes I said. Cool until he said blue was the good guys and the grey was the bad guys. So that's what they are teaching.

[StonewallBrigade]

Dixie_lee, you hit the nail on the head, way to go!

Misti, I recommend you learn about the Confederacy and it's battle flag from books rather than from random places on the internet. When you learn what men did and what they sacraficed for the flag, I think you'll have a newfound respect for what those men did for their cause and for that flag during the Civil War. Wherever you do your research...look up some info on Color Bearer (soldiers assigned to carry the flags in battle).

Even though carrying a flag in battle was basically a death sentence(it made a soldier a nice target for the enemy to shoot at) it was considered an honor to carry the colors in battle, and men were proud to die carrying that Confederate Battle Flag.

crawdaddy, it's too bad that teachers are being bias when it comes to "teaching" the Civil War to students...I hope you'll teach your son the facts about the Civil War, and let him decide the rest for himself. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend taking your family to Gettysburg or any other Civil War battlefield if you ever get the chance.

-----

History has always been written by the victors...

"Surrender means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers

their version of the War; will be impressed by all the influences of history

and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed

veterans as fit subjects for derision."

-Gen. Patrick Cleburne, CSA

[StonewallBrigade]

Anyone interested in learning about the Confederate Government, I recommend a book called 'LOOK AWAY!: A History of the Confederate Government' by William C. Davis.

[Eddiemunster]

All this talk makes me want to move down south.