Why ‘black people can wear white hairstyles so white people should wear black hairstyles’ is illogical

Historically, black people in Europe and America received more discrimination if they wore their traditional hairstyles.
    To be taken seriously, black people had to wear white hairstyles. It was a requirement forced upon them by white people.
    Hence this isn’t an issue of black people can wear white hairstyles: it’s that black people had to wear white hairstyles, that their own hairstyles were taken from them.
    So for the people who took their hairstyles to then wear their hairstyles? Anyone would find that hard to process.
 
 
Why the Statement’s Reasoning is Faulty
 
White people want to wear black hairstyles because black people wear white hairstyles, even though black people only wear white hairstyles because white people treated them bad for wearing black hairstyles. So, white people are allowed black hairstyles now because they denied black hairstyles to black people in the past? It’s simply not a sensible line of thought.
 
People might point out that we regularly enjoy the food, music and clothes of another culture, so why not hair? There is a major difference in that these other things had been offered, either in trade or as a gift. The exchange went both ways; nothing was taken by force. Black hairstyles haven’t been exchanged but white people have taken them for themselves. So it’s not comparable.
 
 
Acceptable Cases of ‘Black Hairstyles’ on White People
 
White Rastafari wear dreadlocks because it is a part of their religion. That hairstyle had been gifted to them when they joined the religion. Although I must note that dreadlocks have been prevalent in India for thousands of years and there’s evidence that Vikings and ancient Celts wore dreadlocks, too. Hence dreadlocks aren’t just a black hairstyle.
 
When people move to another culture, people expect the immigrants to integrate into the host culture. So a white person moving to Africa would be expected to adopt and assimilate the culture they’re in. This includes food to clothing to, yes, hair. Also, if the hairdressers only know black hairstyles, that’s what they’ll give all their customers, whether white or black.
 
Note: these examples of white people wearing nominally ‘black hairstyles’ have nothing to do with ‘black people wear white hairstyles’. The reasonings are different.
 
 
Final Thoughts
 
Whilst black people today have more freedom to wear their own hairstyles, they are still subject to discrimination because of it. White people want to wear black hairstyles despite white people once discriminating black people for wearing black hairstyles. Everything about ‘black people can wear white hairstyles so white people should wear black hairstyles’ is illogical.

Zootropolis (Film) Critique 5/5

*****SPOILERS*****

 
Visuals
 
The realities of animals in the actual world are portrayed well in this film.

We see camels jogging in the sand. The animators really captured the rhythm, height and lengths of the ups and down (in regards to legs, shoulders and heads) in a realistic manner. The way their lips flap up and down (and side to side!) is also very accurate. They managed all this even though these camels are bipedal. Fantastic.

Judy taps her foot whilst thinking. This common gesture is elevated because Judy thumps this foot like a real rabbit.

The tubes humans use for pet rodents in real life? These are used for lemming transportation in Zootropolis.

The yoga elephant has beautiful henna on her skin. Yoga, henna and elephants are all very Indian in nature. (All the other elephants have been African elephants, so having this one as Indian is nice for diversity.)
 
Zootropolis needs different requirements to accommodate all the different species.

Sprinklers are used to keep the Rainforest wet. Snow is blasted from tunnels in the Tundra. Having so many environments close together isn’t statistically likely, so the filmmakers showing the audience how it is artificially managed was a clever decision.

When Judy boards her train, we see loads of different door sizes, matching the size of different mammals. This means smaller animals can’t be trodden on by larger ones and that everyone gets their required seat size.

When hippos exit the river, they stand on air vents to blow off the moisture. That way, hippos get their preferred habitat without dripping all over dry inhabitants.
 
Judy did a play in her youth.
            Judy ‘dies’ in it. To simulate blood, she used loads of ribbons and ketchup. There was so much of both (overkill is a kid’s forte, after all). Loads of blood usually made things gory, but not this time. It was the goriest non-gory scene I’ve ever seen: the fact this was pulled off was a mighty achievement.
            When they spelt a word wrong on a prop, it was scribbled out with the currect spelling written above it. (The word’s ‘vicious’, by the way.) That’s a very childlike way of correcting written mistakes so it’s an excellent detail to have happen in a child play.
 
