"How many doors do I have to break through until they stop locking me out"
Disney is a spineless company, they have shown time and time again that whenever they are faced with a controversy or backlash a change in their policies and approach to new stories will happen. During their battle with Florida´s governor Ron DeSantis they not only lost their perfect image with conservatives–something they were struggling to maintain since their recent movies and TV shows have been criticized by the diverse cast and stories–but also an active boycott by, what it appeared at the time, groups of conservative fanatics.
It is November of 2024 and the culmination of these stories reached its peak when convicted felon and ex-President of the US Donald Trump was reelected to be the 47th president of said country. It is clear that everything is becoming more conservative, more than the previous 10 years. As expected, this is sipping into the media we consume, a return to old storytelling and filmmaking.
Top Gun: Maverick showed us that people crave for old American Exceptionalism and Military power without the critique and moral dilemmas of invading other countries; Avatar: The Way of Water presented Sci-Fi as an action movie, reminiscent of old adventure flicks; Deadpool and Wolverine saw the return of crassness, LGBT representation bordering into homophobic stereotypes and endless references to the past. As Robert B. Ray comments in his book "A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980":
"Historical Crises, on the other hand, often prompted the most conservative films, as Hollywood fulfill its self-appointed role as public comforter. Inevitably, therefore, most Hollywood´s "new" movies looked like the old ones."
While the situation we are now is nowhere near a crisis like The Great Depression or WW2 there is definitely a crisis in the American way of living and the culture war is even more present in society. A return to the 2000s era of content, where Americana was present on everything, the result of the 9/11 attacks, and queer media and representation, while popular was always sidelined or coded.
Why am I bringing Trump and Disney into all of this? It is easy, since the confirmation that he will be the President 47th of the USA, the film industry has been shifting towards a more amicable situation with him and his supporters. The MPA has posted a statement saying they will gladly work with the next administration to make movies great again, Disney is apparently forcing its stars to apologize from previous anti-Trump supporter messages and most recently, Sebastian Stan has mentioned Actors and their managers are refusing to sit with him to talk about his new movie, The Apprentice which details the "origins" of Trump as an evil man.
With the President´s call for the erasure of "gender ideology," destroy anything that targets the nuclear family and its values, bringing Christianity to the classrooms and a federal ban on the research and treatment of Transgender people at any age will certainly reflect on the films and TV that will be put into production on the next 4 years. As established, Disney has been slowly backing down on their support of LGBT causes, and for the topic of this entry, the recent case of self-censorship is proof of this.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur feature everything these people are against, it has a cast comprised of mostly PoC, many of which are queer, and delves into society's introspection and critiques on how the world operates. Some people on the conservative spheres have called this show "Disney´s Captain Planet" which is a critique I don´t subscribe to, while Captain Planet felt very corporate, and pandering MGDD is more intimate and personal.
Recently, it was revealed that an episode was shelved thanks to the results of the 2024 election, Trump Won and Transgender people have to pay, or so is the idea flying on Twitter and other social media groups. The episode in question is called The Gatekeeper, which supposedly should have been released in the first half of season two, it focuses on Brooklyn, an openly transgender teen who has to defeat the system and the oppression to play volleyball with her friends. It is easy to dismiss this 20-minute episode as woke and "kids do not watch this" but beyond this simplistic opinion–one that is very popular with pseudo-centrists–the episode not only makes a firm stand towards rejecting any form of transphobia by the opposite team´s coach but a recognition, validation and respect towards the transgender youth which is ignored by these reactionary groups calling them "degenerates" and "confused."
We need more episodes like this, in a world where teens are targeted by these evil enforcers of "truth" both allies and transgender people need to all work together to create spaces for these people to exist and express themselves. The reaction of the animation community and former Disney creators was expected. The idea of a company, which a large portion of its audience identifies as queer is only used, depicted, and embraced only when it is for profit or to increase its reputation is not only predatory but also gross.
The official response by Disney stated that this decision was made before the election and, while the show is aimed at teens the company is "respectful of the role that parents play in the discussions they have with children" a lukewarm statement that does not go into details why this measure was taken and is yet another precedent on how things will be done going forward.
We need to fight back against transphobia and bigotry, and the distribution of this episode on sites like YouTube or Internet Archive and the further discussions queer people have on the media being produced will work towards our goal for inclusion and diversity. We cannot let the 10-year improvement in queer representation, and the discussion on sensitive topics like Islamophobia, racism, and discrimination be destroyed thanks to a group of radical fanatics. Finally, contrary to what these internet personalities might want you to think, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur not only is appropriate for children and teens thanks to its TV-Y7-FV rating but I would recommend it to any parent wanting their kids to watch quality Television. Much better than letting them go on their parent´s phone or iPad watching Instagram Reels or TikToks.
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