Let the record show I’m a cynical person. Whether I choose to admit it to myself on any given day, I believe on a deep level that the earth is fucked and most people are cruel toward those they can’t see themselves in. I’m not the sort of person who glibly goes to see a Disney movie without a ton of reservations about how one of the largest media companies pumps out inoffensive, heartfelt children’s films once or twice a year, beating consumers into submission to the hegemony.
Despite myself, I decided to see Onward after being sucked in the trailer and the Twitter discourse surrounding its gay cop character. And, I found it absolutely delightful. I loved the character designs and found myself rooting for the two elf brothers on their road trip to see their father one last time (Barley is best boy). Of course the kids movie cop PR was there. The mother’s boyfriend is a centaur police officer (this is a joke about police horses? I think?), and there is of course the lesbian cop who references her girlfriend in one line (She’s also coded as black, which like… there’s layers here). This was discomforting in how openly strategic it was- putting non threatening police characters in proximity to rule breaking protagonists. But it faded into the background as I got sucked into the adventure and the world. I left the theatre feeling calmed and delighted- and weird about how much I bought into Disney’s latest film.
In his latest video, Kyle Kallgren makes the point that Disney films provide an escape from adult, capitalist reality rather than constructing an alternative mode of being. Where kids movies like Chicken Run, Over the Hedge, and Monsters, Inc pivot around rebellion and transgression (S/o to Jack Halberstam for the insight)- your average Disney fare provides a fantasy. You leave something like Onward feeling unchallenged and emotionally soothed. You want to believe that magic is real. You could live in a toadstool and have a loving family. You too could go on a road trip adventure with a DnD-obsessed brother and build your confidence.
Of course, lurking under the surface of our delight at elf siblings or Baby Yoda is the reality of Disney. A massive profit machine which famously pays its park employees starvation wages and has cornered a third of the market. Smaller animation studios like Laika cant compete with the giant- even though their movies are fun as fuck and visually interesting. Disney’s constant live-action or “photo-real” remakes of old properties cash in on nostalgia and promise celebrity appearances while turning out bland and soulless.
I wonder what the ethics are, of continuing to buy into the fantasy offered by a capitalist monolith in order to escape the stress and drudgery of capitalism. Is it ok to take refuge in childlike wonder at Walt’s hands? Or does that amount to complicity? Is this the sort of thing I can consume mindfully and critically? Or do we have to toss the whole thing out the window? Whatever. I’m tired and my brain is broken. Next week I’ll be back on track watching movies I hate and filling you in.
Torn Apart by Wild Dogs 