I appreciate several miscellaneous visuals.

At the Natural History Museum, there’s a statue of a woolly mammoth. It’s wearing the stereotypical cave man outfit and it carries a Stone Age spear. The accumulation of all these details at this place was fab.

In the Tundra, people ride ice blocks down the flowing river. Making use of how ice and rivers behave (floating and flowing) to suit the needs of the people. I love how simple this idea is.

One shot is observing the top of an escalator. We see a giraffe’s head come up first, then a shorter animal’s, then Judy’s. We thus expect them to come off in that order. But it turns out their exit order is the other way around! What a clever way to play around with expectations and perspective.
 
 
Emotional
 
Positive emotions emanate from Nick, mainly.

Nick says his ‘child’ wants to be an elephant when he grows up. Then the small fox blows a kazoo in his trunk. So cute.  Nick then turns to the son and says, “This must be the worst birthday ever. Please don’t be mad at me.” Then Nick kisses him on the forehead. Too adorable!

Judy gives Nick a police application form and a pen to fill it out. This pen is the carrot-shaped pen-recorder that Judy used to record Nick incriminating himself. It shows that Judy trusts Nick and wants him by her side, that she believes in him. Warm fuzzies.
 
Nick’s words break my heart sometimes.

As a child, Nick was bullied as a scout because all the other members were prey species. Child Nick begs, “What did I do wrong?” This hurts because children who are bullied bullied instantly think they’re the problem, not the bully.

When they fall in the water, Nick can’t find Judy. He calls out her name with panic that’s felt beyond the screen. Plus, that’s the first time he used her name. That’s a significant moment, showing he actually cares. Heart wrenching.
 
Judy’s press conference creates injustice between predators and prey.

The reporters see Nick jump scare Judy and ask, “Were you just threatened by that predator?” Judy answers, “No, he’s my friend.” So the reporter asks, “We can’t even trust our friends?” Considering Judy just said she wasn’t threatened by Nick, the reporter’s follow-up question is only there to incite fear and hatred. Whether to get the views or make more-gripping new, this is horrid.

After Judy turns Zootropolis’ prey against predators, the Judy-Nick alliance breaks. But then Judy tells Nick, “I was ignorant, and irresponsible, and small minded. Predators shouldn’t suffer for my mistakes. I need to make it right.” She owned what she did. She didn’t try to minimise it or explain it away like most people do.
 
 
 
Conclusion
 
This is one of my favourite films.

The way it’s used as a metaphor for discrimination is perfect. Also, Judy originally thought Zootropolis was a utopia but this wasn’t quite the truth. This shows that good things take effort and need continual work in order to be maintained. There’s no room to be complacent. This is a good lesson to install in anyone.

Beautiful to watch and listen. Clever sentences, plot points and world-building (like how Zootropolis/trains are adapted for different animal species). Easy to follow but intelligent enough to enjoy. Humour and emotions keep rolling in. This all goes down to the smallest details, such as a gazelle being named Giselle: I love this similarity between species name and personal name.

The problems were, on the whole, unproblematic in the grand scheme of things. None interfered with the plot (even though audiences felt the night howlers had lots of plot holes, I showed otherwise).

This film tips the scales heavily on the positive side. Usually when I’m this invigorated, it’s over a sequel of a book I love. But to feel this delighted over something new? The filmmakers did a truly wonderful job.

Zootropolis (Film) Critique 4/5

*****SPOILERS*****

 
Favourite Humour
 
My three favourite funny moments from this film get me giggling every time.

Nick wonders if Bellwether (a sheep) counts herself when she goes to sleep. Playing on the idea of kids doing just that.

During Judy’s childhood play, a tiger says he wants to “hunt for tax exemptions.”

Judy lists everything wrong about her new flat. Yet she still declares her love for it! This is a funny dissonance.
 
Judy as a ‘metre maid’ gives these little pops of joy.

Judy gives a hippo a ticket and her child says, “My mummy says she wishes you were dead.” To hear those words come out of an innocent voice was hilarious.

As her car’s time has expired, Judy even writes herself a ticket.

