Oct 20, 2020 10:05:00

Disney adds warnings that masterpieces such as Dumbo and Peter Pan contain racism and harmful stereotypes

by

Otterbein University Theater

Notify that past classic movies such as ' Dumbo ' and ' Peter Pan ' on Disney's streaming service ' Disney + ' contain racism and harmful stereotypes before they are played. A new warning has been added.

Disney Plus adds new content warnings calling out racism and harmful stereotypes --Polygon
https://www.polygon.com/2020/10/19/21523078/disney-plus-12-second-unskippable-content-warning-stories-matter-advisory

A warning has been added to inform you that 'racism and harmful stereotypes are included' in some of Disney +'s classic and animated films. There will be no deletion or reorganization of works that have racism or harmful stereotypes, but a 12 second non-skippable warning will be displayed.

The newly added warning is: 'This program contains negative depictions and abuses of people and culture. These stereotypes are still and always wrong. Remove this content. Instead of doing, we want to recognize the harmful effects, learn from them, invigorate conversations, and create a more inclusive future together. '

In addition, there is a link at the end of the warning to the page '

Story Issues ', where 'racism and harmful stereos are part of our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.' It contains a comment about the content to which the warning was added, along with the description 'We decided to add a warning to the delivery title that contains the type.'

Disney + Advisory --Stories Matter | The Walt Disney Company

For example, in ' Fashionable Cat ', a cat with diagonal eyes and big front teeth appears, which is depicted as an exaggerated racist caricature for East Asian people. The white actor who plays this cat sings in mellow English and plays the piano with chopsticks. In addition, the lyrics of the songs sung by cats include content that imitates the Chinese language and culture.

The Disney + 'Story Issues' page also lists the names of member organizations that belong to Disney's advisory board, as well as human rights groups such as AAFCA , GLAAD , and Illumi Native.