We know that 2016 is a year that has already taken a few beloved musicians, and that’s not to mention the political farce going on over in the United States.
It’s also the year of the PC police / social media backlash, and it’s becoming increasingly common to see big companies issuing apologies and pulling products once the Twitterati attack.
Disney is set to release the movie Moana shortly, which has already come under scrutiny for its depiction of Pacific Island cultures. During the PR push they thought a Halloween costume might be a good idea, a decision they soon came to regret.
The lead character, Maui, would be that chap up top – the costume sold by Disney, below:
The costume was panned, with this from TIME:
The company said Thursday that it is pulling the costume of Maui(voiced by Dwayne Johnson in the film) from its website and stores after it sparked outrage earlier this week. The outfit consists of a brown bodysuit with tattoos.
“The team behind Moana has taken great care to respect the cultures of the Pacific Islands that inspired the film, and we regret that the Maui costume has offended some,” Disney said in a statement…
More on the matter from The Blaze:
While the tattoos depicted in the costume as well as the jewelry were intended to highlight the ancient Polynesian culture, some Pacific Islanders were offended by the ensemble, saying it promoted “Polyface,” so Disney decided to remove the outfit from its stores.
Chelsie Hunan Fairchild, who described herself as a “livid” native Hawaiian of Polynesian decent, said the costume is a perfect example of cultural appropriation…Fairchild said it was wrong for Disney to promote children pretending to be another race.
“It’s disgusting,” she said. “[Disney] literally thinks it’s OK to have children dress up as other races. How is that not offensive at all? … This is inappropriate. It’s not OK.”
Do you agree with Chelsie, or do you think 2016 has gone a little too far with policing costumes such as this?
I’m not Polynesian, so I’ll moonwalk my way out of the room and leave this one well alone.
If your interest is piqued then here’s the trailer:
