Interesting testament here from an anonymous "Imagineer" (choke, sputter) at Disney. The megacorp has recently done a turn in relation to Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, known to some sections of the public as the Don't Say Gay Bill. Initially, Disney kept its own counsel on the bill, seeming to realize that slogans and side-taking wouldn't improve the situation. Well of course that couldn't last, and the company subsequently seemed to be attempting to out-protest the protesters.
"Clay" is very vivid and articulate in describing how an atmosphere of woke paranoia has taken hold at Disney. But I'm not so sure I 100% agree with his policework. Yes, their recent moves on social issues are divisive. But the corporate culture he describes is...a corporate culture and always has been. Mission statements are a point of vulnerability. If your employees have to use arcane protocol and made-up language to begin with, of course they're sitting ducks for something like woke. In a sense, one cult has been taken over by another. One may be worse in terms of disrespecting people's freedom of thought, but facts are facts.
In any case, Disney is now at war with―among others―Ron DeSantis. For DeSantis this is great news. Now more than ever the key to politics lies in having the right enemies, and they're one of the rightest.
2 comments:
You're right to refer to Disney as a megacorp since not doing business with them involves far more than most of the potential boycotters realize. I was going to type a list of the companies they control, but when I looked up Disney Corp on wikipedia I soon decided against it.
There are indeed a couple of ways of looking at the situation as it stands at the moment. On the one hand it's innocent enough if they're simply allowing children to understand it's okay to have two mothers or two fathers. That only makes sense. But if there's a concerted effort to normalize children's sexual behavior that's another thing altogether - 'children' and 'sexual desire' are words that don't belong in the same sentence.
Yes, while a corporate culture will always be looking at the bottom line it's very true the woke crowd isn't interested in subtlety. You can't just have a trans character but that person must be essential to the story and their orientation praised. Getting such an obsession into children’s programing is unnerving and more than a bit crazy. Of course life is easier if you don't have to think and it would appear that in this case too we're witnessing (as Jer said) the indoctrinated in favor of indoctrination. A lot of these people are fanatics and, oddly enough, many of them don't belong to the letter brigade.
A law that prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity to very young kids sounds pretty sensible to me. I'll be interested to see how Ron DeSantis and conservatives in general handle this issue. It's likely many of those who support the bill accept LGBT people, but aren't happy about the activism becoming a cornerstone of education.
Yes, Disney owns a lot of interests, including companies that were initially set up as competitors of theirs and some which might still be assumed to be rivals, at least by those who don't know all the ins and outs. There are two sides to this. On the one hand, that kind of market domination brings with it a lot of power. On the other hand it leaves them vulnerable because they don't want to be losing money on any front, and there are so many ways they could lose money. That leads to them being very...suggestible.
Well put. No, I wouldn't trust anyone who wanted to work their sexual agenda through children either. I doubt there's any central intent at Disney to harm kids but they don't really have the guts to resist, either.
It's a very propitious time to be a fanatic. Or at least it appears to be right now, judging from How many people are engaging in one kind of shakedown or another. Although I think part of it is that you can push people around without being active or direct, due to the advancement of technology and the softness of institutions. If it were more difficult you'd still have some true believers, but not all these soft and scarless fanatics.
The law, as I understand it, is intended to keep things age-appropriate, not hide the existence of gays, lesbians, etc. Donald Trump's political career has proven that there's some value in being hated by the mainstream media. Trump himself took advantage of that but didn't manage the situation in the long run. It will be interesting to see if someone comes along and strikes a better balance.
Post a Comment