Film Review: Why Is Zootopia A Good Disney Movie?
Zootopia is a fantastic movie depicting how society regards race and gender in the United States.
Zootopia is where all animals can live in harmony and be whatever they want, which relates to the American Dream.
The message that the film gave me was how it takes time and reflection for people to understand each other through the film’s plot.
Judy explains how the predators of the community succumb to their stereotypes. In other words, they succumb to their biology, meaning animals can’t be whatever they want.
Freedom is what America wants for the people. Freedom is what Zootopia wants for the animals.
Stereotypes of different races, genders, and sexualities that are biologically predisposed contradict tremendously how people or animals treat each other.
Zootopia is about a community of predators and prey who live together and be whatever they want to be
The film starts with the protagonist, Judy, a bunny, a prey, who wants to become a police officer, a job predators usually take. She eventually becomes one, and she doesn’t get the role she wants, as the chief puts her on parking duty.
Could this relate to the glass ceiling that “second-class citizens” like women and minorities go through?
In the film, she says that she was at the top of her class in the police academy, but the chief doesn’t care which is fair because of how prestigious the role of a police officer is which requires more experience.
My perspective is ignorant because of my absent of knowledge on what it takes to become an police officer, in terms of experience.
He puts her on parking duty and asks her to write 100, making tickets. Then she tells herself she’ll write 200 instead to prove her worth in the institution.
This scene reminds me of the common phrase in media that I’ve heard: “Black people have to work twice as hard to get half of what they want.”
While on parking duty, she encounters a con artist and fox, Nick.
Then, she discovers a case that has not been successfully investigated by the police force.
With the help of Nick, someone who also doesn’t fit the social norm of him contributing to society productively, they crack the case only to spotlight predators that are prone to be their biological selves, savages.
This strains Nick and Judy’s friendship because she knows that not all predators are prone to be a savage like Nick as he helped her solve a case.
When she tells the public that predators succumb to their biology, Nick attempts to fake scare her as she holds the pepper spray to take out of her pocket that her parents gave to her if she encountered a fox.
That scene told me that prey fear predators even if one is not a stereotype.
They eventually make up, only to find a more resounding conclusion to the case.
Ironically, the replacement of the police force, a prey, was the mastermind behind the case for retribution against the predators.
This shows that a prey can be different from their social constructs because they can be “… whatever they want to be.”
Zootopia and America are similar
Zootopia and America are similar in many ways.
Both societies emphasize the idea of equal opportunity to be available to anyone, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved by anyone.
In the film, Judy defies all odds and becomes a police officer. Even so, it is uncommon for prey like herself to be in that occupation.
As her parents say, “… there has never been a bunny cop.”
Barack Obama became the first black president in 2008, a step in the right direction of the American Dream because he broke the mold of white men becoming president repetitively.
Both people defied all odds and became the first in their occupation, reinforcing the American Dream.
Vice President Kamala Harris is another example of the mold being broken as previous vice presidents were white men.
Human history which is mostly controlled by the media with constant images and narratives has told society about social norms, which is an umbrella terms for gender roles, gender identities, social conceptions, gender norms that people have broken through like Obama, Harris, Judy, and Nick.
The next similarity is how people treat each other because of who they are.
Another instance happened when the chief of the police force put Judy on parking duty on her first day on the job, where the chief put her other co-workers on the primary cause of fourteen missing animals.
This scene told me that the chief sees her as less than her co-workers, who are predators, and she is not given an equal opportunity because of who she is.
In America, women are given unequal opportunities in the workforce institutionally. Because they go through motherhood, they are less likely to be hired or paid by their institution than men.
The gender wage gap still exists in America.
Contextually with the film, was Judy qualified enough or experienced enough to be put on that case on her first day on the job?
The film shows how different the physical characteristics of Judy’s co-workers are more “suitable” for the typical police officer to endure the rigorous conditions that a police officer goes through on the job.
Judy’s co-workers are predators and their gender identity creates the internal sense that they are the best animals for the job.
They have deep voices compared to Judy having a sweet, soft spoken voice, that symbolizes that they are exclusively masculine. Their deep voice is one of their few physical traits that is shown in this scene to portray their gender identity.
This idea reflects gender inequality and gender expression.
Because Judy is the minority, she is not taken seriously despite being on top of her class in the police academy. She’s not told that she needs more experience, or that she needs to prove herself by the chief. The social construct tells society that she is not capable of doing the same job as her contemporaries.
Another example of unfair treatment between groups of people is the police officers violently brutalizing African Americans because of stereotypes compared to white Americans, who rarely or never get beaten by them.
This idea told me that those outside the group discriminate against them because of who they are or the “idea” of who they are, as Judy and Nick must endure.
The last similarity is the contradiction of the ideal dream for both societies and how society reinforces it.
Everybody is given equal opportunity in every institution.
That is not the case with women in the workforce or “prey” in the police force.
Judy has to fight to get to the top, breaking the rules and taking a case the chief didn’t assign her in the film.
Would Judy have stayed on parking duty if she didn’t break the rules and taken the case she wasn’t assigned to by the chief? It’s very unclear in context with the film so it makes sense why Judy broke the rules.
In America, women fight to get equal rights through marches, riots, and activism which has worked.
There was a time when they were not allowed voting rights, but they eventually achieved it through perseverance.
Stereotypes Are Real
People still believe in stereotypes and treat each other differently for being who they are.
Predators are “feared” in instances that I described in the earlier paragraphs, and black people are “feared” in America with examples such as the gun control incident where the government paid more attention to it because members of the Black Panther Party who are black had them in the past.
I’ve written an article concerning that idea.
The fear was that they could kill the people of America for treating them unfairly institutionally and create chaos since they had weapons.
I can point to the looting and rioting by black people that proves their likelihood of creating chaos in America if that would to happen.
You can be whatever you want is an illusion of what society wants for everybody, but in reality, you can’t be whatever you want to be unless you fight for what you want.
“Zootopia is about a community of predators and prey who live together and [fight] for whatever they want to be”
Fighting gave Judy a promotion in her job, and it made women more equal to men in the United States, the same thing with race as a black man wouldn’t have been able to become president in the 1980s.
Conclusion
I call for all people perceived differently from their peers of different gender or race to fight for their perception of them to be changed for the dream to become a reality.
Would the film have been interesting if It was about Judy trying to break the “glass ceiling” internally without breaking the rules as she did in the movie?
I don’t think so, which is why the film’s plot happened.
What would that plot look like though? Would it involve an uprising of prey like Judy protesting for better treatment?
There will be a sequel to this film which I am excited for because of what more social issues the film can dive into.
I predict that it will involve Judy and Nick getting into a romantic relationship with each other and possibly getting married.
This concept reflects the controversies surrounding socially constructed cultural expectations of who, in terms of Zootopia, prey, and predator should marry.