When Judy talks to Nick, she puts a clamp on the buggy.

After Judy’s first day on the job, you can see how disappointed she is. Judy’s dad sees she’s a metre maid and he celebrates, “She’s not a real cop!” Her neighbour shouts, “Shut up! Can’t you tell she feels like a failure?” Later, Judy whispers, “Tomorrow’s another day,” to which the neighbour says, “But it might be worse.” All this just rubs in how devastated she is by her police experience.
 
This film uses slow sloth speed to great effect. Even though many jokes are based on this one idea, it didn’t feel milked or overdone. To achieve this was fantastic.

The film ends with Judy pulling over a speeding car, and inside is Flash. The fact that a sloth goes that fast is hilarious. But even more funny? If Flash has the reaction speed to drive that fast, that meant he was going slow at the driving place on purpose, not because he needs too!

At the driving place, someone facepalms themselves because the sloth does the forms so slowly.

Nick calls a slow sloth ‘Flash the one-hundred yard dash’. Naming someone slow ‘Flash’ is like naming an atheist ‘Faith’.

Flash has a mug that reads, ‘You want it when?’ With sloths being slow, of course deadlines would be an issue for them.

Flash’s mouth opens so slowly, beaming with happiness, giving the slowest chuckle ever. Brilliant.
 
Zootropolis is portrayed as a place of harmony between all mammals. Judy buys into this so hard, as seen during her childhood play when she says in Zootropolis, ‘anyone can be anything’.

Nick jokes about this idea that people in Zootropolis get along and sing kumbaya. At every opportunity he gets, he teases Judy’s positive perception.

Judy is uncomfortable, seeing all the yoga animals naked. Nick says to her, “In Zootropolis, anyone can be anything. And these people? They be naked.” Not only is he turning Judy’s expectations on their heads, but choosing to say ‘they be naked’ instead of ‘they are naked’ just to match the tagline was clever.

Nick says to Judy, “Are you saying a sloth can’t be fast? Anyone can be anything in Zootropolis.” Not only is it funny because it fits with the recuring line, but also because at the end of the film Flash breaks the speed limit. So sloths can be fast: Nick isn’t just being facetious.
 
Judy and Nick often turn what the other one said against them.

Judy interrupt Nick’s day, saying his “ten dollars of popsicles can wait.” Nick then brags it’s been two-hundred dollars every day since he was twelve. So Judy figures out how much money Nick’s ever made. She then says, “But what do I know? I’m just a dumb bunny,” something Nick says often to her.

When Judy replays Nick’s confession of never paying tax, she says, “It’s called a hustle, sweetheart.” He said this to Judy earlier when she challenged him on work permits and selling ‘red wood’.

Nick records Judy saying she was a ‘dumb bunny’. Nick records this and says he’ll give the pen-recorder back in forty-eight hours, the exact same deal Judy gave Nick when she recorded his confession.
 
 
Other Humour
 
With the main character being a rabbit, the filmmakers limited the ‘breeding like rabbits’ to two incidents only.

When she figures out Nick’s income over many years. Then she adds, “Mind you, we are good at multiplying.” Word play of multiplying, both rabbit breeding and mathematics, is fun.

The population of Bunnyburrow is written on its village sign. It keeps on increasing which kept me laughing. Breeding like rabbits for sure!
 
Police personnel provide a lot of humour.

Whilst Judy’s at the police academy, we see her training montage. They include the various environments (tundra, desert etc), boxing, falling into the toilet. At every opportunity, the polar bear instructor keeps yelling, “Dead, dead, dead, you’re dead.”

Clawhauser doesn’t like to be stereotyped as a doughnut-eating cop. But then we see a doughnut between his collar and neck. This humour was enhanced when Clawhauser tells the doughnut, “There you are, you little Dickens.”

On Judy’s first day, Chief Bogo says, “There are new recruits I should introduce, but I won’t because I don’t care.”

Chief Bogo says, “Life isn’t a musical where you can sing a song and your dreams come true.” A Disney character making light of a Disney convention is brilliant.

Clawhauser sees Mr Otterton holding a popsicle and he gasps, “The murder weapon.”
 
