Action Item: Tell Disney that racism sucks, yarrrr
So like a gazillion other people in the US this weekend, Sweet Feminist Boy and I went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean flick. I really dug the first one. Good banter! Fun sword fights! Tough heroine who's openly critical of the stupid, oppressive female wardrobe of the era! Clever, swashbuckling, girly-man heroes! Johnny Depp in eyeliner! What's not to like? Warning!! Spoilers ahoy!
Would that the second one had been as fun. Not nearly as much banter, our heroine had much less to do, and then there was the massive dose of racism. I was irritated by the treacherous and disposable people of color who all suddenly get killed while their white companions survive, and REALLY annoyed by the Token Wise Black Person being a voodoo priestess. And the CAC Review (hat tip to Flooded Lizard Kingdom) does a great job of calling Disney out about the Wicked Cannibal Savages who, in their comical ineptness, fail to roast Depp's Jack Sparrow over an open fire:
A trailer for the film clearly shows the Caribs roasting live people on spits and holding captives to be eaten...in a stark reminder of some of the most vile imperialistic imagery produced in the early colonial era. Such images are getting a new lease on life thanks to Disney, which with the resources that rival those of a colonial power, has now dedicated itself to popularizing and internationalizing images of the Caribs as "cannibals..."
Let us keep in mind that such depictions were used to enslave and murder the ancestors of today's Caribs, there was never anything innocent or "fun" about these portrayals. In addition, generations of Carib descended school children in the Caribbean have been taught that their ancestors were savage cannibals. Shame over ancestry was inculcated as a matter of routine. In my own field research experience, I have encountered individuals in their forties and fifties who told me very directly that the main reason they did not wish to self-identify as Caribs is that people in the wider world see Caribs as cannibals, as inhuman man eaters, and they found the stigma unbearable. Disney is playing its part in centuries of ethnocide.
Oh, those humorless people of color, wanting to be portrayed as... uh... people.
This sounds very familiar to me. It smacks of anorexics who starve themselves because they hate the idea of growing up to be women. Or of Asian women who surgically alter their eyelids so as to conform to Western standards of beauty. Or of African-American people who bleach their skin and straighten their hair after being told that their natural color and texture is 'nappy' and unacceptable. That there, folks, is internalized oppression. What's that I hear? I think it might be someone with privilege asking why this is a big deal.
So glad you asked. (more analysis, plus the names and addresses of the people you should write to and tell them they suck, after the fold)
This action on the part of Disney, flying in the face of countless protests, is not accidental, nor just uninformed carelessness. Let's place these images in their current context as well. This is a time of renewed generalizing about the "non-West" as the "uncivilized" world of inhumane acts of savage atrocities. Anti-immigrant attitudes are on the rise in many Western countries. Anyone "brown-skinned" is deemed a potential terrorist.
In the comments section, Maximilian Forte says, "...the consequences of misrepresentation are almost always 'real world' consequences." Damn right. When we are repeatedly exposed to images of groups of other humans that portray them as less than human, we learn that it's okay to treat them as less than human.
We all have inhibitions about these things, but art is a powerful social force, and it's good at relaxing those inhibitions. Once we get told that some people don't count as Us, that they're Them, it's easier to hate them, and then to put that hate into action. We might go so far as to, oh, say, imprison them without due process (and then do it some more), deny them the right to vote, forbid them to marry Us, sexually exploit them, keep them poor and uneducated, take their property, enslave them, or kill them (lots and lots). Doubt me? Then ask yourself why the governments produce propaganda posters during war time. Ask yourself why editorial cartoons are so successful. Ask yourself why social movements all have t-shirts and posters, even movies. Pictures are powerful. They hit us in our pre-rational spaces, in our guts, and can have huge impact on what we believe. I offer as examples images of African-Americans produced during slavery and Jim Crow, propaganda images of the Japanese from WWII, and any issue of Maxim magazine.
And folks who belong to those groups are not excepted; they learn to treat themselves as less than human, too. That's that internalized oppression. Women learn that they need to starve and stick toxic bags of goo into their boobs to be acceptable. Black folks learn that Halle Berry is cute because she's light-skinned and has a cute little button nose - and that their molasses-colored asses are Not Okay. And on and on and on.
It's funny that Forte uses that word, misrepresentation. Disney's corporate codes of conduct state in a section titled "Fair Dealing" that directors are forbidden to take advantage of folks, including customers, by "misrepresentation of material facts." I realize they mean money, but stay with me. Disney's Standards of Business Conduct states:
Respect for the Individual
We are committed to providing a work environment in which all Cast Members and employees are afforded the respect that they deserve, free of any discrimination or harassment. No discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, covered veteran status, disability, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law will be allowed. Further, the Company expects Cast Members and employees to treat each other with the same dignity and respect that they expect from the Company.
Gosh, I hope no Caribs work for Disney. I'm sure the Mouseheads were just peachy to the actual actors on the set of PotC, but do let's let them know that we want them to follow their own rules when it comes to portrayals of marginalized groups, shall we? Write these guys and tell them that brown folks are people, too:
Robert A. Iger, CEO
Richard Cook, Chair, The Walt Disney Studios
George Mitchell, Chairman of the Board
The Walt Disney Company
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
Comments
Here, here! I was equally un-fond of the vagina dentata it turns out is the mouth of the Kraken. Other than its mythical status, the Kraken appears to be a squid -- and they have beaks. Depp, posed in Classic Attacking Pirate, sword drawn (vagina, of course, meaning 'sheath for a sword'), ironic heroism a flutter in the breath and juice of the mouth, just before plunging in... Gratuitous as well. Went over the heads of the audience along with all the other sexual double entendres.
Posted by: Stormierbones![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.nowtexas.org/nowblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 17, 2006 02:00 PM
Great writing! And thanks for the address for the purpose of taking action. I was saved from spending my money on this movie by helpful bloggers. Guess I should let the folks at Disney know, huh?
Posted by: Changeseeker | July 21, 2006 12:11 PM
I'm glad to know that I wasn't the only person bothered by that aspect of the movie. The other thing I noticed that bothered me was that the Carib belief that Johnny Depp was a God that needed to be freed from his mortal coil is portrayed as stupid, primitive, and comically misguided, but the white characters' belief in TALKING FISH PIRATES turns out to be completely true. Argh.
Posted by: Shira | July 21, 2006 12:14 PM