RE: Disney channel shows
Michael > January 16th, 2022, 06:52 PM
Maybe. I'm afraid I don't watch Disney teen shows so it's not a topic about which I feel comfortable pontificating.
But I'd say they still have a long way to go with their superhero mixes. I haven't watched Eternals yet, but the pushback I saw online include complaints about some stereotypes. The superhero genre is built on stereotypes, but the comic books also experimented with breaking those stereotypes many times, going back at least to the 1970s if not earlier.
There was a scene in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier where a couple of police officers racially profile Sam Wilson (the Falcon, played so capable by Anthony Mackie). It was obviously included as a nod to the recent Black Lives Matter protests. But in real life, Sam Wilson probably would have grown up being stopped and questioned or followed by police officers many times.
So, was this scene a new stereotype? Or was this scene breaking the classic stereotype where "no one messes with the heroes"?
One of the cops whispers to the other, "These guys are Avengers", which kind of defuses the tension. I'm still wondering, months later, if that was the best way to handle the scene. On the one hand, it makes sense that someone should speak up and say something - but then, why didn't the first cop recognize them? And does the scene imply that Avengers have some kind of privileged status in society?
It's a very complicated scene. So maybe Disney isn't ready to bring all that down to the teenage shows? But then, if that's the way Disney execs are thinking about these things, I'd say they're being too condescending to our teenagers. It's not like they've grown up in a vacuum. They've seen what is going on around us at least as much as the adults (and in my opinion, more than many adults who want to live in a stereotype world of their own).
So, basically, I dunno - but I'd say they should increase diversity and be more honest about it across the spectrum of their programming.