The weasel Weaseltown has a few funny moments, too.

When Judy catches the weasel, she references a real-life nursery rhyme by saying, “I popped the weasel.”

Weaseltown calls Judy, “Flopsy the copsy.” Adding -ie sound at the end also worked for Nick who said earlier, “Whoopsie number threesie.”

Judy calls the weasel ‘Duke Weselton’. He corrects her to ‘Weaseltown’. This is the backwards joke of Frozen’s Duke Weselton.

Weaseltown says, “They offered me something I couldn’t refuse. Money.”
 
The yoga place was a laugh trap.

Judy keeps trying to talk to the yoga yak at the desk. But the yak just hums louder and louder to block out Judy’s voice.

The yoga elephant remembers nothing. For something that ‘remembers everything’, this reversal was brilliant. Then the yoga yak wishes he had the memory of an elephant, even though she remembered nothing, so he wants what she doesn’t have. Even if he wanted the ideal elephant memory, the yoga yak remembered everything anyway, so he wants what he already has.
 
Visuals are used to great comedic effect.

Judy and Nick are captured and taken to a room. Each polar bear entering the room gets bigger and bigger. Each time, Judy asks if this one is Mr Big. The suspense and anticipation is built so well, only for the surprising twist of Mr Big being a teeny tiny shrew.

Watching Nick drink from the tiny shrew teacup was gold.

The mayor got a Bellwether a ‘world’s greatest dad’ mug, with the ‘dad’ scribbled out and ‘assistant mayor’ scrawled above it. Such lazy efforts of nice gestures are insulting, but that makes sense considering the mayor’s opinions and behaviour.
 
Audio is another useful tool for comedy.

Bellwether uses ‘mutton chops’ as a swear. So hilarious.

Judy pretends to howl to distract the wolves. One wolf joins in and another wolf covers this one’s mouth, only for him to join in, too. First wolf cocked head when first howl heard, making it a multi-media experience.

The train cart rushes past a sheep who presses themselves against the tunnel wall. There’s a sheering noise and, when the train has passed, the sheep has a naked belly.

Zootropolis (Film) Critique 3/5

*****SPOILERS*****

 

‘Zootropolis, where anyone can be anything’
 
This tagline for Zootropolis is referenced often in this film.

Real societies often put limitations on what someone’s allowed to do (both privately and publicly). Women, lower classes, different ethnicities or age groups… certain expectations ‘shouldn’t’ be ignored based on the individual’s biology. Stereotypes develop. Modern democracies largely denounce this attitude (even if, in practice, discrimination still exists).

The Zootropolis tagline also denounces this. A person’s biology, whether predator or prey, no matter the species, shouldn’t get to determine that individual’s life. Judy and Nick emulate this when they become police officers. Stereotypes are always present in this film: whilst this controls the behaviour/speech of people that have biases and stereotypes, they don’t control the behaviour/speech of those being stereotyped.

Someone shouts, “Go back to the Forest, predator!” The tiger replies, “I’m from the Savannah.” At first this was a problem because tigers actually do live in forests, not savannahs. Yet there’s no reason why this tiger couldn’t go live in the Savannah. After all, the tag line of Zootropolis is ‘anyone can be anything’, i.e. individual takes control of their own destiny. So, they can choose where they live, not live in the place their species traditionally live. This was a very clever way to portray how the tagline manifests in practice.
 
Judy, unsurprisingly for someone who buys into the tagline, is forward-thinking when it comes to species discrimination.

Judy says, “We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. That means we have a lot in common.” Dislike often comes from differences. But spend any time with anyone different and instantly you see they’re just like everyone else.

Judy says, “the more we try to understand each other, the more exceptional we become.” If we learn about others, understand about others, we get a richer, more complete picture of the world and the people in it. It means we can treat them in the way that suits them. We do this on a personal level, such as getting to know a friend. So we can do it on a public level, like reading up on the beliefs and traditions of other cultures/religions. This can be done out of kindness, necessity or politeness: whatever the reason, it does make someone better.

Anyone can be anything. So you should get to know someone for who they are instead of judging them for what they are.
 
