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Wikibooks : Disney’s power over the cultural appropriation (on which the company builts its empire)

Concerning the isssues the Walt Diney Company meets about the new platform Disney +, measures must be taken. Does the company need to censure some classics Disney ? Is the « warning » at the beginning of movies efficient ?

« Disney Bashing »

The polemics mainly concern classic movies, such as Dumbo, Peter Pan, the Lady and the Tramp, the Jungle Book, the Lion King.. For those movies which are severly criticzed, the company must take some measures. Indeed, with the concept of the ‘politically correct’, a lot of scenes which were accepted at the time are not anymore, because they comport racism, stereotypes or cultural appropriation, and the new interpretations are inspired by the post-colonial studies, and this indictment is called « Disney bashing ». Thus, the company tries to avoid this phenomen of critics by putting a warning at the beginning of the movies. This warning is also displayed on the platform Disney +, and it prove that Disney took in consideration the fact that public opinion has evolved, and so has sensibility. Putting a warning shows that the company realizes the racist, sexist or stereotyped statements in the movie which may schok the telespecators. However, this warning is not considered good enough ; indeed, many specialist tend to think that the message is inadequate and does not touche important subjects such as sexual preferences or gender. Moreover some of the warning can be backgrounded. A question appears : what is the politic of the firm ? Why making all of the controversial movies exposed to critics and polemics ? What are the solutions ? Leonard Maltin (movie’s commentateur) explains the company’s politics : « Some people would sweep film like this under the rug, pretend they never existed. We certainly would not want children to get the wrong idea by seeing some of those stereotypes but disney fans and enthusiasts should be able to enjoy them intact and concerned parents might use this opportunity to talk about the way things were many years ago. » Concerning the censur (which can be seen as a solution), Disney applies the « all or nothing » principle. Indeed, either a movie is completely censured such as « the South Melody » because the movie is judged « guilty » of racism between blacks and whites after the secession war,( disney let the movie diffused in europe until 2001 and annonced that it would not be on Disney+ ) either a movie is broadcast without interruption. And even with the new platform, this principle hasn’t changed. But today, the walt disney company seems engaged in the fight for diversity and against discriminations. The company took some measures. Indeed, by removing the south melody, or by producing movies which concerns stereotypes discriminations and racism such as Zootopia, the company tries to destroy the critics about old movies.