Zootopia and Rape Culture

    

        I'm putting this on the internet, because I can't seem to find it anywhere else, and I think it is important. I have read a lot on Disney's recent hit, Zootopia, and found just like you that the internet is full of praise and criticism of the movie's themes. The movie has a cool premise, and was fun to watch! However I would not show this movie to my fictitious children, and it's not for the reasons that the internet has already screamed about. My impression of Zootopia was one bathed in the rich current topic of the perpetuation of rape culture.

            Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the film, however without being informed and aware I would be very uncomfortable letting my son or daughter watch this, which is ironic because the movie has broken ground by being created by a half-female team. This is huge! Despite this awesome feature, the movie falls flat in representation.

            In the film there are predators, and there are prey.

            Primary Prey:

                        Lt. Judy Hopps

                        Assistant Mayor Bellewether

                       

            Primary Predators:

                        Nick Wilde

                        Mayor Lionheart

                        Officer Clawhauser

                       

        

    The prey tend to be female, and the predators male. You can argue that Judy's boss: Chief Bogo, and a few other minor character are male prey, however these characters tend to be very physically intimidating in one way or another (I would not want them to "go wild" unlike Judy and Bellewether or are physically nonthreatening).

            When the conflict starts we find that predators are "going wild" and losing control of themselves, endangering animals around them. Naturally the prey is intimidated, and the animals are held accountable for their behavior, putting the blame primarily on the animal itself. This is only a behavior that we really see males experiencing. Even in the montage, only one animal goes wild that is a female.

            Later it is found of course that it wasn't the Predators fault that they can't control themselves, and while there is some weird and dark commentary on drug rings, the reason for these predators going crazy is not because of their nature, but rather it was Assistant Mayor Bellewether (the representative of prey) all along.

            What really scares me is that this movie shows people, perhaps subconciously the idea that it is the victim's fault that they are assaulted, and there is no accountability to be held in the assailant. A really scary concept to be making the most popular movie in America, especially in the light of the crimes of Brock Turner (the Stanford Rapist) and every other headline we here about.

            Zootopia makes me uncomfortable, and I'm worried that a team of women would perpetuate such a scary concept to kids, even if subconsciously.