There are some instances where Judy’s acceptance credentials are challenged.

When Nick is in the ice-cream shop, because he didn’t leave as soon as he was refused service, Judy unclipped her fox repellent. She does the same when Nick jump-scares her after the press conference. The fact she carried it in the first place also doesn’t look great.

However, she was always willing to work with Nick, neither treating nor talking to him badly. If Judy genuinely didn’t like foxes, this would have manifested more than twice (although the latter incident might not count because it could’ve been a life-or-death situation). That means she didn’t dislike being with a fox.

These anti-fox behaviours are most likely a trauma response, from when the fox Gideon attacked her as a child. The fact Judy worked perfectly fine with Nick shows she thinks she’s over it, so she wouldn’t have realised she still had things to work through. So whilst this doesn’t excuse her behaviour, it does explain it.

Plus, when her parents say foxes are bad, Judy says, “Gideon Grey was a jerk who happened to be a fox.” This is clearly how she feels, meaning any negative fox-related behaviour (i.e. releasing the fox repellent) is a trauma response, not a stain on her morality in the form of discrimination.

(Yes, Judy thinks the sloths will take a long time. Nick jokingly chastised her. However, Judy’s job is on the line if she doesn’t complete the case by the deadline. Sloths are factually slow, meaning Judy panic at relying on sloths is a simple acknowledgment of reality.)
 
 
Discrimination towards Prey
 
Predator-on-prey discrimination is the narrative the film portrays.

All throughout the film, people keep on referring to predators’ savage past and instincts. The two outright examples come from Judy’s childhood play and her press conference, citing predator biology being dangerous.

Gideon (fox) physically and verbally bullies prey species (sheep/rabbit). The mayor (lion) treats Bellwether (sheep) badly: pushing her around, undervaluing her with a bad office and mug, plus using harsh tones and nickname.

Bellwether often talks about ‘looking after the little guys’. Also, she wants prey species to control their own destiny. Bellwether reveals she’s assistant mayor for the sheep vote, not because the mayor values her opinions and contributions. These suggest that predators dominate society and decisions. In other words, prey don’t get to have a voice or control over their lives.

Also, we the audience know that real-life predators hunt prey. Predators cause damage and prey are victims to this. So we are already primed to feel for the prey and are inclined to support them.
 
But prey discriminate towards other prey, too.

Judy’s given the ‘metre maid’ job by Chief Bogo because he’s not keen on rabbits being on the force. Judy declares she’s not a ‘token bunny’. Clearly she’s here because she’s good, not because of diversity (considering she was top of her class). So even if Bogo didn’t outright declare his bias, his bias would be clearer than glass.

When Chief Bogo suggests that “any predator looks savage to a bunny,” it’s not based on Judy’s perception of predators but it’s based on Chief Bogo’s perception of rabbits (of being small and scared). He stereotypes Judy based on what she is, not on what she does.

Internalised racism or ‘the big guys’ (bull) vs ‘the little guys’ (rabbit)? Whatever the case, discrimination is between anyone and everyone, just like real life.
 
 
Discrimination towards Predators
 
Whilst we’ve been conditioned to think prey are on the receiving end, there’s actually many examples of prey-on-predator discrimination. (Discrimination one way often results in discrimination the other way, as seen with any real-life ethnic tensions/conflicts). So much so that prey-on-predator discrimination is actually more prevalent that the other way.
 
There are subtle hints of prey having negative attitudes towards predators.

We see muzzles and fox repellent. Something to contain predators and something to hurt/banish predators. Items designed to harm and shame sentient individuals. Items that only exist because people believe predators are dangerous and bad. For there to be a legal market for these items is shocking, especially in a city that promotes people being more than their biology.

Yes, the continual reference to predators’ primitive ways shows why prey fear them, yet it’s definitely an example of prey-on-predator discrimination. The predators already have to carry the weight of their past on their shoulders even though it’s been generations since they’ve hunted. So to be constantly reminded of your people’s past mistakes is a heavy burden, especially when you as an individual are treated badly because of it. People should only be judged for what they themselves do: they aren’t responsible for the actions of their ancestors.

