On Friday, Disney+ made five seasons of “The Muppet Show” available to its subscribers. Well, some of its subscribers; one key demographic is, surprisingly, precluded from watching any of the newly added seasons: children.
Disney executives have concluded that “The Muppet Show,” which features Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy, contains “offensive” content and, thus, can now only be viewed on an adult account.
The Daily Mail reports that when viewers open the streaming platform and attempt to watch any Muppet content the following disclaimer is displayed: “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.”
The Mail hypothesized: “The warning is believed to refer to Muppet characters designed as stereotypes of Native Americans, Arabs and East Asians.”
“As part of our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, we are in the process of reviewing our library and adding advisories to content that includes negative depictions or mistreatment of people or cultures,” the streaming platform says. “We can’t change the past, but we can acknowledge it, learn from it and move forward together to create a tomorrow that today can only dream of.”
Ironically, the Twitter bio of Disney+ (at the time of publishing) read: We’re contractually obligated to state that #TheMuppetShow, starring Miss Piggy, is now streaming.
Twitter users – on both sides of the political spectrum – took to the social media platform this weekend to lambast the company’s decision.
“Nothing screams offensive like fury puppets,” mocked one Twitter user. “When I think of a cultural danger to society, it’s obviously Jim Henson’s Muppets.”
The Muppets is far from the only content that has faced the wrath of the hypersensitive left. In January, the streaming service “blocked children younger than seven from watching some classic animated movies including ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Dumbo’ and ‘The Aristocats.’ The move was made because of concerns that the films show racist stereotypes,” according to The Daily Wire’s Joseph Curl.
On Dumbo, for example, Disney warned viewers:
“The crows and musical number pay homage to racist minstrel shows, where white performers with blackened faces and tattered clothing imitated and ridiculed enslaved Africans on Southern plantations. The leader of the group in Dumbo is Jim Crow, which shares the name of laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. In ‘The Song of the Roustabouts,’ faceless Black workers toil away to offensive lyrics like ‘When we get our pay, we throw our money all away.’”
Disney+ | “DUMBO” Content Disclaimer | 2021
“Rather than remove this content,” the company said in a statement to The Daily Mail. “We want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe.”
Disney+’s statement championing non-removal of offensive content is antithetical to the approach that has been adopted by other aspects of the Walt Disney Company.
While many of its theme parks were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions this past summer, Axios reported that Disney would be “completely reimagin[ing]” its Splash Mountain water attraction.
The ride, which is located at Disney properties in both California and Florida, was initially themed after the “racist” 1946 film, “Song of the South.” The film purportedly used “racist stereotypes” to depict the post-Civil War era known as Reconstruction, according to Disney officials.
Whether it’s rudimentary ventriloquism or a water attraction, the Woke Police will not be satisfied until they dominate every aspect of the entertainment industry.
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