Disney and "Wokeness"

There are many buzzwords in entertainment, both good and bad. Chief among them is “woke”. Whether or not you know what the phrase means, it’s been used to the point of overkill. Perhaps the biggest example is with The Disney Corporation, particularly their films. But is Disney, the poster child for family-friendly entertainment, really “woke”?

Full disclosure: there are other issues I’d rather concern myself with. For one, there are two major wars in The West right now, and there’s been plenty of misinformation about both. Two, more informed people have expressed their thoughts. And three, it’s exhausting. Yet since this won’t go away, and because leaving Twitter/X has made my Views take a hit, I have to drive up engagement. I hope I don’t regret it…

Gina Carano, who had a minor role in The Mandalorian, is suing Disney for $75000 over “wrongful dismissal”. I’d go into the minutiae, but it’s a headache. Besides, this article explains it better than I could. All I’ll mention is that Carano, who was fired in 2021 because of inappropriate Tweets, is being bankrolled by Elon Musk. That’s right, the biggest wildcard billionaire of all time. What could possibly go wrong?

I’m less surprised than tired. Carano hasn’t let this go, and she’s gained a weird fanbase that’s used her situation to gripe about Disney since. Whether it’s criticizing Kathleen Kennedy for “ruining Star Wars”, or even the “MSheU” nonsense, Carano’s found herself thrown into the mix. What’s worse, attempts at using reason are met with “Why are you defending a multi-billion dollar company?” responses. I’ve made no secret that I’m mixed on Disney, but I guess I’m playing defence now. Because I’m calling this bluff.

Let’s be clear: Disney’s not a woke company. At all. Ignoring their history of racism, or even their political scandals, Disney’s a corporation. Corporations are out to make money. Money, as anyone with a degree in finance can attest, isn’t inherently woke. If it were, CEOs would be donating their bonuses to charities.

Disney’s goal is to make products for consumers. In their case, families and children. That hasn’t changed since their inception. What has changed, however, is what defines “families and children”. Because demographics morph over time. What might’ve constituted a family’s evolved over the past century, and businesses have had to adapt. We’ve seen this in Disney’s approach to catering to minorities and different types of families. That’s a large chunk of their base.

Disney has other types of fans too. Following their acquisition of Marvel in 2009, they’ve acquired superhero fans. Following their acquisition of Star Wars in 2012, they’ve acquired Star Wars fans. Even following their acquisition of Indiana Jones-do you see the pattern? Disney’s attempts at consuming brands has landed them with an ever-growing and ever-diverse set of fans.

With this in mind, is it any wonder why Disney’s been making content to appeal to them too? Especially since these fans are diverse? It’s not so much that Disney’s “woke” as they are “smart” about branding. They’ve seen where the needle’s headed, and they’re catering to it. That’s the reality here, folks!

I don’t know what people want, other than to whine about the “Good Ol’ Days”. I like a lot of classic Disney films, don’t get me wrong! But they can’t and shouldn’t detract from newer ones. If that means changing or updating facets to appeal to racial and gender minorities, so be it! That doesn’t displace the backlog of content for those pining for those Good Ol’ Days, whatever that means…

That’s not what this is really about, though. Like the trend of calling pro-LGBTQ+ content “grooming”, claiming that Disney’s “woke” is a sign of detractors refusing to expand their mindsets. It’s no different than mass-purchasing something and destroying it to “prove a point”: the company gets the money, while you’ve wasted yours. Is that an efficient way of making your point known? I don’t think it is.

By claiming Disney’s “shoving wokeness” down people’s throats, detractors of Disney forget that they’re going where the money is. That’s what it is, money. It’s not even a sincere form of it either, such that queer communities have a name for it: Rainbow Capitalism. It’s progressive only because of money, not because it’s genuine. How’s that being woke, exactly?

I wish I could dedicate more energy here, but I can’t. So I’ll end with the following: you know how I mentioned that Gina Carano’s suing for “wrongful dismissal”? Keep in mind that Disney asked her multiple times to tone it down and apologize, something she’d refused to do. She was a brand ambassador for Disney, whether she wanted it or not, and she was let go for not upholding her end. That has less to do with wokeness than branding, something Disney cares deeply about. Essentially, I wish Carano the best at falling flat on her face…again.

Besides, if Disney were “woke”, then they wouldn’t have filmed the remake of Mulan near a Uyghur concentration camp. Something to think about.