Only a few predators went savage and yet the entire city went on an anti-predator frenzy, so much so that there were protests! Even loveable Clawhauser was moved away from the front desk and hidden away just because he’s a predator. For the prey to be so ready to turn on the predators shows they’ve always had negative views.
 
The above examples show prey attitudes towards predators. But more direct, some instantly-recognisable, examples of discrimination are also present.

Judy’s dad says that Zootropolis is full of predators, with foxes being the worst. Then her mum says that it’s in their biology. What it boils down to is this: they think all predators are bad and dangerous just because they’re predators.

The ice-cream shop elephant refuses Nick service on sight, simply because Nick is a fox. We see a flashback of prey scout members bullying Nick just because he is a predator. Chief Bogo says that Nick isn’t trustworthy because he’s a fox: not because of what he did (which he can control) but because of what he is (which he can’t control).

A tiger sits next to a rabbit kit on the train and the rabbit mum pulls her child closer. Some are quick to point out that a parent’s job is to protect their children. But the kit was still within the tiger’s arm reach after it had been moved, so the movement made no safety difference. This showed the mother’s actions were purely out of distrust and dislike of predators in general. Besides, the tiger was acting very civilised, so why would it all of a sudden turn savage?

Not to mention Bellwether’s entire plot was to discredit predators as a group!
 
 
Mirrors to Specific Discriminatory Behaviour
 
Two instances perfectly reflect racist behaviour towards black people in real life.

Nick touches Bellwether’s curly head wool without permission. Just like how black people have their curly hair touched without their permission.

Clawhauser, a tiger, sits at the welcome desk of the police station. He calls Judy cute, to which Judy replies, “Bunnies can say that to each other, but other animals can’t.” Just like a certain N-word.
 
Another comparison to real-life discrimination is the ‘you’re not like them’.

Obviously, Nick was offended by the predator-bashing press conference. Judy tells him, “You’re not like them. You’re not that kind of predator.” Judy said this intending to reassure Nick. But all it does is reaffirm to Nick that Judy’s statement reflects her belief.

Exchange ‘predator’ with any group and add the relevant stereotype. This whole situation is happening every day in real life. To feel discrimination in this way, to have something about your identity belittled then to have you separated from your identity, is beyond uncomfortable.
 
Misidentification is another real-life discrimination portrayed in this film.

As noted before, someone tells a Savannah-living tiger to, “Go back to the Forest!” In real life, racists often yell at people to go back ‘to their own country’. Often, they specify what country they mean, though most of the time they get the country wrong (like mistaking Pakistanis for Arabs). They even say it to someone who’s never been to that specified country (like telling a third-generation British Indian to go ‘back’ to India). Native Americans get told by White Americans to “Go back to your own country!” (The irony).

The mistaken identity isn’t just applied to countries but every identity. Sikhs often on receiving end of Islamophobic behaviour, for example. People can treat a white-presenting Latinos with love and friendship, but as soon as they speak Spanish, the discrimination starts.

However it’s presented, mistaken identity is a big problem. People hate one group so much that they’re willing to hate everyone who ‘fits the bill’, everyone who’s perceived as similar to that one group. A lack of similarity is why someone hates others, yet similarity is the reason even more people receive hate. Discrimination doesn’t follow reasonable lines of thought.

Zootropolis (Film) Critique 2/5

*****SPOILERS*****

 Clever Decisions

 
A play detailing how prey and predator came to live side-by-side starts the film. It instantly answers the real-life audience’s questions about how prey could cohabit with prey safely. Plus, from the first moments, we are aware that the predator’s murderous past is still at the forefront of everyone’s mind (without which Zootropolis citizens turning against predators in this film would have happened neither so quickly nor so strongly).
 
Judy’s father has the habit of sounding both wise and depressing at the same time.

Judy talks about her ambition to be a police officer. Her dad quips, “Ever wondered how we got so happy? We gave up on our dreams and settled.”

Another of his lines is, “If you don’t try anything new, you never fail.” That’s one of the ways crippling anxiety controls people. Because never failing, or avoiding the possibility of failure, is comforting.  

