idk how i feel about the recent criticism that disney isn't focusing on romance anymore.
because on one hand, i get it. disney thinks that a strong female character has to be single, and that's wrong. you can be strong and independent, and still be in a relationship.
but on the other hand, i really do think we need more stories that aren't about romance. more focus on platonic friendships or familial relationships or community bonding. i think we as a society do place too much emphasis on romance, even in this day and age.
and the thing is that disney has always had movies that didn't focus on romance. robin hood, pinocchio, the jungle book, lilo and stitch, zootopia, alice in wonderland. some of these had romantic subplots, but the story itself was largely not about romance.
so i think the criticism should not be “disney doesn't make romantic movies like they used to” and instead “disney is patting themselves on the back for being "progressive" and focusing way too much on appealing to cishet feminists instead of writing a good story”.
what we need is female leads who are single, not because they're strong and independent, but because they want to be. because they don't experience romantic attraction, or because they enjoy being single. and instead of making edgy jokes about how independent and girlboss they're being, maybe the movie should focus on their other relationships, their passions, their goals, etc.
the truth is that disney wants to appear progressive to their left audience, while still not pissing off the conservatives. thus why they don't want any real queer representation in their movies and resisted so much when creators wanted to make a muscular female character.
it would be great if we got some aro/ace representation with one of these movies that don't have a romantic subplot, but they'll never give it to us.
