Everyone's Pissed at Moana, and Disney

     Every few years, the Walt Disney Company puts out a new installment in its series of animated princess movies. Helmed by their animation branch, Walt Disney Animation Studios, their princess movies have been some of the most beloved and critically lauded animated movies of all time; despite their success, there hasn't been a shortage of controversy surrounding them. Disney has been criticized for promoting the damsel in distress archetype, having all their princesses be extremely skinny, and promoting love of self-empowerment. But even with the criticism, Disney keeps making them and they keep making money. In a few months they have the newest installment coming along, "Moana," a story about a young Polynesian woman exploring the ocean in an attempt to save her people. When first announced, Disney was praised for tackling a new culture, often left out of their mostly monochromatic princesses; but as time has gone on, the criticism has come back.

     A majority of the criticism has revolved around another main character named Maui. In Polynesian folk lore, Maui is a powerful, shape-shifting demi-God. In the movie, he's being voiced by Dwayne Johnson. Many were happy with the casting of Johnson, since he is of Hawaiian descent. But when the character model was presented, the character was criticized by a vocal minority that he was fat. People have said the character being portrayed as fat is a stereotype of Polynesian people. Maui is supposed to be strong and powerful, but they say the character in the movie is not. They must have watched a different trailer than myself. In the trailer for the movie, it's clear that Maui is incredibly strong; at one point he lifted a boat over his head like it was a feather. While the character isn't incredibly muscular, he actually looks like an Olympic power-lifter instead of a bodybuilder; and if it's not obvious, power-lifters are much stronger. The character is drawn like he should be drawn, large and powerful. I do find it funny that the same people calling Maui fat are the same people calling Moana too skinny. Apparently it’s OK for women to be on the larger side, but men should be very athletic. Once again double standards have reared their ugly head when it comes to movies.
     There have been a few other controversies around the movie, such as a full body Maui costume with his tattoos and a darker skin color. The costume was compared to black face; Disney has since pulled the item and apologized. I usually try and play devil's advocate and understand both sides, but in this case Disney made a bad and frankly dumb move. But as always, at the end of the day, I don't really care. Disney Animation has been on a roll for the past few years, and I'm sure "Moana" will be great. When the movie rolls around, and you still may feel offended by it, there is a simple solution. Just don't go see it.

Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moana.svg

Film: Racism, Double Standards, and Everyone Hates Everyone

     The film industry has a long history of some questionable practices when it comes to a race. For years, filmmakers would go out of their way not to have people of color take part in their movies; in the 20s and 30s, it was common for white actors in black face to play stereotypical black characters. And even in the decades that followed, this practice continued. One of the more offensive portrayals of a character of color would have to be in "Breakfast at Tiffany's;" where an offensive Asian man is played by white actor Mickey Rooney. In recent years, the practice of having white actors play minority characters has gone away; but what has replaced it would be replacing people of various races all together and just having the character be white. Coined "whitewashing," this practice has caused quite a bit of controversy; and even in 2016, one of the biggest movies of the year is causing a stir with effect.

     "Doctor Strange" is an upcoming superhero movie from Marvel. It revolves around the title character, who embraces his destiny to save the world. While many are excited for the film, some are less enthusiastic. In the comics the movie is based off of, there is a character named The Ancient One. This character is Doctor Strange's teacher, and has always been portrayed as Asian; but in the upcoming movie, the character is played by Tilda Swinton, a white actress. When the casting was announced, many screamed whitewashing. People argued that there was no reason for the race of the character to be changed. The backlash was so strong Marvel released a statement regarding the affair. Some will argue the whole situation is cut and dry, Marvel didn't want a main character to be a minority. But if that's true, what's with some other Marvel casting.

     Sometime in 2017, Marvel will be releasing a new Spider-Man movie; and for the first time in a long time, people are excited about that. A few months ago Marvel announced the casting for the film, and everyone lost their minds. Zendaya, a young black actress, was cast to play the traditionally white character Mary Jane. While some argued that this was a great progressive step for the industry, others argued that this was Marvel just trying to appease the PC crowd. The question remains, what's with the hypocrisy?

     What I find funny about the situation is that the defenders of each actress condemn the casting of the other. It's pretty apparent that people support the casting that goes along with their own agenda. Personally, I don't care. Zendaya is a promising, aspiring young actress and Swinton is one of the finest actresses of her generation. I'm fine with both casting choices. And I'm perfectly fine if actors of a different race are cast to play a character, so long as they will do a good job in the role. 

Sources: 
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/doctor-strange-whitewashing-tilda-swinton-marvel-1201762267/
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/spider-man-casting-controversy-revives-racial-tensions-n637111