That could be worse. What if your skin is in his will? 
I’m not white.
And I think it’s not only a dumb idea, but it’s also cultural appropriation.
The costume itself isn’t “racist”, but whoever thought it was a good idea was definitely influenced by the covert systemic racism that is woven into the very fabric of American history.
Thanks.
That’s equally tacky.
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And then, being a middle-aged white guy who loved costumes as a kid and wishes he had access to the badass ones available to kids now… I get saddled with being the “creepy old guy” who asks “Hey little one, what’cha got on under that coat!!!”
Kidding!.. sheesh.
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No. An almost purely mathematical argument can be made.
- There are fewer minorities than majorities, by definition.
- For minorities to be heard as loud as majorities takes more effort, because of these numbers and network effects.
- Additional effort put into the “being heard” slot takes away from effort put into other slots.
As shown, no stereotyping necessary. Just numbers.
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As others have said, likely by it being the best option for a costume of the major character of their new movie. Letting kids outside nearly naked in late October isn’t a great option, and neither is a Caucasian version. So the only option left would be to say “Even though we’ve always made costumes for our characters, no matter how improbable, we’re not doing one for Maui, sorry.” It’s an awkward situation for the hero of your new movie to be a big nearly naked guy covered in tribal tattoos.
Looks like you can still buy Maui’s light-up fishhook, which is pretty rad looking.
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I can’t remember either costume. This was a couple of years after the movie came out, though, so it wasn’t topical anymore. I even searched Disneyland because they have a bunch of Tarzan-themed stuff in Adventureland. They had plushies of the animals, and dolls of the characters, but I don’t remember seeing any costumes at all.
Edit: oh, i see someone did find one.
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Blackface wasn’t always just mockery - sometimes it was shallow cultureal appropriation, so you could have black music without the black people - like Pat Boone and Vanilla Ice
I really want there to be a way kids can aspire to be people from other cultures. That should be a good thing. Nobody gets bent out of shape when girls dress up like the red headed Irish princess from brave. Unfortunately, there is a history of racial colonialism and race based oppression that makes it problematic to dress “down” - that is, for historical oppressors to dress as the oppressed - but not so much to dress up like the historical oppressors
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No point indeed. See ya. Sorry you won’t be partaking anymore.
@Skeptic
Aah. Hadn’t thought of that. Eeps!
Well, I don’t think it’s a dumb idea. I also think that cultural appropriation is the standard setting for humans, so that’s no bad thing either.[quote=“Melizmatic, post:84, topic:85931”]
whoever thought it was a good idea was definitely influenced…
[/quote]
Objection. Projecting.
So I have my opinions, and you have your opinions, man.
See ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’. He used up all his ‘slots’ on false positives.
[quote=“Melizmatic, post:84, topic:85931”]
The costume itself isn’t “racist”, but whoever thought it was a good idea was definitely influenced by the covert systemic racism that is woven into the very fabric of American history.
[/quote]This is unfair. The only thing it conclusively proves is that the decision was made without the empathy to understand how a brown skin suit is appropriation as a costume. We don’t have any proof of how or who made this decision and whether it was solely financially motivated, financially motivated but green lit by some third party, considered a good idea by white executives, etc. That lack of empathy is not necessarily rooted in racism so much as the general sociopathy that surrounds corporate decision making, and the nature of filling in checkboxes. That’s an issue that is certainly entangled in racism in many ways, but it tends to be something that “stays the course” and changes quickly - like removing not only this costume but the pajamas and other skin suits that went with it.
Not saying it wasn’t influenced by race, I’m just saying this could easily have been “done the right way” and still result in the product because there are complications surrounding what will likely be a positive and popular ethnic character.
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If selling merch and costumes is so central to the marketing / financial outlay of their films, they should just make sure to have a pivotal scene for every naked-ish character where they are wearing some kind of ceremonial armor, or special outfit that can then be converted into a costume. It would be a constraint, but I’m sure there are already shallower “guidelines” on the books already in favor of marketing…
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This has occurred in this thread where? Pushing back against an insensitive marketing gimmick and disagreeing with the people who don’t find it offensive is not getting smacked down. If you’re just blowing off steam about the poor state of discussions on places like Facebook and YouTube, well, I sympathize with you there. But if you’re saying that anyone who expresses an opinion counter to your own is somehow attacking you, you’ve come to the wrong place. We’re pretty good here at treating each other with dignity and respect, and we have a hungry dragon to remind us on those rare occasions when we do lose perspective.
If that’s how little you think of the concerns and motivations of the people who disagree with you, I can see why you’ve had a rough time getting along with people in online communities. Would you want others to assume anytime you express concern for something that you’re being disingenuous? Good faith debate is a two-way street.
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Now you thinking like a producer!
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I would pretty much guarantee that the marketing department, faced with the prospect of either sending kids out naked at Halloween or wearing brown tattooed bodysuits, was begging the directors for exactly that. “Maybe a chest piece that he wears to do battle in! One that conveniently covers his arms, too!”
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Is this where Roald Dahl got the idea for “Skin”?
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Oh Tobias, you blowhard!
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Oddly enough, I was just thinking about this topic yesterday. This is how they tackled the thorny issue of Monostatos in Mozart’s Magic Flute this year (it was on TV last night):
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Good for you; see the gif about opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own.
Obligatory:
Life is unfair, clearly.
Why exactly do you think that lack of empathy exists, hmmm?
Yeah, because Disney isn’t already making money hand over fist; they have to get every potential dollar they can, no matter what… right?
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OT, but…
They didn’t HAVE to flee. Their father had a(n entirely justifiable) political/philosophical disagreement with the Nazi regime, but there was no actual urgency for the members of that family.
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“a more realistic body shape than most Disney female leads”
Are you sure? Because judging by the picture of this character she’s not really that far off from current “disney princess” standards other than the fact she’s brown. She looks slightly curvy but looking at the picture it’s actually hard to tell.
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“Wait, one has to exhibit mores!”
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