Since its inception as a production company, Disney has always been known for creating magical, family-friendly content that captivates the hearts of both children and adults alike. However, in the last couple of years, there’s a trend coming from this company that forced the inclusion of a range of topics concerning the representation of ethnic minorities and the depiction of sexual preferences from some characters in children’s shows that tend to be offensive and inappropriate. Case in point, the 2022 feature film “Strange World”, with a voice cast that included Jake Gyllenhaal and Lucy Liu. Let’s see why Disney’s woke agenda made that film become a disaster at the box office.
In 2022, Disney reserved the biggest releases by the end of the year, with films like Avatar: The Way of Water and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but Strange World was barely promoted and released into cinemas in a shy way. Still, the inclusion of a gay character, much in the vein of what happened in Lightyear, where they showed a kiss from a same-sex couple, ruffled feathers and caused controversy.
Why Is Strange World So Controversial?
The controversy surrounding Strange World stems from various factors. Firstly, the movie explores darker themes and a more mature storyline than typical Disney films, which has caused concern among parents who worry about the appropriateness of the content for their children. Additionally, some have criticized the movie’s representation of certain cultural aspects, claiming that it perpetuates stereotypes and inaccuracies.
Is Strange World Inappropriate For Kids?
In a nutshell, Strange World is like any other Disney movie that sucked and tanked at the box office; remember Atlantis? Or Treasure Planet? Yeah, no one does because those movies sucked, just like Lightyear sucked, not because there was a kiss from a same-sex couple but because the movie sucked. Having a forced woke agenda with unnecessary gay characters is just the cherry on top of bad production, lazy scriptwriting, and bad business choices.
With movies like Lightyear and Strange World tanking, coupled with the forced diversity woke agenda thing, not only do the kids suffer, and the quality of a company that brought us productions like Snow White, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King becomes tarnished, but also the stock price of the company suffers. Because in the wake of really bad movies like Strange Things and Lightyear, the stock price of Disney tanked after shareholders sold their stock in protest as they did not agree with those kinds of business calls.
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Strange World Wasn’t A Good Product
Despite the controversy, Disney and the creators of Strange World always try to bring us a thought-provoking story. Furthermore, the movie makes a bad attempt to explore complex themes such as identity, family, and acceptance while also delving into the dynamics between different cultures and traditions. If Disney wants to keep selling, it should stick to the formula that made them win in the past and drop the representation and inclusion agenda that obviously is causing them to lose money.
Disney Should Stick To Its Winning Formula
If Disney considers that by presenting a more mature narrative, they will spark meaningful conversations and encourage viewers to reflect on their own lives and experiences, it’s not happening because it’s not Disney’s position to do so; those sorts of conversations usually are brought within the family unit in a spontaneous way, Disney’s purpose is entertainment, not lecturing its customers, if Disney wants to think out of the box, and bring a fresh perspective on storytelling and challenge audiences to think beyond the typical Disney narrative, then keep making those villain origins stories like Cruella or Maleficent and leave the patronizing, indoctrinating and utterly bad movies aside, not only is it harming them as a company, but driving their customers away from their already expensive attraction parks, they’re not buying their merchandise, and some are even canceling Disney+ because of it.
Also Read: The Little Mermaid Controversy: Reactions to The Disney Remake
