In what is possibly one of the most irresponsible events that has occurred since the 2020 pandemic began, Walt Disney World has decided to reopen in the middle of a surge of Covid-19 cases in Florida: One Quarter of a Million Cases and 4,197 deaths. Currently the Covid19 cases in Florida have risen five-fold in the last two weeks. And this is the environment in which the Disney Corporation has decided to create what will soon become the worlds biggest petri dish. Is this a case of unfathomable corporate greed? What would be the impetus behind placing so many lives at risk for a few more dollars?
How many yachts can you water ski behind? – Bud Fox, Wall street, 1987
The sad truth is that it’s hard to get away from Disney these days – they seem to own everything. This list includes ABC, ESPN (80%), Touchstone pictures, Marvel, Lucas film (50%), The History Channel, Lifetime, Pixar, Hollywood Records, Core Publishing, 21st Century Fox, National Geographic, and Hulu…and we are just getting warmed up. How about brands from your childhood? Disney owns Star Wars, The Muppets, The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pixar, Winnie the Pooh and Indiana Jones. Hoo Boy…about the only thing Disney doesn’t own from my childhood is Star Trek and my first dog.
So what are you going to do about it? Boycott Disney? Doing so reminds me of a passage from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: “You’ll have a national philosopher’s strike on your hands?” My doctor once told me “be careful you don’t hurt yourself more than them” in circumstances just such as these. I can no more stop anyone from walking through the doors of Disneyworld than I can make someone in my neighborhood where a mask in public. We can pray for the safety of those with Covid19 and those who treat them (and we do). Still an old adage comes to mind; something my grandmother used to say seems to apply to the Disney Corporation right now…