The
movie Zootopia highlighted multiple problems
in today’s world. Looking at the movie through the lens of a college student,
instead of that of a child, I noticed several commentaries on discrimination,
cultural appropriation, and politically correct language.
When the
movie started, the setting was in a theatre, literally and figuratively setting
the stage for the movie, as the protagonist was expressing views that seemed
unheard of in the small town in which she lived. Then, the setting shifted to a
rural town, and I immediately noticed how the Gideon the fox, who had a narrow
minded view on the world, had a strong southern accent and was alluded to be
illiterate. I considered this to be a nod to how people equate the south and
other rural areas with being socially backwards.
When the protagonist Judy leaves
for the city, however, everything seems better on the surface. Things appeared
as if they were accessible to all; the apple juice vendor had a machine that
raised the cups up to the giraffes as a commentary how food is supposed to be
plentiful in a eutopia. As Judy settles into the city she finds herself facing
discrimination at work and living in a small apartment with noisy neighbors;
the film is pointing out how we generalize these areas as being a certain way,
but it is really in the hands of the individual. The movie displays the
government as corrupt and pretentious in helping its people; the night howler
problem is similar to the theory that drugs were introduced to the inner city
by the government.
We were
exposed to cultural appropriation and politically correct language throughout
the movie. The scene in which the cat calls Judy “cute,” she tells him that it’s
okay for bunnies to call each other cute, but other animals cannot call them “cute.”
That kind of sounded like black people can say the n-word, but other people
cannot say it because it seems racist, or, if we equate the predators with
masculinity and the prey with femininity, then the Cat was cat-calling her. Later
in the film, the Fox touches the sheep’s wooly hair because he is curious - it
benefits him - and Judy tells him that he cannot touch the sheep’s wooly hair.
Despite
these commentaries, it seemed as if the movie pointed out how it’s easy to
slip, in regards to how we address each other. For example, at one point in the
movie, the Fox calls the Judy “cute,” but, as we established earlier, only bunnies
could call each other cute. In addition to that, I found it ironic that the
film was progressive in its views, but it included the Italian mobster
stereotype as well as the jersey shore Italian stereotype. Perhaps, these insertions
were meant to point out that some things are the way they are.
Overall,
Zootopia was more than just a message
of “never judge a book by its cover” or “be nice and fair to each other,” as
its target audience, little children, may perceive it. Some may even call it
too radical too even be a children’s movie because it was more blatant than
other children movies in regards to its innuendoes. With the way things are
going, my guess is that the purpose for that was to introduce these themes to
kids very early so that they know that it is not okay to mistreat people based
on their gender, for example.
