I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve been seeing commercials for Disney’s upcoming movie ‘Moana’ and I’m truly excited about the film. Dwayne Johnson voicing a demigod, a Disney princess that’s built like an actual person and music by Lin-Manuel Miranda? Sign me up for opening weekend tickets! The storyline sounds great and it truly seems like a movie that the entire family will enjoy. Well Disney being the big business that it is has already rolled out merchandise for the film. Toys, clothes, Halloween costumes, the usual. Everything was trucking along smoothly until people saw some of the costumes and pajamas Disney was trying to sell.
No, your eyes don’t deceive you. Those are essentially “brownface” clothing items. That horrendous wig aside, the costume is composed of a brown body suit with cultural tattoos and a grass skirt and the PJs are essentially the same thing. There was immediate backlash on social media by Pacific Islanders, I was offended too and that’s not even my culture. Well last Friday one of my friends on Facebook made a post that basically said that society is taking it too far and people shouldn’t be offended by the costume. I was going to let it go and not say anything until I saw the comment section and decided to throw in my two cents. Well this led to a conversation between me, the poster and I’m assuming one of her friends.
Her friend started off saying that he didn’t understand what was so offensive about it, that “we’re supposed to be accepting of whatever race, gender, or sexuality a person identifies with, now it’s not ok…#itsnotblackface”. When I saw his hashtag I knew had to chime in. There seems to be some kind of confusion when it comes to “Blackface” and people think that only happens to Black people. Brown face (Hispanic, Pacific Islander), Yellow face (Geisha, etc.) exists and it’s very offensive. I told him that accepting a person’s heritage and appropriation aren’t the same thing. People can be accepting and respectful without putting on blackface, or geisha makeup or those awful “Indian” costumes that are popular during Halloween.
Then it was argued that these are costumes based off of fictional characters so it shouldn’t matter, that it was like kids playing with Barbies or other toys that resembled an ethnicity that wasn’t their own. I informed them both that while the characters were fictional the culture was not. That’s when the cousin to the “it’s tradition, not offensive” argument was brought up. They both mentioned their colorful family history (Irish, Italian, German, Native American, etc) and that if they didn’t feel offended by people dressing like Disney’s Pocahontas then other people shouldn’t be offended either. This argument actually happens quite a bit. I’ve heard it used when people bring up the fact that sports teams like the “Redskins” needs to be changed because it’s offensive; it was even used recently when my alma mater changed their mascot from the Redskins to the Texans. People were hellbent on saying “well I’m part Cherokee-Sioux-X-Y-Z and I don’t find it offensive”. As if their one opinion spoke for the entire community. Newsflash, it doesn’t. Just because you don’t have a problem with something that’s highly offensive doesn’t make it not offensive. That’s not how things work.
Our conversation then drifted on the topic of legality. My friend’s friend asked what was so offensive about the costume aside from the brown skin and I explained to him that it’s also appropriating that cultures’ tribal tattoos and the sacred meanings behind them. I told him that while it wasn’t illegal for Disney to do that, it was offensive and in poor taste. I compared it to a family crest or Greek affiliation. Would you wear the crest of another family? Or let someone who you know is nowhere near related to you wear your family crest? No. And I’m not sure how many of y’all pledged in undergrad or grad school but if you did you worked hard to gain membership into the sisterhood you’re part of and it would be disrespectful for some random Jane Smith to wear your organization’s letters as if they were a member as well. As if they held the same beliefs as you and the rest of your sisters in the women’s fraternity/sorority. As if they participated in the traditions and rituals that go along with that organization. It’s not illegal, but it’s offensive and definitely frowned upon.
Plus, legality is super fluid. I pointed out the fact that before 1967 interracial marriage was illegal, Black people (slaves and freedmen) were once considered 3/5s a person under federal law, it was illegal for women to vote before 1920, taxation without representation used to be legal. It might be legal for cultural appropriation to be done today, but not tomorrow or next year. You know?
What shocked me was that the words of those whose culture was being appropriated didn’t bear weight. Their outcry and feelings weren’t being taken at face value and that’s not right. It was as if they shouldn’t be offended because other people who aren’t part of their community didn’t feel offended by what Disney did. That’s not how it works. All in all, I felt like I got through to those two, that I made them understand the situation a little better…or at least I hope I did. People are complaining that society’s now getting offended about every little thing, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think that people are more knowledgeable now, they’re more aware of what they’re doing; and they have a better understanding of right and wrong. I just hope we get to a point of true tolerance and acceptance sooner rather than later.