BW Media Spotlight

With the distractions I’ve had this month, I’m late to the game in discussing the recent Variety article that made the rounds, “Disney’s Boy Trouble: Studio Seeks Original IP to Win Back Gen-Z Men Amid Marvel, Lucasfilm Struggles“. (The continued belief that younger audiences have all the money and none of the sense.) Of course, everybody who’s anybody has already dissected this article and it’s questionable statements. Some came from the culture war conspiracy angle, others from a more creative or business perspective, but there’s one think they all agree on: Bob Iger’s people done screwed up, son.

Of course it’s easy to blame the Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity crowd for the failings to hold onto male audiences. While this primarily means the straight white males, it also includes males of color who see more about themselves than what crayon God colored them with, gay males who don’t attach the totality of their identity to whom they love/sleep with, and even the women they claimed to be going after who also have more going on in their lives than the militant feminists who attack femininity and actually like being women. I just complained about them, and this isn’t even a culture war blog, but the activists have forced their way into conversations about making cupcakes by this point. “Why are the black cupcakes ‘devil’s food’ and the white ones ‘angel cake’?” Even a lousy ad for pants or the usual corporate logo nonsense are touch points in the culture war, and sadly before this article is over I will have to delve into that.

On the other hand, while everyone in my circles are up in arms about DEI, ESG, BRIDGE, and every other far left acronym out there, I’d like to propose a new one at the risk of being part of the problem: SEECA. As Disney was seeking a brand to attract male audiences, they sought to take over Marvel and Star Wars. First, let’s be honest. While Disney is primarily known for Mickey Mouse and company as well as princesses, it’s not like they never made anything that targeted boys. Pete’s Dragon, The Black Hole, Gargoyles, a good chunk of The Disney Afternoon‘s lineup, and Toy Story featuring more boys toys are good examples. There are also stories that tried to give both genders a good showing so they could watch together, and most of Disney’s productions in the 20th century were made for families, not just kids. We could easily separate Disney’s properties pre-Iger alone, including TV movies only I remember existed. (You can keep Jack Sparrow; I’d rather see Black Jack Savage again.) However, “girls brand” is how Disney is perceived and why they went after Marvel and Lucasfilm…and then proceeded to make them girl brands for girls who aren’t interested in the original product because entertaining the women who already liked it would mean still catering to boys.

So what does this SEECA acronym stand for? Let’s go over it one letter at a time, and if you’ve been here long enough you may already figure out where I’m going the moment you see the name.

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