These sentences are clever and effective. But a happy individual whipping out depressing sentiments as the reason for his happiness? Hilarious.
 
Nick’s hustle with the giant, red, elephant-bought ice pop was pure genius.

First Nick melts it. Then he refreezes the liquid in the Tundra, creating many tiny popsicles. Then he sells these to the lemmings. As soon as one lemming notices the popsicles, all the others follow (something lemmings are known for), generating many more customers for Nick.

The lemmings throw their sticks in the bin. Nick collects these and sells them to the shrews as ‘red wood’ (the wooden sticks are stained red by the popsicles). So Nick says ‘red’ as an adjective to the noun ‘wood’, but because he’s selling it to builders, they would have heard it as the noun ‘redwood’. This technicality gets him off a criminal charge.
 
Judy declines her award, saying, “I’m not a hero. I haven’t made the world a better place. I broke it.” Bogo says, “Don’t give yourself too much credit.”

Working in the police for most-likely decades, Bogo would be exposed to the worst of behaviour. The recent unrest wouldn’t be anything new for him. His words demonstrate his attitude, feelings and experiences without actually talking about himself or hinting at his exact experiences (the very things that influenced his attitude and feelings).

But Judy had a positive attitude: she thought she could be anything, she liked the utopia of Zootropolis, and she loved her awful flat. So for her to see the city hating each other because of what she said? Her outlook is no longer positive so of course she thinks she’s to blame.
 
There are a few small details that I appreciate so much.

Judy doesn’t have a warrant to explore a fenced-off area. She throws the recorder-pen (with Nick’s confession) into the area and Nick follows it. Judy enters, saying she doesn’t need a warrant to enter somewhere if there is probable cause, such as a shifty character climbing a fence.

Judy resigns because she tore the city apart. She took on this case in order to save her job. Yet she loses her job (through resignation) because she solved the case.
Mr Big tells Nick, “Say hello to Grandmama,” when he instructs his guards to dip Nick and Judy in the icy water. Considering Grandmama is dead, the consequence of the ice dip is shown without death itself being stated.

Before escaping from Mayor Lionheart through the drainage system, Judy puts her phone in an evidence bag to keep it dry. A police officer using police equipment in an unorthodox way to solve a problem? Genius.

Nick becomes a police officer. He’s eating a popsicle like the one from his hustling days. This is a nice detail: not only does this connect Nick’s old and new jobs, but popsicles are how Judy and Nick embarked on their journey together, leading to this outcome.

The main female and male characters, Judy and Nick, don’t form a romantic attachment. There isn’t even any romantic tension! What is clear is a deep bond of friendship, love and trust. Usually the lead male and female end up involved and it drives me up the wall. Men and women are allowed to be friends; friendship isn’t a lesser relationship than romance.
 
Chief Bogo says, “Or maybe any predator looks savage to a bunny.”

He then accuses Judy of racism, even though he’s just treated Judy according to his stereotypes about rabbits rather than treating her as an individual. (And then right there he says Nick’s not trustworthy because he’s a fox.)

Bogo is being racist and is thus a hypocrite. Yet, unfortunately, such is the case with a lot of people in real life. So this hypocrisy shows that the filmmakers understand how flawed people’s attitudes can be, and how those who dislike something can still perpetrate it.
 
 

Clever Plot Points
 
The plot is put together so well. It has all the twists and turns of a police procedural drama whilst being easy enough for children to follow.

When seeing the photo in Mr Otterton’s missing persons casefile, Judy sees the otter holding a popsicle. The same kind of popsicle Nick sells. Also, Mr Otterton is a florist, and Weaselton stole from a florist.

The jaguar that drove Mr Otterton when the otter went savage talks about night howlers before going savage himself. Then Judy sees wolves taking the jaguar away and she thinks they are the night howlers.

But then Gideon calls a type of flower ‘night howler’, the kind of plant that turned Judy’s rabbit uncle savage. The same kind of flower that Weaseltown stole from the florist. It turns out these flowers are turned into gun pellets, shot to turn individual predators savage.
 
Even though the press conference turns out in shambles, Bellwether tells Judy she did fine. The reasons why are genius.

