Honestly, I'm annoyed by both the blanket dismissal of these movies and the justifications. I love these movies but I don't make any excuses for the problems with them. There were people at the time who understood the problems and I'd like to acknowledge them instead of pretending that no one in the past knew any better.

But I also think a lot of these movies are more progressive than people give them credit for. I'm constantly giving my "history is not a straight line of progress where the further back you go, the worse off everyone is" speech.