Disney Hasn't Learned Its Lesson Yet

Show me someone who continues to do stupid things, and I'll show someone who hasn't experienced enough pain to stop. I'm not sure if that's an actual quote from anyone other than myself, but the idea behind it is hardly novel. It also applies perfectly to Disney.

The once-lauded entertainment company has set out on a mission to destroy itself with an unflinching resolve. Its chief weapon of self-sabotage has been an obsession with pushing "the message." That's how you end up with Star Wars, formerly one of the most male-centric franchises in existence, being morphed into an incoherent feminist screed shouting about how "The Force is female." It's how the Marvel Universe ends up killing off or retiring all its popular legacy characters in favor of a girl-boss transition that nobody wants.

That's not to say promoting "strong female characters" in films is automatically box office poison. It is to say that taking a buzzsaw to historically beloved figures and stories to shoehorn in an ideological want is not the way to do it. No one needed to see Han Solo written into a deadbeat dead who gets stabbed to death by his emo son. No one wanted Iron Man to die to usher in the era of Captain Marvel.

I'm not just spouting opinions here. The Marvels, which centers on three female protagonists no one has ever cared about, is now officially the worst-grossing movie in the history of Disney's Marvel Universe, and it could become one of the biggest busts the company has ever suffered. That follows a series of money-losing efforts not just regarding comic book movies, but Disney's live-action remakes as well. Things are set to get worse, as well, with the coming Snow White remake projected to be an absolute disaster.

Is Disney finally looking to shift gears? There have been some rumblings to that effect after the company admitted in a recent SEC filing that its political and cultural crusades haven't been good for business. With that said, my money is on the pain needing to get worse. Take CEO Bob Iger's latest comments as an example.

Disney CEO Bob Iger blames the pandemic effect as part of the reason for the dismal box office results on The Marvels.
Speaking at a New York Times business summit earlier this week, Iger said the studio needs some revitalization.
″The Marvels was shot during Covid,” he explained. “There wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day.”
He listed a number of reasons why the studio’s recent string of films is lagging, among them streaming and messaging.
“The experience of accessing [the films] and watching them in the home is better than it ever was,” he said. “And [it’s] a bargain when you think about it. Streaming Disney+ you can get for $7 a month. That’s a lot cheaper than taking your whole family to a film. So, I think the bar is now raised in terms of quality about what gets people out of their homes, into movie theaters.”

To be clear, the issue with The Marvels was not a lack of touch-up paint applied during filming. It was the result of the terrible decision to debase Marvel's beloved characters in exchange for a multi-film shift toward unlikable, unwanted female leads. That decision wasn't made during COVID-19. It was dreamed up by the very executives Iger blames for not being present enough during the production of the Marvels.

Again, to avoid a lot of unnecessary accusations, I am not saying that female characters are inherently negative. Not in the least. Some of the most iconic films in history have had women leading them. My point is that the path Disney took to get there was lazy, unimaginable, and destructive of its franchises. That's also just one issue. Perhaps more damaging has been Disney's obsession with shoving left-wing political messaging into every corner of its productions. When you set out to divide your fanbase, don't be surprised you succeed.

Iger's mention of streaming being an issue is also missing the point. If that were the problem, Disney Plus wouldn't be losing subscribers hand over fist. The problem isn't the medium. It's the fact that people just don't like what Disney is putting out. Small screen or big screen, it hasn't mattered.

Now would be a good time to admit that and make large, sweeping changes. Instead, Disney seems content to simply walk a little slower down the same path that has led to its current financial chaos. Clearly, the pain hasn't quite gotten bad enough yet. Rest assured, though, it will.