Disney and the Empty Rituals of Liberal Antiracism

I enjoyed Disney’s Aladdin when it came out, so I decided to watch it again. The very first thing I saw were these words:

This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.

Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe.

To learn more about how stories have impacted society, please visitwww.disney.com/StoriesMatter

Three things struck me:

1. How can a movie that makes little white kids want to be Aladdin and Jasmine be racist in any meaningful way?
2. Liberal identitarians consider any hint of stereotype wrong now, but when Aladdin came out, Disney was applauded for adding a middle-easterner to its collection of princesses, so it’s hard to argue that the movie was wrong then.
3. If Aladdin turns children into racists, how does adding a ten-second notice in small print change that? If Disney truly thought the movie was harmful, wouldn’t they pull it from their catalog?