For the Children

In the charged socio-political climate everything is being weaponized by a very vocal minority. 

THE CHILDREN!

THE CHILDREN!

THE CHILDREN! 

They yell as if that both explains what they do and why. And if you dare to question them then you are said to be trying to corrupt these imaginary kids. We are living in our own version of McCarthy’s ‘red scare’ where everyone who didn’t tow the patriotic line was a Communist. NOW, if you stand for human rights, for LGBTQIA+ rights, for anything that these people decide they don’t agree with or are told they shouldn’t agree with then you are trying to corrupt the youth.

Oh, you’re also corrupting the nation, because that’s part and parcel with it all. 

Everything is in the name of religion, the children, and guns. 

God bless. 

It’s gotten to be so pervasive that any music that comes out, any movie, any television show, anything can be declared as nearly criminal behavior. Everything is weaponized. 

So much so that we’re at a point where every Marvel movie and every Disney movie are purportedly full of offensive things. 

There are strong women in the film?

OUTRAGEOUS!

There are minorities?

HOW DARE YOU?

On and on. 

It gets tiresome. 

And what’s worse is that it’s working. 

This badgering by loudmouths that don’t really care for kids – because if they did, as I have mentioned before, they’d be more invested in making sure our kids were fed, safe, and educated – is changing culture. It’s changing corporate action. 

And let’s be clear here, this isn’t because corporations believe this nonsense, per se, but because this fear-mongering is affecting the bottom line. 

That’s all that matters. 

All that ever matters. 

Now we see Disney bending the knee to the crusaders who care for nothing but power gained by fear and threat. 

Never again will Disney be woke. 

No, they are for entertainment, not for messages. 

And that’s the biggest bag of mayonnaise I have ever heard. 

It’s nonsense. 

It’s clownish. 

It’s what you tell investors and board members to placate them. 

All of this was because the box office wasn’t doing what they felt it should. 

This wasn’t a moment of deep introspection on how movies are made, are released, are written, and how movie-going has changed. 

No. 

It was a referendum on ‘wokeness’. 

Nonsense. 

Why are their movies not working?

Because budgets are out of hand. 

They are shoehorning a dozen things into Marvel movies and forgetting that they need to be fun above all. 

Then there’s the fact that with Disney+ people like my family KNOW they can just wait for Disney movies to hit streaming. 

Oh, sure, they make us wait, but we know they are coming. 

And we pay for that service so why wouldn’t we want the benefit?

Streaming has screwed up the box office. 

The obsession with feeding the beast at home has taken the knees out of theaters. 

They want their cake and want to eat it too. 

Instead of making good, engaging television, we are seeing over-budged, overstuffed shows that are made, released, then forgotten, and sometimes removed and made to disappear. 

The thing about Disney films is they have ALWAYS had a message. 

A message of love, kindness, overcoming great odds, and family. 

Sure, the messages can be heavy-handed, and they often came without taking into account people who weren’t White, but the messages were there. 

They were ALWAYS there. 

We can debate whether the newer films are good or not. 

What you can’t tell me though is that the message changed drastically. 

All that happened was that people of color and people in the LGBTQIA+ community were invited to the table. 

Their stories weer being told. 

Finally. 

That’s it. 

That’s the big message. 

And Disney’s parks?

They have ALWAYS welcome people in the LGBTQIA+ community. 

There are freakin’ gay days there. 

It’s meant to be a place of joy FOR ALL. 

So this hand-wringing from board wannabes and the religious right and Republicans is pure performance art. 

Disney has always been greedy, and it’s only more so now. 

But it also has always told stories with messages. 

Always. 

And they are not alone. 

The greatest stories have messages and with those messages of hope and love. 

For all. 

We’re in a stupid time. 

A time when the loudest are the ones who are getting the attention because they threaten to boycott and in the end, it’s all about money. 

It will always be about money. 

And the children, well, they should probably get back to work and just be quiet. 

…c…