…say it with me, people.
Americans.
So, Disney made headlines again recently. Apparently, there’s controversy over the Snow White ride.
Disney just revamped the ride, including changing the end of the ride from the violent death of the Queen. Now it ends with a non-violent kiss from Prince Charming to break the spell that cast Snow White into an enchanted slumber.
The issue? Well, for all you tl;dr folks, there are group(s) complaining about the kiss being non-consensual.
Ok, a) wow…b) fine, sleep forever, bitch – kids gotta learn that you don’t always get what you want in life, like to be in control of your own consciousness; and c) screw feminism – because remember that this was a Queen and a witch that cast this spell on a younger, prettier woman.
So much for the sisterhood.
I’m all for consent.
Also, all in on feminism…for the wreckord. Chrisism.
But I’m also all in and for active parenting and accountability.
And that’s where this Stupid American Shark Jumping argument and I part ways.
I don’t know why I let myself be continually surprised by new achievements in unaccountability by a group whose credits include redefining the world “literally” so that we no longer have a word in the English language that literally means “literally”…but here we are. Why should I be surprised that their next trick is conflating “romance” and “rape”?
A brief timeline:
1937 – Snow White is released
1940s-60s – assorted examples of men and boys being dicks to women and girls and getting in trouble for their efforts. Think any Katherine Hepburn movie or representation in TV/movies/comics of a schoolboy dipping a girl’s ponytail into an inkwell before getting into trouble.
1990s-2000s – teachers lose the secret war parents have been waging against them, effectively turning schools into daycare facilities. Even worse, when a teacher needs a confab about a problem child with the parent(s), the parents approach the meeting more with an attitude of “I’m very busy” or “how dare you accuse my child of wrongdoing”, leading to…
2015 – Brock Turner rapes an unconscious woman at a party, he is convicted of three counts of rape and assault and is sentenced to six months in prison. He serves three months. Three.
2021 – Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo pull the mask off the problem and it’s…Disney. Who knew it was Disney’s fault the entire time.
Not shitty parenting.
Not a lack of empathy toward others.
Not selfishness.
Fucking Snow White was the problem the whole time. Anyone see that coming? Better yet, anyone follow that logic train right off its rails? Because, if you did…you probably won’t be happy reading this blog.
In completely unrelated news, virtual reality devices are slated to be the it gift – once again – this holiday season. Because instead of teaching our children about respecting others, we’re gonna give them a device to provide them a safe space to misbehave so no real people get hurt.
This fucking country.
How about this: let’s take a page out of the CSNY playbook and Teach Your Children Well!
Let’s go back to teaching consequences for one’s actions, cause and effect, critical thinking and all those high-minded concepts about living in a society. Let’s limit the amount of time kids spend playing video games where blowing shit up and killing people is the path to victory. All that seems to produce is an adult culture that can’t articulate offense or apologize for transgressions like decent human beings.
There’s an answer for what’s wrong with American Culture. The problem is…good people are letting shit people get away with wagging the dog on this issue.
Why? Probably because we’ve let the shit people linger too long under the delusion that willfully being an idiot is ok in America. Compounding that misjudgment is the reality that now these same idiots are very well armed.
Greeeaaaaat…and people wonder why I’m grumpy.
Here, have some homework: over the next week, try respectfully calling out a poor behavior you witness. Let me know how that <cough, cough> cancel culture <cough, cough> – woo, excuse me! – goes for you.
atleastihaveafrigginglass 
I love this Chris! You are right on here. This should be seen by the world right now.
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Share away.
No, wait! Oh, my gawd…no! I’ll be pilloried.
It’s not that I’d be *wrong*, just not welcome. I’m too much “work” for most.
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Sometimes, we analyze the hell out of whatever we want to question. Let’s just live and enjoy! 🙂 Naked hugs!
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Indeed, we do. I know I’ve suffered from what’s been referred to as Analysis Paralysis before. I strongly suspect this whole thing is another example – albeit from Disneyland park goers instead of lawmakers – of Trumpian distraction from our country’s actual problems. “We aren’t bad people, raising bad people…we’re victims! How could we do any better with cartoons and wholesome amusement park rides like THIS?!?”
It’s Dr Seuss all over again.
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Hopefully, there won’t be a resurgence of the DT fiasco – again!
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Ever!
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“The problem is…good people are letting shit people get away with wagging the dog…”
Where’s the billboard? Surprisingly, or maybe not, there’s a dead gov/prez Reagan quote circulating about America forgetting personal accountability. Remember the scene from THG about sisters being sisters worst enemies? That gets repeated throughout in multiple ways.
Beyond that when did 6 people who might be offended, or have invented a reason to be offended make policy? When is someone going to push back and say fuck you to the extremes of lunacy on the conservative and liberal fronts? Somebody wielding a machete and a bat gets killed by a cop. Well, they had mental health issues. So that makes it ok? And what the fuck are women’s bodies and what they can do with them even a topic in 2021? Jesus. What .002 of the population will hold the country hostage this summer for access to colorless snow cones?
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I swear, you and Austin are the only things I like about Texas, and Austin is just a throwback to before I knew you and felt I had to have something nice to say about that state. 😂
Colorless snow cones? Epic. And I think I know who will be raising a fuss…but then I second guess myself because multiple groups are actually capable of putting those words on a sign with absolutely zero irony.
Now, about that Schwarzenegger Role Model quote…it’s always hit me as a truism. Yeah, *distracted* parents produce socially dysfunctional kids, but that can’t be an excuse for those kids to blithely careen through life bringing chaos to every path they travel. There’s another, unattributed “motivational” quote I saw a few years back: “Unfuck yourself”. That folds nicely into what Reagan was possibly getting at…of course, he also could have just been deflecting action about addressing something systemic. He *was* a politician, after all. And, since he was a dotty old man, he could also have been talking to an individual who ate all of his favorite colored jelly beans and tried to cover by making excuses about the manufacturer not putting enough of that color in the blend. 🤓
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The Van Halen Brown M&M thing wasn’t about poop or dysfunction, either. Like Ronnie. I saw Raygun on a Cavett re-run back when he was governor and could feed himself and he had some pretty solid down-home-isms without being a real hard core conservative. He wasn actor first, so maybe it was training but he didn’t choke or rant when Cavett hit him with the porn parade that is the LAX exit, only saying something to the effect that you can’t really blame behavior on exposure because everyone has a choice, like the off switch. If you don’t want to participate, don’t. A courage of your convictions sort that all these years later I discovered I appreciated. If you think it’s so bad, don’t go there as ultimately we are responsible for our choices, not “they” or “them” or the meds.
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…or lack of meds.
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