7 - Charlene H: Zootopia’s Commentary on the Real World

 

Media Analysis

I watched the Disney movie Zootopia in theaters in March 2016. I am someone who loves Disney, mystery, and messages of inclusion, all of which Zootopia has. It is one of my favorite films due to its crime mystery plot and commentary on racial discrimination.

In Zootopia, race is represented through prey and predator. The film mainly follows two characters: protagonist Judy Hopps and deuteragonist Nick Wilde. Judy is a rabbit, while Nick is a fox.

When Nick tried to join the Junior Ranger Scouts as a child, he was bullied, beaten, and rejected solely because of his looks. Because of Nick’s traumatic interaction, he gave into the stereotype of foxes being “shifty and untrustworthy” and made it a part of his personality, as he felt that others wouldn’t let him be anything other than just that. This is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy, which happens when a originally false belief leads someone to change their behavior in ways that confirm that belief. When applied to the real world, minority groups may carry out expectations when they feel they are stuck in the stereotypes they are labeled as. Negative stereotypes can influence the quality of life for some, as shown by Nick’s character.

Bellwether, a sheep, is the villain and cause of the film’s central mystery. She wants to create a social structure where prey animals are superior to predators. As a result, she secretly makes a serum capable of reverting civilized animals to their basic animal roots. By doing so, she plans to make prey animals view predators as a threat to society. This temporarily works after Judy erroneously claims at a press conference that the biology of predators is the cause of their “savagery,” driving the animals of Zootopia to discriminate against predators and believe they are naturally evil.

When people are faced with fear that eventually gets supposedly validated, their prejudices can morph into blatant discrimination. In Zootopia’s case, prey animals have an ingrained fear of predators due to biological history, and their ingrained fear being supposedly confirmed causes a frenzy. For example, Officer Clawhauser, a bubbly cheetah, is no longer the front desk employee at the police department after it is believed that a predator should not be what animals see when they walk in. Clawhauser is assigned a different job instead. This symbolizes minority groups in the real world who are denied jobs just because of their physical and biological differences.

Judy also learns about the bias she didn’t realize she held. She grew up thinking that predators were dangerous. She doesn’t consider the consequences her claims at the press conference would have on Nick. This reveals that in the real world, people may have deep-rooted prejudices in their subconscious. Rather than address what people know consciously, it is better to rewrite unconscious biases. The subconscious mind, after all, has more power than the conscious mind. Luckily, Judy admits she is not perfect. She is capable of feeling guilt and remorse for her actions, and she knows how to apologize and take responsibility for those actions. She is willing to rectify harm that she may unintentionally cause to others.

Overall, Zootopia shows the significance of tolerating differences. It also teaches the importance of connecting with others and identifying behavior that needs to be changed.

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