It's always fascinating to see grown adults look at something clearly made for children and complain that it doesn't cater to them, specifically. Many people with a passing familiarity with the ever popular My Little Pony will probably know that feeling. But it gets even more baffling when the thing being criticized is well-known for intentionally appealing to as many people as possible. This was the case when a recent opinion piece tried to shame Disney World for being inclusive, and seemingly the entire rest of Disney's whole fanbase wasn't having any of it.
On April 23rd, The Orlando Sentinel published an op-ed by a self-proclaimed "loyal" Disney fan attempting to point out how the company's efforts to make their theme parks more welcoming to guests is actually a bad thing. "The parks are less fun because immersion and thus the joy is taking a back seat to politics," he wrote, referring to the act of removing outdated and bigoted portrayals of people on various rides (as well as the decision to change the dress code slightly) as "politics." Well, luckily for him, he definitely got the attention of some heavy hitters, just not in the way he'd hoped.
RELATED: How Will The Next Movie Based On A Disney World Ride Look?
Actor Josh Gad, who has gotten regular work from Disney in films like Frozen and the live-action Emma Watson-starring Beauty and the Beast remake, quickly took to Twitter to call out the man for his exclusionary take. Mocking the view that Disney's efforts to make their guests feel more welcome had somehow "ruined the experience" for this particular op-ed writer, Gad tweeted "I love the Orlando Sentinel, but racist 'journalism' is ruining the experience."
Meanwhile, director James Gunn, who recently finished work on his upcoming sequel/soft reboot The Suicide Squad, gave a decidedly more direct response to the piece, calling attention to the use of "wokeness" as a sort of catch-all for everything the opinion writer hated. "The 'wokeness', specifically, is seeing cast members tattoos & removing a character named 'Trader Sam' from Jungle Cruise," Gunn tweeted. "A grown man sees these things (or doesn't see them) & gets all worked up & the experience is 'ruined' for him. Somehow he doesn't see this as HIS problem." As of yet, there doesn't seem to be an official response from the op-ed's writer.
Gunn and Gad weren't the only people to push back against the hateful rhetoric. Film executive and founder of The Black List Franklin Leonard took a slightly more lighthearted still masterfully shade-throwing approach, saying "The people who most need to get roasted in a group chat don't have a group chat to get roasted in." Even comedian Patton Oswalt took a less direct shot at the issue by quote tweeting another user's takedown of the piece. It's been an impressive display of support for inclusivity and the people who benefit from it, but even if it weren't for the massive backlash, such a loathsome look at one of the most welcoming places on the planet would still be worth knocking down, just like Splash Mountain's extremely outdated theme based around a shockingly distasteful old film.
Representation and inclusivity matter, and even a money-focused company like Disney knows that. It should be a no-brainer that encouraging more people to share the Disney World experience will only serve to enhance the whole thing. Even from a more cynical view, more people equals more money, and that will keep the whole operation that much more successful. So someone actively trying to discourage such a thing isn't doing it out of love or even greed. It's nothing but pure and unambiguous hate.
MORE: Seinfeld's Jason Alexander Knows How George Would Handle The Pandemic
Source: Variety