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anthroblog123 · 6 years ago

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Real World In Zootopia The film Zootopia, a Disney animated film, is used to portray ideas about Western Society to its audience. More specifically, Disney portrays the way they want social, political, and economical issues to be seen by the viewers in their films by mirroring social movements, the hierarchies in the political system, and police brutality that are exhibited in modern day society. Zootopia reflects the issues of discrimination in the form of its animal kingdom. The setting of the film is a modern day society with animals that get along in harmony. The issue that arises is the number of animals that turn savage, meaning they become feral creatures who are unable to participate in society. This results in a division between the animals, more specifically the predator and prey. This issue of discrimination in Zootopia could almost replicate the one present American society faces and how it’s communicated throughout the media. In “Media/Society in a Digital World” by Croteau and Hoynes, the authors explain how the Black Lives Matter Movement is a movement impacted from the advancement in media and technology. The authors describe the changes that impacted this movement saying, “New technology could be employed to gather, and share content, often in real time. Some media users could play a more active role in creating and sharing this content...the media industry was structured to produce quicker coverage across numerous outlets” (Croteau and Hoynes 21). Zootopia showcases the predator vs prey movement similar to the Black Lives Matter Movement. The animals protesting against one another, YouTube videos with interviews being uploaded, comments about the topic are posted all over social media, and videos of animals turning savage are uploaded. These are all representations of how media plays an active role in the social world, and how Disney chooses to incorporate all of this demonstrates the idea behind them having so much power, but especially in this new technological era and how they choose to present it. Zootopia shows the hierarchy system in politics and how social media plays a role in what the viewers see. Zootopia’s mayor and secretary, a mayor and sheep, are in cahoots with one another in framing the predators as savage, and the sheep who is actually the grand mastermind of this scheme, frames the predators to turn savage in hopes of turning the predator community weak against the prey. The way the predators were portrayed on the news aligns with how the author of “Framing and Framing Analysis”, Kitzenger, says the media is framed. Kitzenger writes, “Although a great deal of framing research is concerned with specific substantiate issues, another strand of framing research addresses overarching or generic frames. These writers are concerned with patterns that cross cut the media coverage of diverse stories” (Kitzenger 149). The hierarchy system in Zootopia was framed in a normalized way up until the reality of it was discovered. We can connect this idea to how society’s politics are viewed and represented similarly. Disney is a company who virtually owns the majority of television, radio, and films, so they get to choose how the news is reported and what the viewer’s get to see. Images and key phrases play a pivotal role in all of this, as it’s a way to catch the attention of the viewers and to promote certain ideas and beliefs because the news is not impartial, but always biased. Zootopia shows the issues of police brutality and the way in which they are broadcasted. In “Rejuvenating American Journalism” McChesney writes, “With new stories online, on the other hand, if anything it increases my enjoyment knowing others are sharing, the same story, and I have nothing to lose by making it available to them” (McChesney 227). Overall, stories relating to police brutality are sure to go viral on almost all media platforms. Similarly, in the movie, the videos of the animals going savage would go viral on all their media platforms. By spreading these videos, more people became aware of the situations taking place. This is similar to the Croteau and Hoynes article where they discuss technology giving people the ability to share content in real time. Viewers are able to make their own judgment without having any third parties influence them. Similarly, having the ability to share content allows for a global discussion to take place. The media plays an important role in Zootopia, as it does in our society too. The film also exhibits different issues we face and how the media has affected the presentation of the news. What are some of the messages being told through this film? I would like to put out the idea that Disney wants to remind us of how powerful of a company it is and how it virtually almost owns everything media. They have the ability to choose what viewers at home will be seeing. Also, is Disney sending subliminal messages through this movie? At first glance, it appears they are trying to show kids that there should be no discrimination allowed, that the political system should be fixed, and police brutality should also be put to an end. But because Disney is such a powerful company, it must also be subliminally promoting its own ideas onto the audience, which is children and parents. There must be some other agenda. In conclusion, Disney has the power, resources, outlets, and money to be able to influence its audience any ideas, morals, desires and beliefs they desire. These kid movies are not only a way for them to capitalize on, but also a reminder of what values Disney is grounded on and what and how they promote them. Bibliography Croteau, David and William Hoynes. “Media/Society in a Digital World.” In Media/Society: Technology, Industries, Content, and Users. 6th ed. Pp. 2-22. Kitzinger, Jenny. “Framing and Frame Analysis.” In In Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates, edited by Eoin Devereux. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007. Pp. 134-161. McChesney, Robert. “Rejuvenating American Journalism: Some Tentative Policy Proposals, “Workshop Presentation on Journalism, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C., March 10, 2010. Meme 1: This meme shows how people on the internet have different opinions and don’t always see eye to eye. Meme 2: At first glance, Disney movies are cute and fun, but upon further inspection, there are underlying messages. Meme 3: The internet lets you upload content in real-world time.