Copyright owners have rights, but why edit out such a significant part of this wonderfully unique film, especially when most people who buy VHS or DVD do so expecting and desiring the original? Was it because of some cast member who wanted his slice of DVD earnings, so they cut his part out? As Daddy Rich says, "Money talks and Bull$#*! walks." Or was it the other way around?
The segment was in the final scenes concerning the secretary. Though a little sad, it was also very funny. Her pitiful character fit perfectly into her dismal circumstance. And, it illustrated beautifully a valid theme: cars may get clean, but life is not always a dream. Her heartbreaking yet humorous predicament revealed the soul of the film.
Maybe the owners thought it was too downbeat; the conclusion tries to leave us feeling good about the characters, that everything will work out, that life in a car wash, though hardly uplifting, can also display positive aspects of the human condition.
But Car Wash is merely light-hearted entertainment. It also reveals, very casually, the Black experience in America. It is not a serious period piece. The makers obviously had no intention to make it so. Perhaps this revised edition hints at a low regard for the sensibilities of today's audiences. If so, what a shame.
The segment was in the final scenes concerning the secretary. Though a little sad, it was also very funny. Her pitiful character fit perfectly into her dismal circumstance. And, it illustrated beautifully a valid theme: cars may get clean, but life is not always a dream. Her heartbreaking yet humorous predicament revealed the soul of the film.
Maybe the owners thought it was too downbeat; the conclusion tries to leave us feeling good about the characters, that everything will work out, that life in a car wash, though hardly uplifting, can also display positive aspects of the human condition.
But Car Wash is merely light-hearted entertainment. It also reveals, very casually, the Black experience in America. It is not a serious period piece. The makers obviously had no intention to make it so. Perhaps this revised edition hints at a low regard for the sensibilities of today's audiences. If so, what a shame.