Transition of Media: The Awakening Age

Written By: Wy’Kia Ferlot
As I often do, I visited the theaters to watch the newly released Frozen II, sequel to Disney’s smash hit Frozen from 2013. I was expecting this film to grow with its audience and deliver a darker toned theme, building off the stories of the first—and it did…sort of. Instead of building off the girl-power themes of sisterhood and letting go of all your worries, the film featured Elsa and Anna facing off of their greatest enemy yet– the truth that their ancestors were colonizers who tried to murder an entire indigenous population. And as I watched this film, I wondered how did we get here compared to the first one? How has Disney, one of the most successful family-friendly studios, go from barely covering feminism and ignoring race to acknowledging colonialism and genocide? To fully analyze how we have come to this point, we must analyze where we’ve started. 2010’s American culture can be split into two eras: the Obama era (2010-2016) and the Trump era (2016-2019). Due to the Obama era giving certain rights to oppressed minority groups, a push in the public narrative of America being a great country began to grow. Narratives showing American protagonists as the good guys in black and white quests of good and evil became popular during this time. In contrast, the Trump era created pieces of art that emphasized the failures of society, particularly in the American people, while also pushing for diversity in a vigorous way that was absent from the Obama era. Films such as Us, relies on the premise that a failed American experiment has led to us being our own worst enemy. Films like Joker, which explores why society has failed those who needs it the most. (Arguably, 2019, was the peak of Trump era-influenced films due to the creative process and production scheduling.) These major changes in media, particularly film, were inspired by the political and cultural climate during the reign of these two presidents. When Barack Obama became president in 2008, he became the first black president of the United States. With a nomination of a black man as president, it brought hope to mainstream media that America was moving past issues of race and becoming more inclusive. By 2010, Obama was halfway through serving his first term. The next year, the Obama administration orchestrated the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, a man considered to be a villain of sorts in American culture for his role in 9/11. Technology was booming—with new inventions such as the iPad, and social media becoming more popular to the masses. Innovation was constant, and the problems that plagued American society for minorities seemed less of a concern and were set aside. With a liberal stance being taken on important issues, such as the legalization of gay marriage, equality for all seemed to preside in the distant future. While there are many films to choose from that display the utter lack of awareness when it comes to portrayals of minority groups in media during this time—I feel like nothing explains the environment of the Obama era media better than Hamilton, a Broadway musical. Created by Puerto Rican Lin Manuel Miranda, Hamilton covers the life of Alexander Hamilton, America’s first Secretary of the Treasury. This musical stands out from other adaptations with its use of hip hop music to tell its story, featuring a cast of people of color to act out the roles of white historical figures. With its themes of immigration, legacies, and patriotism it became a massive success. Folks of all kinds began singing “immigrants, we get the job done,” and “I’m just like my country. I’m young, scrappy, and hungry.” It helped envision a type of America where people of color could be just as proud of their country as anyone else. It leveled the game in American history, making the past accessible for anyone who wanted to claim this country as their own. Lin Manuel Miranda was invited to the White House multiple times, where he sang the lyrics of Hamilton to the Obamas and their guests. The musical seemed to be celebrated by all .The next year, when Donald Trump was elected, Vice President Pence was booed by the crowd as the cast delivered a statement to Pence, begging him to uphold American values for minority groups as well. In 2016, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. His constant tweeting controversial statements on race, women, and policies created a climate full of animosity and strife amongst political parties. Many minority groups were unhappy with Trump and voiced their unhappiness throughout his term. It caused American culture to begin to think critically about what makes America the country that it is, as Trump claims he wanted to “make America great again.” This critical view of the country leached into a critical view of the media as well. Creative companies who previously ignored issues of race and gender could no longer be afforded the same luxury without critical blowback. So, companies began to adopt a level of “wokeness” that could appeal to its audience without appearing derisive to its more conservative viewers. One of the best examples of modern media companies’ performative “wokeness” comes in Frozen II. Not only discussing themes of colonialism and girl power that became popular in the latter half of the decade, but the film also completes the common late 2010’s trope of having the enemy be themselves. Now dressed in power suits and wearing pants, Anna and Elsa are ready to go on their adventure into the unknown, only to discover that the unknown is actually a group of indigenous people that their grandfather purposefully tried to kill. Their journey of realizing their history is not as clean as they thought, echoes the journey American society had to deal with as they saw a President who confirmed certain minorities’ worst fears. Even the process that Disney went about making this movie, conferring with the Sami people about their role in the film, speaks to a level of sensitivity previously lacking in their earlier films of the decade—such as Prince of Persia, a film set in ancient Persia, yet features a predominantly white cast. These changes in media speaks to a larger change in culture as a whole. No longer are we able to claim to be “post-racial” and supporting equality. We, as a society, are more aware of our current problems than ever before. And our media shows that clearer than ever.