The Walt Disney Company, which is usually a name that has a lot of positive connotations for people all over the world, is getting it from all sides right now. The largest employer in the state of Florida was getting hit from one side for its “better late than never” response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation this week, and now it’s also being attacked for its decision to bring mature shows to Disney+.
The Parents Television Council, an advocacy group that promotes, according to them, bringing ”responsibility and decency to the entertainment industry” has issued a statement denouncing Disney’s decision to bring its six TV-MA rated Marvel series from Netflix to Disney+. PTC President Tim Winter says in the statement that Disney is damaging the trust parents have in the name by making this move, but the hyperbole gets a bit out of hand, with Winter saying…
The company’s eponymous platform Disney+ logically marketed itself as a family-friendly streaming service, and parents have placed their trust in Disney to deliver just that. It seems wildly ‘off-brand’ for Disney+ to add TV-MA and R-rated programming to this platform, ostensibly to increase subscription revenue. So what comes next, adding live striptease performances in Fantasyland at Disney World?
The slippery slope argument is nearly always a bad one and that’s certainly the case here as well. Nobody is planning mature content at Disney World, and the Netflix shows will be locked behind new parental controls that Disney+ is introducing specifically to help manage kids viewing this content. The PTC hasn’t yet made a comment on the Disney+ ad-supported option, that will provide advertising to children.
The PTC does praise the additional parental controls, but simply feels they are not enough. The feeling is clearly that Disney, being Disney, has a responsibility to only do things that are acceptable to the family environment, and by even having these shows on Disney+, the “brand” is being damaged. Winter continues…
There is no need for Disney+ to compete with the explicit content on other streaming platforms. Disney is already at a competitive advantage with a streaming platform that is the safest one out there for families. Its foray into TV-MA-rated fare will forever tarnish its family friendly crown.
It was a little surprising to learn that Daredevil, Jessica Jones and the rest of the Netflix series were going to make their way to Disney+, after leaving Netflix. Many expected the shows to end up on Hulu, which has been the place where Disney has put content it deemed more mature more than once. At the same time, most of the other Marvel content is already on Disney+, and even it isn’t designed for all members of the family. The existing parental controls and kids profiles already block significant content on Disney+ from younger viewers.
While advocacy groups like this may have a problem with Jessica Jones doing grown up things on Disney+, most people don’t seem to care that much. There isn’t a widespread call not to bring these shows to Disney+, so this minor controversy will almost certainly blow over. The others, time will tell.
