Racism/Discrimination/Assault by costumed characters?

[FettFan]

Apparently there are now two families accusing Disneyland costumed characters of racial discrimination and are filing suit against the park.

Perhaps I'm just jaded by the increasingly-litigious society we live in, but my gut reaction is that these are folks just scammers looking for a quick buck. For one there is a huge burden of proof issue. I mean, at least when the dad sued WDW because Tigger "punched" his son, there was video evidence presented that he claimed supported his (totally bogus upon further review) story.

And in the case Darth Maul got way too rough with an autistic boy, the video evidence presented by the family was damning enough to have the cast member terminated.


So...a couple questions....
1. Do you believe the mother's story? Or do you think she is either misinterpreting the performers actions or making it up altogether?

2. Have you ever been witness to a costumed cast member behaving badly at WDW? If so what were the circumstances behind it?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Ongoing discussion here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...bbit-refused-to-touch-kids-disneyland.859653/

 

[PhotoDave219]

...... What a crock of (Pooh!)

1 - I think she's completely misinterpreting what is going on or not giving the entire story. Either way, there's no guarantee that the character saw the child.

2 - No, but Ive seen many guests treat characters badly.

 

[BigRedDad]

I will not offer an opinion on this subject because my views will be misconstrued as not politically correct. I am a realist and my opinions are my own.

 

[rufio]

I'm not sure what to say about the Darth Maul clip... I can't think of a logical excuse for what he did! But the tigger one is obviously harmless.

 

[ddbowdoin]

another race card being dropped...

 

[hiptwinmama]

I mentioned this to my mom yesterday....

As a child we went to WDW A LOT.... we lived 60 min away. She said there were several times, when a character would walk away from us because they couldn't see us. Or, they it would be time to leave and they would walk away ... stopping to hug another child as they were leaving. You still see that in the parks today, and it happened to my daughters last year at EPCOT in world show case. I think it was mis interpreted, and that some people are very sensitive when it comes to their children or maybe lawsuit happy.

That being said, I wasn't there and I haven't seen a video.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Does anyone else find it strange that the last names of the two families claiming racism are "Black" and "White"

 

[captainkidd]

Does anyone else find it strange that the last names of the two families claiming racism are "Black" and "White"

I just posted about this. The situation isn't funny, but how can you not find the last names hilarious?

 

[Ginzuishou]

I think the family is overreacting. It's silly to file a lawsuit over this. If the child had hurt feelings, the parents should have said or done something to take the child's mind away from it.

Such as, ""ooh, see,,,the character is very very busy, we'll come back later for a hug when less people are around"

The kid is probably more traumatized due to the family's actions.

 

[disneygirl1024]

Wow! I just watched the video of the Darth Maul incident and all I can say is just WOW! Why would that character act that way towards a child? Understandable the child should not have walked out into the street, but jeez, he's a child. Those are adult defenses used towards a child. I have a big problem with that.

 

[CP_alum08]

Stories like these make me infuriated. People like this are looking for any possible way to game the system and don't care who they hurt in the process.

I'll play devil's advocate and say that even if the costumed character did intentionally ignore the boy AND the mother got video evidence of it, the racism would only be implied and there is no rule that says once you buy a ticket you are guaranteed to meet characters. I'm no layer but it seems like they wouldn't have a shred of a case for themselves.

 

[scottnj1966]

I have not seen any specifics but did these children just run up to the characters while everyone else was waiting in line?

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

Wow! I just watched the video of the Darth Maul incident and all I can say is just WOW! Why would that character act that way towards a child? Understandable the child should not have walked out into the street, but jeez, he's a child. Those are adult defenses used towards a child. I have a big problem with that.

I had a somewhat similar thing happen during SW's weekend last year. It was late evening and we were walking up the ramp by LM and a couple of Storm Trooper came around the wall. We moved to the side, but I held up my camera to take a picture and one of the Troopers held up his arm like he was going to hit me. Of course, he didn't, but it really bothered me. My daughter told me he was simply staying in character. I don't think so. The show was over, and we didn't approach him at all. We moved back against the rail out of their way. The other one just looked his way and slowly walked by so I could get his picture. I could tell he didn't think what the other guy did was okay. Several more came by and they all went to the building where Narmia used to be. No one else acted like that at all. There wasn't a crowd around, so it wasn't that the guy felt threatened. Besides, what could an older tiny lady and a 100 lb. teen do to a group of costumed storm troopers. I've seen several online videos of costumed characters at the Star Wars events, including Darth Mall, shoving small children. Disney's response was something about they didn't hire the characters or some such excuse.
I've never had one of the Star War characters act anything like that before. They were actually very accommodating to picture takers.
Oh, well. Stuff happens. Hasn't stopped me from going back, though I don't really go near the Storm Troopers or Darth Mall characters anymore.

 

[Ginzuishou]

The Darth Maul thing....

The character actor did react a bit harsh; however, the kid walks right up to him and unintentionally(?) started slapping. The kid also was way out of bounds from the rest of the crowd. Let's blame the parents as well in this.

 

[Wesleyjohn]

The Darth Maul thing....

The character actor did react a bit harsh; however, the kid walks right up to him and unintentionally(?) started slapping. The kid also was way out of bounds from the rest of the crowd. Let's blame the parents as well in this.

Agreed,times ten. I feel bad for the kid, but if my kid, under any circumstances went out that far, would get a "that's what you get" Disney employee got fired, kid got hit because his parents allowed disobedience to rules. Stinks but fair is fair on both sides. Harsh I know, sorry

 

[WED99]

I just watch the video about the racism claim and this is my opinion on the matter. It's really hard to tell who's in the right here. We only have one ladies opinion and she could be majorly overreacting. Disney did give them free passes so I feel like the should be enough compensation. If she had more evidence then maybe it could be taken further but she doesn't, so filing a lawsuit is way out of hand. Now that kid is going to have to grow up remembering how his family sued Disneyland because they though Donald Duck was racist.

On the Darth Maul topic, I saw this video a long time ago and it's nearly impossible to say the actor didn't do anything wrong. I can relate to what he did, I do it all the time. You see someone doing something they shouldn't be and you just lose control and have this burst of anger. However, the mum shouldn't let her son roam wherever he wants during a parade especially if he is autistic! The video was majorly manipulative and I think the fact that it was a disabled child helped them win the case, but I still think it should of just be called even.