Chloé S. Valdary has some good ideas when it comes to critical theory. In short, she’s not a big fan of that sort of thing. So she’s sought to develop a better approach to dealing with race issues and inclusion. And Lord knows we need a less toxic alternative to “antiracism” in the form in which it exists now.
Unfortunately, when it comes to some cultural concerns, Valdary is still wrong about some things. Like about Disney’s role in our culture, for example. Disney’s decision to wade into the culture wars by embracing wokeness was a bad one any way you slice it. And they’re paying for it with a significant backlash from people who happen to believe that Disney is there to entertain as oppose to preach.
But Valdary is insistent that Disney is a necessity in our society:
Disney plays a sacred role in our society. It is tasked with transmitting the values of fairy tales, both old and new, to generations. This is a holy task. Fairy tales are not trifles. They are symbolic myths, representations of the collective consciousness of our culture.
— Chloé S. Valdary 📚 (@cvaldary) April 18, 2022
“A holy task”? That seems a little lofty, considering that Disney’s only real task in Disney’s mind is to make a lot of money. They’re not motivated by any real sense of social responsibility (which is what makes their foray into the Parental Rights in Education law debate especially ridiculous).
I would encourage the company to ask itself what it means to take that task seriously when navigating culture wars. Disney is not a billion dollar company merely because it makes us "happy." Many of its films are about the greatest aspiration of all time: human individuation.
— Chloé S. Valdary 📚 (@cvaldary) April 18, 2022
We shouldn’t be looking to Disney — or any company — for moral guidance.
This is not something to be taken lightly. I will be thinking more deeply about this in the coming weeks.
— Chloé S. Valdary 📚 (@cvaldary) April 18, 2022
We would certainly urge Valdary to think more deeply about this in the coming weeks. Hopefully she’ll come to realize that she was wrong about all this.
But they have re-written so many tales that existed long before Disney ever did. https://t.co/79JhrIevPT
— Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) April 18, 2022
Sleeping Beauty is now rape culture and comes with a warning before their own animated film.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 18, 2022
101 Dalmatians has a warning at the beginning – not because of Cruella's efforts to kill 99 dogs to make fur coats – but because she smokes a cigarette.
— Hey! Careful man! There's a 🥃 (@Beverage_Here) April 18, 2022
Valdary can’t seriously expect Disney to make morals a priority when their own sense of morality is so screwed up.
It's not a good when an intelligent person assigns a "sacred role" to an animation film company that does so for profits. Disney is not involved in a "holy task"; it is about selling so-called fairy tales, animation, for profits. Anything else is a byproduct.
— Norman Kelley (@NormanKelley) April 18, 2022
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