"No, you move."
I’m going to be doing some vacation recaps and reviews, but before I do that, I want to address the elephant-sized mouse in the room.
I had an absolutely fabulous time at Disney World, celebrating my fortieth birthday -- but it was definitely a weird time to be there. The Kimmel cancellation happened about a day and a half before my trip, and was then reversed about a day before it ended. As such, there was really no way for me to cancel the trip in protest. They already had my money and there was no getting it back.
I did pause my Disney+ subscription, and I’m waiting to see how things fall out before I reinstate it. Similarly, I do have a couple of future trips to Disney World planned; I’m waiting to make decisions about those. I was very heartened by Kimmel’s monologue last night, but still, I want to see if Disney’s actually willing to fight, particularly with Trump leveling new threats (and blatantly admitting to extortion) on Truth Social yesterday.
I am, obviously a Disney adult! And I also have a lot of not-great feelings about the company’s behavior as a corporate entity.
Two things can be true.
I love Disney, and I wish they made better choices. I appreciate all that they do for conservation efforts across the world, and I wish they had much better labor practices and paid their employees more. I am so grateful for media like Andor, which is hugely important in this time, and I know and hate that they have often refused to allow various properties to embrace queer plotlines.
I’ve said before that the gulf in my feelings between Disney creative and Disney corporate is enormous. I will be furious if Disney corporate’s decisions put me in a place where I cannot support Disney creative.
It’s always been a complex juxtaposition to navigate, and I suspect many other Disney adults would agree. Our love for the characters, stories, and experiences clashes with the very ethics and morals that those characters, stories, and experiences instilled in us! We listened to all those heroes who stood up for what was right, even when it was hard or dangerous to do so. We heard the message that staying true to yourself is more important than succumbing to pressure. We listened when Sharon Carter, quoting Peggy, said (and yes I know it was Cap years earlier in the comics) “Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, 'No, you move'." And most recently, we listened to Mon Mothma warning us that “the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil.”
All of that is why, though I respect people’s individual decisions, I am not, myself, swearing off Disney forever. I mean, there’s also the fact that a key component of a successful boycott is that you stop boycotting when the behavior changes. At the moment, we’re still waiting to see if Disney will decide to hold the line or not. I believe in holding companies accountable, but if you’re one of the people crowing that you never had Disney+ anyway or you never went to the parks, you can’t believe people who spend money on this… then why on earth should Disney listen to you at all?
And yes, there are certainly other problems with Disney -- but those problems are symptomatic of our late stage capitalism in general. They are certainly not unique to Disney. That’s part of the problem: suppose you do divorce yourself from Disney entirely. What happens when the regime comes for the next platform? Maybe you wean yourself off streaming entirely -- time to read more books! What happens when the regime comes for publishing? That’s the thing about this sort of knee-jerk reaction from both companies and consumers: abandoning the fight makes way for the regime to roll over everyone. They will not be happy until there is nothing left that they don’t control. Someone has to say “No, you move.”
I also know how much of this is tied up with corporate desires for mergers and deals, and frankly, I’ll be perfectly happy if those are the sacrifice that has to be made. The conglomeration of media is not a good thing for creators or audiences. Our current media ecosystems, driven by corporations who’ve become addicted to exponential quarterly growth no matter how unsustainable that is in the long term, are not healthy. There’s a lot wrong with them.
But I also want to keep supporting Disney’s creative talent. I want writers and artists and Imagineers and performers and techies and Park cast members and all the people who make the magic to keep having jobs. I want to show Disney -- and other studios -- that we need more brave storytelling, that we shouldn’t shy away from important issues just because they’ve had culture wars attached to them by opportunistic politicians, and that the company should be living up to the ideals its stories promote.
I want to keep throwing my money at Disney. I know some people find that silly, but let’s be real: it’s not sillier than spending similar amounts (or much more) on sports or concerts. (AJ Wolfe’s book Disney Adults does a nice job of exploring those comparisons). We all need entertainment, community, and . If I choose not to keep spending with this company -- and, if they don’t shape up, I will choose not to; this is far from my first rodeo with problematic creators -- they will not miss my money alone, but I think the past week has shown that they will miss the money of many people like me. This article from Noah Berlatsky talks about how the loss of influencers could be much larger than people might initially assume, because Disney influencers are the ones who persuade other people to spend money on Disney content.
It’s also just… interesting, I guess, that everyone talking about this issue, myself included, talks about “Disney” as though it is one singular entity. What we really mean is Bob Iger, some others of the c-suite, and the shareholders, though. The vast majority of people working for Disney are, I believe, good people. They are people who care about storytelling, customer service, and making magic. And reports indicate that even some of the other senior execs were not on board with Iger’s decision (not to mention Michael Eisner reaming Iger out on Twitter).
So, with all of that in mind, I also hope that we take this opportunity not only to chastise Disney, but the other villains in the piece. If Disney is Darth Vader, then Nexstar and Sinclair are the Emperor. Disney 100% absolutely should not have capitulated to their pressure. It was an act of cowardice unworthy of the company that produced Andor. And they should never have been put in the position with that choice before them.
Two things can be true.
Nexstar, Sinclair, Brendan Carr, and the Trump regime want us focused on the very visible ABC & Disney so that we forget that they’re the motivating factor. Nexstar and Sinclair want the rage focused on Disney+ and theme park cancellations so that we don’t start boycotting their stations -- or worse, their advertisers! Carr & Trump want us focusing on ABC & Disney so that we overlook the fact that they’re fascists who are bent on violating every underlying principle of our republic.
I don’t say this to try to claim that Disney is some sort of underdog here. Hell no. They are one of the heaviest of heavyweights, and if anyone has the capacity to stand up for the First Amendment, it should be them. Their decision was utterly craven (and driven by the desire to get mergers approved, which, frankly, that sort of conglomeration is bad for media in general, so all to the best if they don’t get it). Disney execs have shown before that they are willing to sway in the breeze, whichever way it blows, and that sucks. They should show more spine rather than simply capitulating to the demands of capitalism, because if anyone can afford to, it’s them.
They are not, however, the ones deliberately turning us towards fascism. I’m going to reserve more of my ire for the people who are -- and I want to reward companies that do make the right choices. Even if, perhaps, they have to get bullied into it first.
My hope is that Iger and the other execs who initially made this decision will have learned a lesson -- and not only because it affects their bottom line. Yeah, I know, I’m an incurable optimist. But it’s possible. Kimmel’s monologue last night was a rousing defense of the First Amendment and a call to action for everyone watching to stand firm against the Trump regime’s attempts to erase the Bill of Rights. I would love to see Disney embrace the fight and actively participate in that defense.
A girl can dream.
