What a difference a decade makes in the Magic Kingdom.
It was just 12 years ago that Disney promptly dropped Miley Cyrus after the former “Hannah Montana” star released her sexually charged “Can’t Be Tamed” music video writhing around with male and female dancers. Cyrus’ emerging sexuality was too much for Disney, a company whose success was predicated on promoting squeaky-clean “family values.”
Jose Mendoza, who said he previously worked for Radio Disney as an assistant in its promotional department, tweeted that promoting Cyrus was verboten immediately after the video appeared.
“I’m not kidding when I say that the NEXT DAY after (the video) dropped Disney made us cancel EVERYTHING that was connected to Miley Cyrus. No radio play. No mentioning her. NOTHING.”
We learned last week that Disney has not only radically redefined its family values, its committed to promoting them as much as possible in its content. Latoya Raveneau, an executive producer for Disney Television Animation, praised Disney on a leaked company video for embracing her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and having same-sex characters kiss in the background.
“I was just, wherever I could, adding queerness,” Raveneau said. “No one would stop me, and no one was trying to stop me.”
Additional insight into Disney’s redefined family values was provided by corporate president Karey Burke.
“As the mother (of) one transgender child and one pansexual child,” Burke said she supports having “many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories,” aiming for a minimum of 50 percent being LGBTQIA and racial minorities.
Lest there be any confusion about Disney’s values, diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware said the company has eliminated all mentions of “ladies,” “gentlemen,” “boys,” and “girls” in its theme parks to create “that magical moment” for children who do not identify with traditional gender roles.
It’s safe to assume that Raveneau, Burke, and Ware have the full support of Bob Chapek, Disney’s CEO. Chapek is engaged in a very public fight with Florida governor Ron DeSantis over the state’s recently signed Parental Rights in Education act. The corporate media says the legislation is homophobic and refers to it as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” while the bill’s defenders say the legislation is intended to prevent “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through 3rd grade. This NBC story does a reasonable job articulating both sides of the argument.
While critics can debate some of the Florida bill’s ambiguity, most Americans support the legislation when told of the actual language. According to a poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, Americans by a 67 percent to 21 percent margin say the discussion of gender identity is inappropriate for children, including 88 percent of Republicans, 68 percent of independent voters, and 47 percent of Democrats. Americans by a two-to-one margin believe that transgender athletes should play on sports teams that match their birth gender and fewer than 10 percent want to see gender removed from birth certificates.
One could argue that Disney’s Chapek is a great patriot, heeding President Biden’s urging of parents to affirm their children’s transgender identities. “To parents of transgender children, affirming your child’s [claimed transgender] identity is one of the most powerful things you can do to keep them safe and healthy,” Biden said in a video.
Parents looking to raise safe and healthy children would be wise not to look to Biden for parental counseling, given that his son Hunter is a former crackhead who was discharged from the Navy for substance abuse issues and is reportedly under federal criminal investigation for his taxes.
That Disney is willing to embrace unpopular positions is admirable, something rightfully expected from one of the world’s most socially responsible companies. But liberals so far have given Disney a pass on its hypocrisy.
The Harvard International Review in October declared Disney is “in China’s pocket” for voluntarily complying with that country’s censors. China bans gay themes in film and TV and has targeted individual gay activities and groups. Chapek wouldn’t dare attack Xi Jinping, China’s Communist leader for life, because Disney operates a lucrative theme park in Shanghai. I’ve written previously about ABC News’ Mickey Mouse Musketeers and how Disney uses it broadcast subsidiary to promote its China and other business interests.
The Log Cabin Republicans, the largest gay Republican organization, has called out Disney’s hypocrisy for expanding its streaming service into countries where homosexuality is illegal, including Qatar and Yemen.
“Disney’s idea of ‘equality’ is radically redefining gender and pushing sexual lesson plans to children while investing in countries that still harshly criminalize LGBT people for literally just existing,” the group said.
Liberal hypocrisy is starting to wear thin even with liberals. On his show Friday night, comedian Bill Maher declared the recent Oscars a “bad night for liberal hypocrisy,” referring to Will Smith receiving a standing ovation when he was awarded an Oscar despite earlier smacking comedian Chris Rock.
“These are the very people who are always talking about ‘micro-aggressions’ in the workplace, and how you should not have to face an uncomfortable moment or, you know, people shouldn’t touch you or unwantedly,” Maher reportedly said. “It just seemed to show, to me, broken morals. Like, you really have no principles.”
Actor Jim Carrey, one of Hollywood’s most zealous anti-Trumpers, last week attacked Hollywood for being “spineless” in its support for Smith.
“I was sickened by the standing ovation,” Carrey said. “I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse and it really felt like this is a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore.”
Such is the bizarro world we live in. Whoever thought we’d see the day when Disney advocated the sexualization of children and celebrities calling out the hypocrisy of Hollywood?
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