Zootopia: Social Allegories as Allusions
Though these two are great allusions and parodies of Disney's previous hit, Frozen,
and the Godfather scene is one of the funniest in the film (if you recognize the series being parodied)
Zootopia's driving force is its use of allusions to current, American examples of microaggressions and oppression. Though by no means an exhaustive list of examples, here are some to ponder:
In addition to the surprisingly well-handled interplay of Judy and Nick's experiences, this film is also clever in how it employs these allegories in smaller moments. The way oppression works in our society is complex and nuanced, and this movie fittingly represents this in two different ways. The first, as described above, is through the complex and realistic way Judy and Nick work through their own forms of marginalization and oppression. The second is through alluding to specific acts of micro and macro aggression, and ways of combating it. For example,
For many Americans, Judy's language here overtly conjures the current the treatment of the use of the N-word. Without getting into why calling Judy "cute" would be wrong, Judy's past experiences in the film and the visual dynamics of this scene in particular imply how "cute" has been used to belittle and de-power Judy and bunnies in general. This specific allusion both references and explains, in a way digestible for younger audiences, how names and slurs work, how they can be reclaimed, and how much of an impact they can have psychologically and within personal relations. However, it doesn't stop there - though it does work as a direct allusion to the N-word, it also encapsulates the various gendered terms which are used to belittle women and reduce their power, by framing them as small and non-intimidating compared to their larger and more masculine co-workers. After all, how many grown men dislike being called cute or adorable, but wouldn't think twice about calling a grown woman, or any female for that matter, cute? How about for young men?
The allusions in this film to smaller, specific social dynamics are what make the allegory of Zootopia as impactful as it is. These allusions teach the audience, whether child or adult, to inquire into the motives behind these actions when they occur in our own lives. Thus, this movie can get to ways oppression and marginalization are expressed in a tangible, behavioral, and changeable way while also beginning to elaborate on how hurtful stereotypes reinforce themselves and divide society.
So here's my challenge for you to leave in the comment section below: a) analyze one of the allusions to a specific action or situation from this movie which you see in your society; b) present a more nuanced or counter-interpretation of one of the allusions mentioned above; or c) using the world of Zootopia, create an allusion to an act of marginalization, an act of counter-marginalization, or some other situation that wasn't in the film.
Let's give Disney some food for thought for Zootopia 2.
Both Judy and Nick go through silencing and traumatizing experiences in their childhood, which shape their adulthoods in different ways. Judy's experience of being told she could never enter into the world of law enforcement, here represented by larger predator and prey animals, can be inferred to allude both to the way women are marginalized in male dominant spaces and how people of color are marginalized in white-dominant spaces; for women of color entering in predominately white-male fields in the US, Judy's situation speaks to the intersectional forms of oppression they must wrangle with to succeed. Nick's bullying experience hardened him to the reality of living in a society that refuses to see more than the stereotypes caused by racism-specie-ism. This closes him off from any possibilities for his future outside of those seemingly insurmountable expectations, and makes it difficult for him to trust others outside of his own social identity (while also making their betrayal when he finally does trust them, that much more hurtful). Because these situations and what they allude to are so clear and understandable, we as the audience can see the growth of Judy and Nick's relationship, and themselves as characters, as an example of self and other healing, which comes both from being vulnerable in discussing one's pain and in admitting the personal wrongs committed because of consciously and unconsciously subscribing to these backwards and dehumanizing modes of thought and action.
