It’s a morality tale in itself. The story of a vainglorious and hypocritical king whose over-polished halo has become a dead weight – impeding all logic – having the keys of his Magic Kingdom taken away. Hypocritical because while Disney has been flaunting its LGBTQ+ credentials, it has also been planning to extend its streaming service into Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian National Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Yemen – countries not known for their rainbow flag-waving stances. And, of course, Disney has censored its films to make them more appealing to China, and its repressive Communist regime.
These are details the company would rather we didn’t focus on. It’s words and gestures that matter most in the cowardly new world of virtue signalling. Words like those of Disney’s general entertainment president, Karey Burke, who on a Disney-wide Zoom call last month said: “I’m here as the mother of two queer children – actually, one transgender child and one pansexual child – and as a leader.”
The call was part of Disney’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” campaign, which promises that 50 per cent of characters and content will be LGBTQ+ by the end of 2022.
Gestures like Chapek’s condemnation of Florida’s new, so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. Which I happen to find concerning not because I believe under-nines should be given classes in gender identity (I’ve made my feelings clear on that subject), but because outright bans on the discussion of any subject in a school environment are concerning. Children who don’t feel able to discuss any given issue at home should always feel able to do so with their teachers.
The point is, however, that Disney didn’t have to wade into this complex debate, or any other beyond its remit. We don’t need to imagine a world in which companies feel obliged to weigh in on hot-button political topics and declare their affiliations. That, sadly, is the world we live in.
But picture Heinz Baked Beans announcing its stance on abortion, Walkers Crisps jumping into the immigration debate and Lego issuing statements on the importance of Covid 19 vaccinations. It wouldn’t just be pompous and preposterous, but an example of extremely poor business sense. Who made you our moral arbiters? Get back in your box!
Had Chapek decided to stay out of politics and stuck to the narrative he appeared to promote at the start of his tenureship (in an email sent to staff he wrote that the best way to fight stigma is “through the inspiring content we produce”) he would have avoided himself, his shareholders and his consumers a world of pain.
What would Uncle Walt think if he were alive today? If he saw that the world he had created was being overshadowed by its own woke agenda? It doesn’t bear thinking about. Right now, we need that mad-cap, escapist, fun-loving and crucially unifying world more than ever.
