Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, resigned on Monday, amid the company's flagging profits and decreasing popularity with the American public.
BREAKING: Disney film president Sean Bailey is leaving, effective immediately.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 26, 2024
Bailey was in charge of Disney remakes.
Bailey was responsible for recent bombs like Little Mermaid (2023) and Peter and Wendy.
Disney lost a whopping $1 billion at the box office last year over…
Bailey had some hits, with the live-action remakes of 'Aladdin' and 'The Lion King' and was not Disney's biggest problem, nor the person who should have resigned given their issues.
And those issues run deep; like, awaken-the-Balrog deep.
I love movies. I've been going to movies on my own since I was 13; I wasn't cool or popular, but for a few hours on a Saturday I could get lost in another world. Some have been amazing -- 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring', for example, was transformative for my 18-year-old self. Others have been, at best, disappointing (I saw 'Waterworld' in the theater. Don't judge me). But it was always an experience.
Disney was always a mainstay of my childhood. You'd be hard pressed to find a woman my age who, as a little girl, didn't want to be a mermaid like Ariel, or a princess like Belle or Jasmine. It was magical.
As a mom, there was a time when Disney meant media I could trust: I could put on a Disney movie and not worry about what my boys were being exposed to. A trip to Disney World in Florida was on my bucket list.
Not anymore.
Not only has Disney jumped feet first into political debate, and lost spectacularly to Ron DeSantis, but it has become a cesspool of far-woke garbage.
Just look at at these inclusion standards:
An anonymous source just sent me this from Disney. It is mandatory, institutionalized racism and sexism! pic.twitter.com/npMy8YfA1j
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2024
They've utterly destroyed beloved IPs like 'Star Wars' and the MCU. They've put Pakistani feminist activist Sharmeen Obaid-Chiboy in charge of the next installment of 'Star Wars.' Obaid-Chiboy likes 'making men uncomfortable' with her films and says it's time a woman 'shaped a story in a galaxy far, far away.'
But when Disney had a woman (and a strong female character) in Gina Carano's Cara Dune -- Disney fired and maligned the actress for having incorrect opinions on social media (while not holding male stars like Pedro Pascal to the same standard). Carano is, rightly, suing because of it.
Their recent films have been flops, and sometimes unmitigated disasters. MCU's 'The Marvels', with a budget of $270 million, has only made $206 million at the box office since it's November release. It hasn't even begun to break even.
But, because the far-woke and the Left are incapable of one millisecond of introspection, the blame lies not with them, but with the audiences. Check out this screed from an anonymous Disney exec:
A Disney executive basically admits they're worried they've lost the 'Get Woke, Go Broke' crowd (from @MattBelloni's Puck newsletter) pic.twitter.com/rV0n3UBy9u
— Nick Field (@nick_field90) February 19, 2024
No -- when we say films are bad, it's because they're bad.
They create female characters who have no flaws (can't have that, because girl boss or something), and therefore no dynamic, relatable character and no character development or arc. The women are always perfect, can do no wrong, and never make a mistake or fail. It's why a 110-lb woman can go toe-to-toe with a 250-lb man in a fight and win. It may make the execs feel good, but the audience knows it's bulls**t and doesn't want to see that. Meanwhile, the men always are flawed, need to be taught a lesson, can never lead or teach because that would be sexist.
They lament the idea of the 'male gaze' in female-driven films, but the stars have no problem with the 'male gaze' while on the red carpet. They also don't have a problem with males buying the tickets.
There's also the issue of representation -- this insidious notion that audiences can't connect to movies unless they see someone who looks like them. That is, on its face, insulting and demeaning. The themes of some of the best movies -- friendship, loyalty, doing what's right in the face of hardship or danger, learning from failure or mistakes -- are not contingent on race. They are part of the human condition. We, regardless of race, are all human, no?
And there was a time movies acknowledged this, and produced films accordingly. Or they produced films that were meant as an escape, or to make you think. But the goal was to tell a story, and a good one, about something (and often, at the end of the day, about ourselves).
Disney is not alone; they're just the biggest name.
This same mentality is infesting all of Hollywood.
Do you wonder why we don't have big, blockbuster, original movies anymore? Because while other studios may not have overt inclusion standards like Disney (heck, even the Academy Awards have inclusion standards for Best Picture nominees), studios, producers, directors, and writers are all terrified to create something original: it might offend someone.
And when I say 'offend someone', odds are it'll be a handful of pathetic, anonymous randos on Twitter. But the media will pick up the story, foment outrage, and then the studio caves to the woke mob. Just like any other business: they'll cater to a small, minority demographic who have no intention of being their customers at the sake of the actual customer base, who they'll go out of their way to alienate. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Films like 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie' are now outliers. Original-ish films (one based on historical events, the other a beloved staple of American pop culture) that tell more adult stories. We don't see big comedies anymore (that might hurt someone's feelings). Action movies are bland, or -- in the case of the recent release 'Argylle' -- a good concept poorly executed.
Thankfully, the era of technology and interconnectedness makes it possible to enjoy films from foreign studios, ones that aren't hamstrung by the far-woke. 'Godzilla Minus One', last year's Japanese sleeper hit, and 2016's 'Train To Busan', from Korea are both phenomenal films; the kind American studios used to make. Both tell good, engaging stories with interesting, dynamic characters. Characters with flaws, characters with story arcs and development. We could learn a lot from them, just as we learned from the French New Wave auteurs and other foreign filmmakers in decades past.
I have never been one of those conservatives who shuns pop culture because I disagree with the politics of those producing it. I can appreciate good art for good art's sake and -- let's be blunt -- life is incredibly dull when you have to limit your entertainment to a specific ideology. The right doesn't exactly produce a lot of good content, sadly.
I also have, for a very long time, argued wokeness creates a cultural desert. And it does. It makes it damn near impossible to tell stories, to create new and daring things, to push boundaries because someone, somewhere, will have thin skin.
Perhaps, slowly, the tide will turn, because in this vast cinematic wasteland, we all need a refreshing drink.
***
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Twitchy's conservative reporting taking on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth. Join Twitchy VIP and use the promo code SAVEAMERICA to get 50% off your VIP membership!
