Disney’s problem isn’t just that it is woke; it is creatively dead

Another day, another example of Disney’s substituting a political message for creativity.

This example is from The Daily Mail, which puts a bit more meat on the bone regarding the already controversial live-action remake of “Snow White and the 7 Dwarves.”

The earlier controversy stems from Disney’s self-conscious hire of a Latina actress to play Snow White–an example of the fact that race-swapping is perfectly acceptable when doing so displaces a White actor, but “cultural appropriation” when a White actor plays a non-White character.

I found the earlier controversy to be an example of the tedious character of these racial debates because sometimes it matters–race swapping in JRR Tolkien stories makes no sense–while race swapping in other stories is utterly irrelevant. A Black James Bond? Who cares? Is the actor good? England is now a multiracial society and we have seen many James Bonds, none of whom look alike.

Race-swapping hobbits? Hobbits are literally a race already, as are elves and orcs, etc. Mixing in yet more races within races makes no sense, especially in a story set in what is clearly a medieval/European setting.

Are you sure those aren’t Biden appointees on the right?

— 🫃🏼💉🇺🇦Hollaria Briden, Esq. & Ally (@HollyBriden) July 14, 2023

A Snow White with darker skin literally makes no sense, of course, because she was quite literally Snow White, named after her abnormally White skin. “The fairest of them all,” I seem to recall. But whatever. My objection is not particularly that the races were swapped, but by how tediously predictable doing so was.

Snow White and the Unabomber https://t.co/2wKV0kh0wP pic.twitter.com/LZdpiEy3p4

— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) July 14, 2023

Same with this next “controversial” decision: replacing the dwarves with…whatever. “Magical beings” of every race and height and gender. Peter Dinklage took umbrage that dwarves were stereotyped in the movie (shocking, I know!), so Disney decided to work with activist groups to come up with an alternative.

Again, whatever. More tediousness. The story comes second.

While I cringe at all the excessive “sensitivity” and the need not just for political correctness but also at the need to turn every creative enterprise into a struggle session run by critical theorists, all these controversies are a result of a deeper disease that Disney and much of Hollywood is suffering from.

Hollywood has lost its creative edge. They apparently have no new ideas, new stories to tell, and nothing with which to entertain us–so they default to political lectures.

Political lectures are boring. How many Soviet-era films have people ever rushed to see?

Having a political point of view is nothing new in movies, and I’ve watched plenty of left-leaning political movies that annoy me quite a bit but were entertaining and definitely worth watching. If you have a good story, it might be better or worse with different politics, but you have a GOOD STORY.

A good story well told covers many sins. I don’t rush out to see conservative movies (there are a few) because they have a good message, because message movies tend to suck.

Look at this controversy: everybody is focused on the wokeness; fine, whatever. Just as important is that Disney can’t come up with anything but a remake of a movie of which they are apparently ASHAMED. They declare Snow White to be toxic but are too creatively bankrupt to come up with anything but a race-swapped Snow White with an empowerment message that Princes are unnecessary appendages to a strong Latina woman.

Geez. If you dislike Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, make a different movie. You have billions of dollars, after all. But instead, Disney wants to live off the legacy of “white supremacy” while decrying it.

It’s like Ben and Jerry’s wanting everybody else to return “stolen land” but hanging on to its own in order to crank out cash, only worse. Ben and Jerry’s actually has an edible product; Disney is recycling what it claims to be its own trash.

That isn’t just hypocrisy, but pathetic.

Hollywood isn’t incapable of coming up with good stories, and good stories don’t even have to be complicated. Tom Cruise (whose religious beliefs seem utterly bizarre to me, but so what?) knows how to make a good movie. Disney? It recycles its own IP, injects idiotic political messages (Indiana Jones is a pathetic old man who will be upstaged by a personality-free girl boss), and begs you to part with your cash.

I wouldn’t even stream it if I could. Sounds awful, as does every Disney movie of late, and the box office receipts reflect that.

It’s not just that the politics are stupid and destructive; it’s that Disney has nothing else. They aren’t even creative enough to be decent propagandists.

The last great creative burst from Hollywood was in television, mostly on cable channels. The take was cynical, hating on everybody, and amoral for the most part. But it was worth watching. It wasn’t the message that drove the story, but the story and good acting.

This is the Kathleen Kennedyization of Hollywood. Kennedy is the woman who destroyed Star Wars, which was already pretty awful after The Empire Strikes Back. When Disney bought the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas, Kennedy took over the property. Immediately she produced The Force Awakens, which is just a remake of the first Star Wars with race and gender-swapped characters.

That’s it. Nothing new. New characters (more races and genders!), same story.

And that is Hollywood today. Lots of money but not a single new idea or story worth telling.