Professortango1
Well-Known Member
In my example from my own life, the director would tell you that she wasn't being problematic. The people of color in the cast disagreed. People can be problematic without a conscious effort to. Even while trying to say something positive.I guess I can see that angle - my thinking was more “If an author tells you their work 100% does not mean ___, and you 100% believe them, well, ok - their work doesn’t mean ____.” If you’re saying they accidentally picked up on something of an esoteric reference (I say esoteric because this is Disney, they’re not clueless about pop culture), then I see what you’re saying.
And the filmmakers chose to make drug references in the film which tie to our lives. They chose to use phrases like "token" and "why don't you go back to the jungle" and "that's our word." They chose to make a film that discusses racism and make it clear that is what they were doing. But then by applying those ideas to animals in a prey/predator world, they failed to realize the full weight of what they were saying.