So, Hulu is pulling that Golden Girls ep "Mixed Blessings" because of the scene with the accidental blackface? Sigh. Ok, here's the thing:

Companies are just cherry picking the most basic level optics of racism to jump on, and we're not considering how tv, shows, or eps function.

That GG ep where Michael (ugh) marries Lorraine is problematic, sure, in that it rests on the premise of the "shock" of the surprise black fiancee.

That joke/premise is pretty messed up, but far from isolated in the history of tv/film. That's not a defense, that's context.

That Lorraine's blackness is listed as the final thing that Dorothy finds objectionable about her when Michael describes her (along with her age) is racist, no question. But also...

We should also frame the ep within the genre of the Very Special Episode, which is how most 1980s tv dealt with "social" issues like racial conflict, homosexuality drug use, and gun violence.

There's a formula: you raise the problem, usually with a character who we only see for that ep, the whole episode works to solve the problem, and then it's resolved and we never see or hear from that character again.

Remember when Brandon dated Vivica Fox on 90210? And her ex-boyfriend got beat up by the cops? It was a race story 2 for 1!

Most often, the regular characters are the heroes who overcome or avoid the bad situation (see the sexual molestation ep of Diff'rent Strokes or the marijuana ep of The Cosby Show). Less often, the main characters learn that THEY'RE the problem, and the ep is about them evolving.

In that ep of the GG, the fact that the whole p frames Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia as small minded and wrong is pretty noteworthy. And characteristic of how the show usually handled topics of "otherness."

Blanche's homophobia is the problem when she learns that her brother is gay, not her brother's gayness, for example.

"Mixed Blessings" isn't a perfect ep, but it focuses on poking fun at the white characters' racial anxieties. And that's quite different from a storyline that treats those anxieties as natural or justified. The blackface scene is part of that.

That Hulu pulled it is evidence of the company's own racial anxiety, except unfunny and not nearly as smart. And meanwhile, Diff'rent Strokes's blackface ep (Skin Deep/True Blue) - hell - the whole racist ass show that is Diff'rent Strokes, is still available. On Hulu.