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If you’ve been paying attention to any of the newsfeeds lately, you’ll undoubtedly know about the turmoil in Florida surrounding Disney in and out of the Parks. While Walt Disney World continues to duel with Governor Ron DeSantis, a recent development has a Florida educator in jeopardy for showing a Disney movie.
Jenna Barbee is a Florida teacher that is currently under investigation for showing Strange World to her students. The movie itself is already the subject of heavy scandal and controversy due to the inclusion of Ethan Clade, Disney’s reported “first gay character.” Regardless of where your political leanings lie, what Florida officials are doing here shouldn’t just be infuriating, it’s cause for alarm.
Disney Movies Face Government Involvement
@pinknews A #teacher in #Florida is being investigated by the state for ‘indoctrination’ after showing a #Disney film which features a prominent #gay character. The investigation comes after fifth grade teacher #JennaBarbee showed her class Disney’s 2022 animated movie #StrangeWorld as a “brain break”, following a morning of standardizedtesting. The film features Ethan, an openly gay character, and a romantic plot between Ethan and his crush, Diazo. On TikTok, the teacher said she chose to show the film because it fit in with the class’s curriculum, as they are currently learning about ecosystems. The LGBTQ+ element was not the reason she put the movie on, but described it as “harmless”. Barbee claims she was reported to the state by a school board member, who she says is on a “rampage” against any form of representation in schools and her daughter was in the classroom watching Strange World. A tweet by Barbee’s friend, Carl Zee, shows a letter from the Florida #DepartmentofEducation which states the teacher is being investigated for “inappropriate conduct”. “If you have evidentiary witnesses or documents pertinent to the case, send them to this office no later than two weeks from receipt of this letter,” the letter states. “[The students] didn’t even know this was a big deal until the board member and the state made it a big deal. “They’re using it against me saying they’re ‘protecting the children’ and it’s for their safety. But what is this actually showing them?” Barbee questioned in the video. She said the investigation is more “traumatising” for the youngsters than the film was in the fist place. “But the minor representations, that have nothing to do with the movie, are such a big deal that now admin in is in their room, pulling their teacher out, calling the students one by one down to the office to interrogate them in the middle of my lessons,” she said. The teacher added that a number of her students had told her they are members of the LGBTQ+ community, prior to the film being shown. #lgbtqrights #dontsaygaybillflorida #teachersrights #usnews #rondesantis #republican #culturewars #transrightsarehumanrights
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The subject of Strange World, the LGBT, or a gay Disney character is irrelevant. The real problem here is that a teacher and her class are being interrogated by government officials essentially over a few lines of dialogue and one character. It might seem like a ridiculous situation now, but what’s stopping the officials from doing it to another class and another Disney film.
To call Disney movies indoctrination is truly a straw man fallacy, and the school board’s priorities truly do need to be reevaluated. However, Strange World isn’t the only Disney movie to cover controversial situations, and more magical classics might be next on the chopping block.
By this same flawed logic, showing beloved movies for a class of any age could be grounds for serious legal trouble. What’s to stop an official from attacking an educator showing Disney movies The Lion King after a unit on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Zootopia as an allegory for racism and prejudice, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame to explore religious symbolism? Broad is the path and wide is the gate that leads to destruction.
With the recent news surrounding Disney and Florida’s governor, it’s more than likely a safe bet that the turmoil against Barbee is coming from a similar place. This isn’t about Disney movies, but a violation freedom of expression. With or without Disney’s actual involvement described in the Tiktok video, this will definitely have repercussions.
Is Disney really a form of indoctrination, or have Florida’s political figures massively overstepped? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!