Author: gablei

Zootopia is a hit children’s animated film produced in 2016, and is also a social commentary. It follows the perspective of Judy Hobbs, a young bunny who comes from a family of rural carrot farmers. Judy dreamed of being a police officer her whole life, yet she was always told that she was too small and cute to fulfill such a role. She proved those cynical of her wrong by becoming the first bunny to graduate from the police academy. 

The story accompanies Judy as she begins her first day of work at the police station in Zootopia. Things do not go as she expects when she is assigned to parking ticket duty. She is disillusioned, realizing that her dream of becoming the first bunny police office and fighting bad guys and crime is unattainable. She meets Nick Wilde, a fox, later that day when she sees him scamming the elephants working at an ice cream shop. Intrigued, she later blackmails Nick into helping her solve the missing mammal case, which she got assigned by promising Mrs. Otterton to find her husband Emmitt. Judy and Nick go on a 48 hour manhunt for the missing mammals, all predators that have “gone savage”.

Judy and Nick hold harmful assumptions about one another when they first meet. Judy believes that Nick is a sly fox, and immediately mistrusts him. Nick believes Judy is a dumb bunny, and unfit to be a police officer. The stereotypes that they believe about one another’s species is symbolic of harmful stereotypes and assumptions that groups in society, such as racial or ethnic groups, hold about one another. Judy and Nick come to learn that those stereotypes are untrue during their journey, causing the audience to question the prejudices that they hold about others. 

Moreover, Zootopia is represented as a diverse, cosmopolitan city, which is intended to represent cities such as New York, London, or Paris. Although Zootopia is diverse, species of animals tend to live near those similar to them like how neighborhoods in diverse cities are stratified based on racial, ethnic, and class identities in the real world. Moreover, there is division between social groups in Zootopia. The prey increasingly fear the predators of the city due to their belief that the predators are “going savage” because of their biology. This fear is representative of moral panic, which is defined as widespread fear by a group of people of others who they believe threaten the community’s morals or well-being. Moral panic is common in diverse cities where the majority group, such as Whites or heterosexuals, begins to fear a marginalized population, such as Black or lgbtq individuals. 

Judy unintentionally fuels the moral panic of the city in a press conference, which creates tension between her and Nick who is a predator. Early in the film, Nick had confided to Judy about how his “sly fox” persona had come to be. He was excited to join the Junior Ranger Scouts as a young fox, even wearing a custom made uniform. When he arrived at the meeting for the group, the other scouts, all prey, muzzled and bullied him, saying that they would never trust a predator. He ran out crying, throwing the muzzle off his face, and declaring that if the world was only going to see him as a sly, sneaky fox then he would live up to that stereotype. Judy’s public statement hurt Nick who thought that Judy had seen him as more than a sly fox. Nick’s sadness at Judy’s actions is symbolic of the damage done in relationships between people of different groups when one makes it clear that they don’t see the other as anything more than their race, class, gender, etc. 

Moreover, her statement created greater division between predators and prey. Predators became the victims of microaggressions, hate speech, and discrimination. On a train car, a mother sheep pulls her child closer to her, and stares nervously at the tiger sitting next to her, which represents the common experience of minority and marginalized groups facing subtle acts of hostility from the majority group. More direct acts of hostility are directed against the predators of Zootopia as well. A pig and a leopard are arguing outside a grocery store, and the pig yells, “Go back to the forest predator!”. The leopard retorts, “I’m from the savannah!”. This argument represents the common experience of xenophobia that immigrants and racial and ethnic minorities face. Furthermore, the predators of Zootopia face outright discrimination. The friendly, enthusiastic Benjamin Clawhauser, the cheetah who works at the front desk of the police station, gets moved to the back because they didn’t think visitors would feel comfortable being greeted by a predator. This kind of discrimination, although illegal in most countries in the Global North, is common. Racial and ethnic minorities are often placed in back roles with Whites or others in the dominant group being moved to the front. It is played off not as an issue of discrimination, but of the minority looking unfriendly or aggressive. 

Overall, Zootopia is a useful educational tool to teach children about identity categories, prejudice, and discrimination. It ends optimistically with Judy and Nick saving the city, and restoring their friendship, alluding to hope for a world where everyone can overcome their differences. This messaging is reinforced by Zootopia’s slogan: “In Zootopia, anyone can be anything”.

The Bachelor franchise consists of multiple shows including The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, The Golden Bachelor, and The Golden Bachelorette. In these shows, contestants vie for the love of the bachelor/bachelorette/golden bachelor/golden bachelorette. During 2024, Season 28 of The Bachelor debuted on national television. Joey Graziadei was the bachelor of the season. The final two contestants were Kelsey and Daisy. The season ended with a shocking finale in which Daisy realized that Joey had been distant during the final date as a way to let her down gently because he was not going to choose her at the end. This was difficult for Daisy to hear since she had just opened herself up to Joey, and proclaimed her love for him during the finale. Daisy visited Kelsey’s room during the finale, and reassured her that she was the one for Joey. She gave Kelsey the relief of knowing that when she walked down the aisle to see Joey for the last time of the season, he would get down on one knee to propose to her. This snapshot of The Bachelor’s finale gives a taste of the core themes explored in the show: love, heartbreak, and friendship. 

The franchise has become more inclusive over the years by introducing The Bachelorette, The Golden Bachelor, and The Golden Bachelorette to give women and older adults the opportunity to find love. Furthermore, it has tried to increase the racial diversity of contestants. However, it has yet to create a dating show for queer individuals. The Bachelor franchise exemplifies heteronormativity by centering its storylines around the heterosexual couple model. 

