Movies | Disney

‘Luca’ and Unapologetic Compassion

Luca is a film about diversity, inclusion and the power of compassion to fight against hate. This is best exemplified by a line spoken by Luca’s grandma. Luca’s mother asks if it is safe for Luca — who is a fish-person — to live on the surface world with other humans. The grandmother replies: “Some people, they’ll never accept him. But some will. And he seems to know how to find the good ones.”

Luca follows the tale of Luca Paguro and his best friend Alberto Scorfano, two fish-people who venture into the unknown world of the human realm, above the surface of the water. They are forbidden from entering this world because it is dangerous for them up there, in particular because the nearest town to the fish-people is famous for hunting fish-people.

There are wanted posters for the capture of a fish-person all over town, with the label of monster instead of fish-person. This monster motif and the fear that humans feel towards the fish-people is brought up and clarified by the resident bigot of the town Ercole Visconti.

When Luca and Alberto win the race by carrying their friend Giulia over the finish line, they are approached by Ercole. Luca stands up to Ercole and proclaims that he is not afraid of him, and Ercole shouts back: “No but we’re afraid of you! Everyone is horrified and…