For a brief moment in early 2024, it seemed like Disney might have learned its lesson. The once-admired company saw financial gains under new leadership amid some pointed public statements vowing to focus more on entertainment and less on politics. The slop is solidly trending downhill again, though, and it’s become clear that no actual lessons were learned.
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The most recent example comes via the Disney+ investment and partnership with the BBC to stream the umpteenth season of “Dr. Who.” As RedState’s Brad Slager laid out on Friday, former showrunner Russell T. Davies returned for this latest iteration, and he’s decided to make “queerness” a centerpiece.
READ: As Disney and ‘Dr. Who’ Go Woke, What Could Go Wrong?
“They weren’t exactly the straightest men in the past. You’re talking about someone who does have a lightness and a joy about him that, to me, chimes with queer energy.” While the Doctor’s sexuality has never been labeled, in Gatwa’s first episode as the lead…viewers see him dancing in a kilt and referencing his “long, hot summer with Harry Houdini.”
In response to backlash from fans, Davies told them to get bent, declaring that for every person who tunes out due to the show’s newly found “queerness,” 10 more people would tune in due to the “representation.” Let’s just say that didn’t happen.
So just how woke is “Dr. Who?” Here’s a preview of just one of the “transgender” characters in the new season.
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There are multiple issues here. One is the fact that Disney decided paying oodles of money to stream this show on its already-failing platform was a good idea. You’d think that after years of controversy and fans telling the company they don’t want this stuff anymore, they’d make a few changes. Instead, Disney+ is pumping this and “The Acolyte,” another girl-boss Star Wars production, out as two of its major premieres this spring.
For context, the character shown above, named “Maestro,” uses “they/them” pronouns and offers corrections on pronoun usage on the show despite being a villain.
The other problem is just how terrible of an actor the transgender person playing this transgender character is. When did an overblown drag queen performance you’d expect to see in a dimly lit bar become worthy of a major production? The inflections, the over-acting, and the ridiculous mannerisms come together to form one of the most unsatisfying things to grace the small screen. Forget the politics and financials for a moment. What’s in that video is just bad television.
If you want a salient and comical discussion of the matter, The Critical Drinker recently provided one.
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The above video is titled “This show hates you,” and that just about covers it. These major corporations and the studios they work with hate you and what you believe. They hate anything that reinforces a sense of normalcy and tradition in society. They revel in rubbing the destruction of the culture in your face. For that, I feel no sympathy for the financial pain they’ve suffered, which will undoubtedly escalate in the future.
There was a part of me that wanted Disney to change course and come out the other side. After all, it’s a company that marked many of our childhoods in one way or another, whether it was their animated classics, theme parks, or both. I’m pretty much at the point of not caring anymore, though. If these woke companies want to destroy themselves while thumbing their noses at the general public, then so be it.