Chuck JordanA Universal Picture
Re-thinking my earlier defenses of Pixar, since you can't actually be universal without first examining what you consider normal
Realized I shouldn’t have casually thrown out the label “straight white men,” both because that’s a bad idea in general, but also because they aren’t all straight.
Maritza Campos ☑@SasquatcherGeneral I really do wonder if he actually thinks that, or if it's, as always, a matter of the China market.
In any case treating sexual orientations as dynamite sticks at this point of the XXIst century is so dumb
In any case treating sexual orientations as dynamite sticks at this point of the XXIst century is so dumb
@maritzac yeah I was trying to emphasize that I’m not making any assumptions about his personal thoughts; I’m not his therapist! 😃 But the messaging is such a drag.
The company has no problem using China as a scapegoat; any time they’re caving to conservatives, they can just shrug and point to the Chinese market. I guess here they had to decide between turning the dial to “racist” or “homophobic” and assumed it was safest to offend the gays.
@SasquatcherGeneral Well, that maybe means they're not caving to conservatives, but rather cathering to them.
@maritzac yeah, or at least to moderates-who-might-as-well-be conservatives. I think at a certain point of money or influence, you realize you’ve got more in common with rich people than with regular people.
Seppo Helava@SasquatcherGeneral Yeah. The worst part is the people complaining the most about Pixar catering to "interest groups" are that almost all of them are just racist bad actors.
I think the big thing re: Pixar recently is that some of the stories simply aren't as good as the ones where they really nailed it. I enjoyed Elio as a casual movie, but its plot makes no sense, and nothing feels earned. Elemental had a lot of charming moments, but there were a lot of plot-driven, not character-driven bits.
@SasquatcherGeneral And I know it's cliche to compare things to Kpop Demon Hunters, but KDH's characters are clearly *Korean* and doing *Korean things*. And they're perfectly relatable, and the movie made an absolutely bonkers cultural impact.
I think Docter being conflict-avoidant sounds like the way these kinds of problems emerge - that there wasn't a force that could push against someone's autobiographical perspective for the sake of a really tight story structure.
That's just a guess, tho.
@helava yeah, character diversity won’t save a weak movie, and a lack of it won’t ruin a great one. But it sounds like they’re internally aware of when something’s not working, but not fully understanding what makes the great ones so great. It’s the combo of personality and all the movie-making flair. One without the other feels hollow at best or a total dud at worst.