The story is about a rabbit who overcomes the stereotypes of her size and all other social barriers. Her weakness is also her strength to become an excellent police officer. She is assigned a case to investigate when she becomes a police officer at the Zootopia Police Department. The case involves predators turning savage in Zootopia. The Zootopia had many social issues, including race, gender, and prejudice.
Zootopia may seem like a place in which anyone can be whatever they want, but there are still prejudices between predators and prey. Bellwether is an assistant mayor, a sheep. The mayor, a lion has described Bellwether as not being appreciated. It is clear that there are differences of opinion when it comes to the case where predators turn savage. Preys tend to assume that predators will turn savages.
Socially, a race can be defined as a collection of people who share similar biological traits. To make it easier for stereotypes to be understood, we can use the phrase “look at people”. It affects their attitude towards the other group, and can be used to justify discriminatory actions. Zootopia shows that stereotypes and discrimination are a two-way street. Prey are viewed as weak and incapable of achieving. Preys that are smaller in size, such as rabbits, are also treated with suspicion. Predators are viewed as dangerous and frightening. In Zootopia, there are a number of scenarios where these stereotypes and prejudices are maintained even though they are constantly broken. Hopps becomes the first Rabbit to become a Police Officer and graduate from her Police Academy. Claw Hauser is the Zootopia Police Department’s resident cheetah. He is a cheerful and friendly person like no other. These examples prove that there is a wide range of social groups.
Nick Wilde. A fox close to Hopps, Nick is an example of a character that’s interesting. He’s a loyal, intelligent and caring character. Wilde posed an interesting question when he asked Hopps, if he was afraid of her and whether or not she believed he was going to become savage someday after the conference. Hopps replied, “No …, You’re not Like the Others!” We realized that, often, race is not a construct of biology, but a construct of social structure. Bellwether’s hatred of predators and her prejudice is clearly the reason for this.
The article also stressed that it is not race but values and character traits that set people apart. Hopps is a great police officer because he has earned intelligence and self-righteousness. Bellwether’s savage tendencies may be due to the fact that she is not a prey, but rather a divider of society. She even turns Hopps into a savage. Zootopia’s sloth is the lone animal known to be biologically slower. Although the movie may have a surprising plot, I believe that humor is needed because the movie is so tight. A lot of the time, humor is based on stereotypes.
Zootopia makes gender a clear issue, but, as usual, it is just a way to evaluate people and their behavior. Hopps would look different if she was a boy rabbit. On her first day, she is sent off by Chief Bogo. It’s not just her appearance that plays a role in her being labelled a metermaid. Additionally, her femininity is working behind the scenes to make her more biased.
The movie makes a more subtle distinction between genders. The stereotype is that females have a greater emotional range, but this movie proves that males and females both can experience emotions. When Hopps left the house, her father started to cry and not her. Nick’s emotional side is also evident when he tells Hopps that “Your bunnies seem so upset”. The reason for his calm, emotionless demeanor is not because he’s a man, but rather his past, which made him avoid being upset in front of others. It is not a bad thing to be emotional, just because you associate it with femininity or weakness. Emotions are a great way to guide us. Hopps’ emotions are a big influence on her. She is led by her emotions a lot. Hopps will also risk her job by helping Mrs. Otterton.
Zootopia is one of the Disney films that I have seen. Because of this, I was moved to tears by how accurately the social relationships between the animal characters were portrayed. The movie was fantastic and I liked how it addressed all of the current issues. That is, to me, not only the magic of a good movie, but art as well. While writing, I pondered this question: “What happens if instead of representing animals, the creators decide to show humans?” What an amazing change, I thought. Disney, however, decided to tell this story by using animals. People began to wonder, “How do these stories reflect our society?”.
Zootopia asks a philosophical question, which is more interesting, and I will leave that debate for another day. We may agree that humans differ from animals due to their morality and awareness, but how can we remain consistent and not harm other people based solely on differences such as color, race, gender and age? Zootopia has raised many questions and answers are needed.
