At risk of sounding slightly like the scummy film you find floating around in places like stupidpol, I do think media companies like Disney and Amazon intentionally lean into this culture war shit. If not when making casting decisions, then definitely by the time it comes to marketing. It is no secret that outrage is the primary driver of social media engagement, and social media is the ONLY place you can market to younger generations effectively. So you get the bigots outraged at your product, then you get the liberals and anti-racists outraged at the bigots for being outraged at the product, then you get to turn what would otherwise be YET ANOTHER unremarkable remake of stale IP into a thing that everybody is suddenly extremely invested in. Something that would otherwise be mundane takes on a political significance and life of its own. I mean, we kind of watched the same thing play out (with much lower stakes) with the short-lived but inescapable controversy about Grogu eating babies. Everyone's suddenly talking about another Disney property - and not only on the monopoly social media platforms. It trickles into every dark corner of the Internet, including this one. The discussion truly becomes viral.
I think it's absolutely cool to see BIPOC actors and actresses being cast for roles like this, but I think the media companies are extremely cynical about how they deal with this. They get to claim the moral high ground and wash their hands of a long list of sins (protecting sexual predators, boosting fascist politicians, enclosing the creative commons, monopolizing entertainment, etc. etc.) At the end of the day, nothing fundamentally changes about the institutions which make up Hollywood. These are the stewards of imperial cultural hegemony. We get to see more Black princesses and starship commanders, but the media is being produced by the same studios, being financed by the same stolen wealth, telling the same stories of nationalism and patriarchy, and the bigoted meltdowns we see in response to moments like this are all a part of the advertising campaign.
Just a new spin on the old "No Such Thing As Bad Press". It literally doesn't matter whether people like your product or hate it, just so long as everyone is talking about it.
But I'd counter that this isn't strictly about provoking a hate-on. I think a lot of this actually pretty cowardly. The last few big Disney animated films - Moana, Frozen, and Encanto - still ended up pissing off the same white nationalist crowd that they ostensibly were going to appeal to. Frozen, in particular, got crazy blow back from the Far Right seemingly entirely because they didn't make the main characters "normal" enough. This may just be Disney execs throwing up their hands and conceding Whitey will never be happy.
Add to it that the live-action Disney story reboots have all been trash. I feel like they're adding this shit to cover for the disappointing nature of the original products. They're just phoning this shit in.
But I’d counter that this isn’t strictly about provoking a hate-on. I think a lot of this actually pretty cowardly. The last few big Disney animated films - Moana, Frozen, and Encanto - still ended up pissing off the same white nationalist crowd that they ostensibly were going to appeal to.
Well that's the thing. They don't care about social justice. What they care about is the assimilation and commodification of culture. Any other public position they take is only done to maintain public relations and/or ensure their IP monopolies are extended indefinitely. From the reactionary crank's perspective, any media which represents their bugbears in a positive light is the product of a global conspiracy to sow de------cy. If you wanted to piss them off, the best way to do it would be to do literally anything which aids the liberation of oppressed people. But they are fragile and will take offense with their own shadow. They find themselves enraged by Disney despite the fact that Disney is doing everything it possibly can within the cultural space to rationalize and uphold the institutions of colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism.
At risk of sounding slightly like the scummy film you find floating around in places like stupidpol, I do think media companies like Disney and Amazon intentionally lean into this culture war shit. If not when making casting decisions, then definitely by the time it comes to marketing. It is no secret that outrage is the primary driver of social media engagement, and social media is the ONLY place you can market to younger generations effectively. So you get the bigots outraged at your product, then you get the liberals and anti-racists outraged at the bigots for being outraged at the product, then you get to turn what would otherwise be YET ANOTHER unremarkable remake of stale IP into a thing that everybody is suddenly extremely invested in. Something that would otherwise be mundane takes on a political significance and life of its own. I mean, we kind of watched the same thing play out (with much lower stakes) with the short-lived but inescapable controversy about Grogu eating babies. Everyone's suddenly talking about another Disney property - and not only on the monopoly social media platforms. It trickles into every dark corner of the Internet, including this one. The discussion truly becomes viral.
I think it's absolutely cool to see BIPOC actors and actresses being cast for roles like this, but I think the media companies are extremely cynical about how they deal with this. They get to claim the moral high ground and wash their hands of a long list of sins (protecting sexual predators, boosting fascist politicians, enclosing the creative commons, monopolizing entertainment, etc. etc.) At the end of the day, nothing fundamentally changes about the institutions which make up Hollywood. These are the stewards of imperial cultural hegemony. We get to see more Black princesses and starship commanders, but the media is being produced by the same studios, being financed by the same stolen wealth, telling the same stories of nationalism and patriarchy, and the bigoted meltdowns we see in response to moments like this are all a part of the advertising campaign.
Just a new spin on the old "No Such Thing As Bad Press". It literally doesn't matter whether people like your product or hate it, just so long as everyone is talking about it.
But I'd counter that this isn't strictly about provoking a hate-on. I think a lot of this actually pretty cowardly. The last few big Disney animated films - Moana, Frozen, and Encanto - still ended up pissing off the same white nationalist crowd that they ostensibly were going to appeal to. Frozen, in particular, got crazy blow back from the Far Right seemingly entirely because they didn't make the main characters "normal" enough. This may just be Disney execs throwing up their hands and conceding Whitey will never be happy.
Add to it that the live-action Disney story reboots have all been trash. I feel like they're adding this shit to cover for the disappointing nature of the original products. They're just phoning this shit in.
Well that's the thing. They don't care about social justice. What they care about is the assimilation and commodification of culture. Any other public position they take is only done to maintain public relations and/or ensure their IP monopolies are extended indefinitely. From the reactionary crank's perspective, any media which represents their bugbears in a positive light is the product of a global conspiracy to sow de------cy. If you wanted to piss them off, the best way to do it would be to do literally anything which aids the liberation of oppressed people. But they are fragile and will take offense with their own shadow. They find themselves enraged by Disney despite the fact that Disney is doing everything it possibly can within the cultural space to rationalize and uphold the institutions of colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism.