Overshadowed by Controversy: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[Any Bonds Today?]]'' was a 1942 [[Propaganda Piece|propaganda film]] commissioned by the United States Department of the Treasury to Warner Bros.; it would later be known more for its [[Values Dissonance]] in the form of Bugs Bunny donning a blackface than the film encouraging Americans at the time to buy war bonds and contribute to the Allied military effort.
* Media coverage of the 2019 Spanish animated feature ''[[Elcano & Magallanes: First Trip Around the World]]'' was skewed more towards the outrage it generated when Filipinos took umbrage over its [[Cross-Cultural Kerfluffle|depiction]] of [[Lapu-Lapu]] and the Battle of Mactan in a decidedly villainous light. [[Misplaced Nationalism]] ensued when Filipinos, whose elementary school textbook knowledge of their country's history is [[The Theme Park Version|a little distorted]] to say the least, took to social media and bashed the living daylights out of the film, the catch being that most of the outrage came from those who [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch|hadn't even watched the whole film yet]], and were motivated more by [[Serious Business|blind patriotism]] and the [[GIFT|typical keyboard-warrior mentality]] than sincere and level-headed perception of history.
** Said Filipinos are under the impression that Lapu-Lapu fought for the Philippines as a whole as the first to resist colonial rule, something [[Rodrigo Duterte]] played up and over-hyped in a statement; historians and scholars disagree with this, as the Philippines as we know it is a relatively recent concept, and the archipelago was at the time made up of mostly unconnected tribal polities who waged wars against each other for whatever reason. Furthermore, Magellan and his posse weren't necessarily plotting to conquer any land - Magellan did have chieftain Rajah Humabon and his consort Humamay converted to Catholicism, but other than that, it was largely a trade expedition. It wasn't until 1565 when King Philip II spearheaded the conquest of the Philippines through a Spanish expedition of five hundred men led by Miguel López de Legazpi. To top it all off, a Rappler columnist bluntly pointed out<ref>[https://www.rappler.com/views/imho/244538-anger-toward-elcano-magellan-film-unjustified Thebluntly angerpointed toward the ‘Elcano & Magellan’ film is unjustifiedout]</ref> the hypocrisy in an editorial, where he noted how the producers of the 2013 religious historical drama ''[[Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir]]'' had no qualms about portraying the Chamorro people as barbaric savages who slayed Calungsod for his missionary work – the film was universally praised in the Philippines, but was unsurprisingly panned by the Chamorros in Guam.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' has an [[In-Universe]] example with Russ Meyers Sr., the creator of Itchy and Scratchy (well, sort of). While most regard him as a beloved cartoonist (often portrayed as this reality's equivalent of [[Walt Disney]]), he was also criticized for a controversial cartoon called "Nazi Supermen are Our Superiors". Oh, and as revealed in one episode, [[Plagiarism in Fiction|he was a plagiarist.]]
* John Lasseter was known for directing pioneering works such as ''[[Toy Story]]'', ''[[A Bug's Life]]'' and ''[[Cars]]'' among others, but his reputation as an influential animator went down the drain when allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced accusing him of "grabbing, kissing, [and] making comments about physical attributes" towards female colleagues, and that Pixar had minders reminding Lasseter to lay off of his perversions. In fairness, he did more or less admit to his "missteps", but still it left a sour taste on those who grew up with the films he directed. The controversy with Lasseter may have also accounted for the removal of a mock blooper scene in recent home media releases of ''[[Toy Story 2]]'' that featured the Prospector suggestively enticing a pair of [[Barbie]] dolls with a role in ''[[Toy Story 3]]''.
* ''[[PAW Patrol]]'' suffered from this during Summer 2020, when it was also caught up in the sociopolitical upheavals of the 2010s-2020s particularly during the wake of the George Floyd protests, where the show was criticised for promoting "copaganda" through its positive portrayal of Chase, the police pup, and also when the show's Twitter account announced that they would go dark in memory of Floyd. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed the show was cancelled due to "cancel culture", but the show denied any such cancellation. This led to "Chase's Ultimate Rescue" episodes temporarily being pulled, and the Nick Jr. website changing an icon of Chase (used to represent ''PAW Patrol'') to an icon of Marshall, the fire pup.
* [[Walt Disney]] is hailed as the godfather of American animation, having been behind such seminal works like ''[[Mickey Mouse]]'', ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' and many others, but in recent years his legacy has been peppered with accusations of racism, sexism and antisemitism (which [[Seth McFarlane]] is more than happy to throw potshots at in ''[[Family Guy]]''), as well as the fact that the company which bears his name has infamously lobbied to keep Mickey out of public domain, not to mention that the company's sway and influence over global culture gave Walt the dubious honour of being a purveyor of [[Eagleland Osmosis|American cultural imperialism]] (e.g. the criticism towards [[Disneyland]] Paris). Much of the accusations leveled towards him were addressed by both his peers and historians, however: The Walt Disney Family Museum acknowledges the ethnic stereotypes present in at least some of his films during his heyday, and it wasn't unique to Disney either as studios like [[Warner Bros]]. has made similarly insensitive content before. In addition, Walt regularly donated to Jewish causes and hired Jewish and black people as well.
* The renovated dark ride based on ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' gained controversy in 2021<ref>[https://www.distractify.com/p/disney-snow-white-ride-canceled Disneyland'sgained Snowcontroversy Whitein Ride Might Be Canceled Because of One Scene2021]</ref> for depicting what is seen by some as an inappropriate, non-consensual romantic interaction. A ''San Francisco Chronicle'' editor ran an op-ed about how supposedly inappropriate the "true love's kiss" scene is (as Snow White is unconscious and thus could not consent to the Prince's actions towards her), and soon enough, right-wing news outlets such as [[Fox News]] picked it up and made the situation bigger than it should. There were however those who came to Disney's defense and argued that the supposedly problematic scene was taken way out of context and viewed in an overly cynical light without taking into account the customs of the era the film was released (or the fairy tale itself for that matter), and an editor for the ''Toronto Star'' opined that the outrage is "a kiss of death for common sense".
* [[Looney Tunes]] character Pepé Le Pew gained notoriety in recent years as his dogged pursuit of love–to which other characters express revulsion largely due to his unpleasant odour–did not age well with modern audiences who viewed Pepé's actions as "normalising rape culture". Linda Jones-Clough, daughter of Pepé's creator [[Chuck Jones]], disagrees with the contemporary assessment however, as she opined that in no way was Chuck Jones intent on depicting a sexual predator, but to poke fun as screenwriter Tedd Pierce's "ladies' man" status and his then-lack of success with romancing women at the time. Nonetheless, Warner Bros. announced that Pepé had been cut from ''[[Space Jam A New Legacy]]'', and would no longer be included in its current Looney Tunes roster.