Moreover, it reproduces stereotypes about gender by having the women and men contestants participate in gender typed activities. For example, one of the games that the women of The Bachelor participated in was a mock wedding in which they adorned themselves in white dresses, pretended to be Joey’s bride, and vied for his attention. The men of the Season 21 of The Bachelorette did not engage in activities of this sort. Their season was full of helicopter rides, race car driving, and comedy club visits. By having the women and men engage in stereotypical activities associated with their gender, they are reproducing age old discourse that suggests that women engage in feminine activities and men in masculine ones. In addition, The Bachelor franchise is problematic for its lack of body diversity. They are known to cast only slim, conventionally attractive people. Season 21 of The Bachelorette featured one plus size contestant; however, he was eliminated in the first episode. This casting decision of mostly slim, conventionally attractive people, similar to most other Hollywood productions, conveys the message that only slim, conventionally attractive people are deserving of having their love stories broadcast to the world. The Bachelor franchise has grown a lot in its representation of age and racial diversity, but it still has a long way to go to create positive representation of queer and plus size individuals.

The scene opens with Nick and Tom on a train ride to the Yale Club. The train suddenly comes to a halt, and Tom calls out “Come on”. Nick questions Tom, and Tom reassures, “Just trust me”. They make their way off the train and through the Valley of Ashes, which is the part of town where the working class live. The air is hazy, the sky is a mundane gray, and everything is covered in a thick layer of dust. Nick and Tom enter a car repair shop, and Tom says “hello” to a man named Wilson. Their relationship is clearly transactional, and a power differential becomes apparent early on in their interaction. Tom, dressed head to foot in a tailored pinstripe navy blue suit, asks Wilson how his business is going. Wilson, draped in a tank top that was once white but is now the color of the gray sky, responds, “I can’t complain. So when are you gonna sell me that car?”. Tom explains that he still has a man working on it, and Wilson retorts that the guy works slowly. Tom then threatens to sell it elsewhere. Tom is aware of the power that he holds as an elite, upper class man in comparison to Wilson who is a part of the working class. Tom helps Wilson out on occasion by supporting his business. It is possible that he does this out of generosity, but more probable that Tom helps him out to support Tom’s mistress and Wilson’s wife, Myrtle.

We meet Myrtle in the next moment. While the men are arguing, she walks down the stairs, adorned in a cherry red dress with a red lip and jewelry to match. Her outfit is striking and gaudy. She quips back at the men who have been arguing, cleverly redirecting the conversation. She lovingly looks into Tom’s eyes and gives him a shy smile. He nods at her, and fixes his suit in response. Wilson exits the scene in search of some chairs for his guests, and Myrtle playfully touches Tom’s chest. It is clear that Myrtle and Tom are having an affair; however, it is unclear if Wilson is aware of it. Even if he was, there is little he could do about it given his lack of wealth and social status in comparison to Tom’s.

Tom treats Myrtle similarly to the way he does Wilson, using his power to control both of them. Myrtle asks Tom if they can get the dog for the apartment, and Tom responds, “Whatever you want”. It becomes evident that Myrtle financially depends on Tom, using him as a way to escape poverty, and in return she gives him sexual favors and love. It is obvious that Tom does not take Myrtle seriously, and rather sees her as “a good time”. He may love her as she does him; however, he would never divorce his wife Daisy to marry her. Daisy represents the “golden girl” of the era. She is young, beautiful, and comes from money. She is what we would now refer to as a “trophy wife”. Myrtle, represented as working class, gaudy, and loud, will never be that “golden girl” or “trophy wife”. Instead, she is a toy for Tom to mess around with and dispose of when she no longer serves his interests. In this way, it becomes apparent that working class individuals are seen as less than human by the elite who believe they can be used and disposed of when no longer beneficial. 

The scene opens with a woman and man making small talk at an open house. The man is a realtor, and the woman has come to support him at his showing. She tells him that she has to leave because she has some things that she has to do, and they go in for an awkward hug. He says, “Call me”, and the woman walks off. He watches her leaving, and then notices two men watching him. He looks at them confused, and they say, “She’s holding out on you, isn’t she?”. He explains that her not sleeping with him is “killing him”, and he says, “literally I’m dying”. He confesses that he cannot read her signals and that he is not sure what happened because they used to sleep together. The two men suggest that the man who was speaking with the woman stop being “inactive” and “be a man and do something”.

The characters in the scene are dressed in business casual attire, and the home that the realtor is selling is updated and well furnished, suggesting that the characters are from an upper-middle class background. Additionally, they are white as are most of the people in the film. Moreover, the man and woman making small talk who are the leads in the film are straight while the two other men in the scene that are gay are supporting characters. Since the leads in this film are white, straight, upper-middle class individuals, the audience is only able to see these perspectives in the movie’s discussion of love and romance.

 A heteronormative understanding of love and romance is employed throughout the film, which can be seen through the clear gender roles that the characters describe. Specifically, the two men’s suggestion that the other man “be a man and do something” suggest that masculinity is active, implying that femininity is passive. Moreover, these gender roles are constructed under white, western definitions of masculinity and femininity. Furthermore, the characters in this scene convey the idea that women must sleep with men to show them love; otherwise, they are “killing” them through their celibacy as the man in this scene expressed. This idea creates toxic definitions of love, which place unrealistic expectations of women to “put out” and men to want to accept sex at all times.