Bellwether is nice to Mayor Lionheart, even though the mayor is nasty to her. If Bellwether’s pleasant to unpleasant people, there’s no reason for her to be critical of the pleasant Judy.

Further, Bellwether’s been supportive of Judy since she graduated from the police academy, carrying this on throughout the film. So the sheep being nice to the rabbit about the press conference isn’t unexpected.

Bellwether said Judy did ‘fine’. This word isn’t positive. (At best, it’s neutral.) It’s there just to give Judy reassurance. When reassuring people, being critical or praiseworthy of their efforts can be detrimental. Plus not being overtly positive, Bellwether isn’t publicly aligning her views.

Later we find out Bellwether is the mastermind behind everything. Judy’s press conference sets off anti-predator sentiment, both in terms of words and behaviour, in the city. Judy thus aids Bellwether’s plans. So why would Bellwether be critical of Judy for unknowingly helping her out?
 
The sequence of events following Bellwether’s confession to Judy was one clever thing after the other.

Judy asks, “Are you gonna kill me?” to which Bellwether says, “No, he is.” Then she shoots Nick with the night howler, hence turning him ‘savage’. They play pretend because they’d replaced the night howler bullets with the blueberries from Judy’s farm.

Bellwether says, “It’s your word against mine.” But then Judy plays her pen-recorder that recorded Bellwether’s confession. “No, it’s your word against yours.” Just like Judy recording Nick led to them solving the case, so does Judy recording Bellwether prove it.

Zootropolis (Film) Critique 1/5

This is one of my favourite films. Judy goes to Zootropolis, becoming the first ever rabbit police officer. She searches for missing predators with the (begrudging, coerced) help of the hustler fox Nick. Turns out the missing people turned savage, ‘reverting to their old ways’. Along the way, we see discrimination between different mammal species based upon assumptions and stereotypes.

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 Night Howler (Supposed) Plot Holes

 
If night howlers are known make people savage, how did people not know night howlers were the cause of the savagery?

Even though Judy was a farmer who knew enough to identify the plants by the scientific name, even she didn’t know they turned people savage. So how is the general populous of urban Zootropolis meant to know that night howlers turn people savage? The plants aren’t used for food so they’d have no reason to go near them, let alone connect them with savage behaviour.

Mayor Lionheart relocated all the predators that went savage, meaning the public didn’t know about savage behaviour until Judy’s press conference. If it’s the first-time people learn about this, why would they counter the completed, official explanation? At this conference, Judy connected savage behaviour with predator’s historic instincts. We see throughout the film that prey discriminate against predators so Judy’s news fits with their biases. If an official’s explanation suits your narrative, why would you question it?

If so, this would mostly apply to prey only. So what about predators? Perhaps internal bias kept the predator discontent hushed up. Maybe they, not wanting to seem like they’re making excuses for the savage, wouldn’t speak out. Society had shifted even more against predators, leading to protests and open abuse, so fear could have kept predators silent, too.

Also, all the savage mammals are predator species. Even if people knew about night howler’s effects, they’d know prey are equally impacted, too. Considering prey are nine-to-ten times more common than predators, people who knew about night howlers would expect savage prey species, too! The fact no prey animals are savage leads to those who know about night howlers to not even consider their involvement. (Most people wouldn’t jump to conspiracy theories. Occam’s razor, and all.)
 
Why steal the plants when they were easy to buy?

If they were bought legally, there would be an obvious paper trail that would lead the police directly to Doug, hence exposing the plot. Of course, theft is illegal which would make the police investigate, but the trail might not be as clear.

Also, the police are making the disappeared mammals the priority, so why would the police take officers off these cases and put them in stolen plants, instead? Sure, officers were in pursuit when Weaselton’s crime was in progress, but no-one looked into the reasons behind his actions. He was even back on the streets within days!

There are risks and benefits to both options, so Bellwether choosing theft isn’t bad. Plus, for either option to be a problem, the police would have to piece together all the clues together. (If it weren’t for Judy or Nick, these pieces would have remained unconnected.)

Perhaps Bellwether just doesn’t have the funds to keep buying night howlers. Yes, we see Doug raising them from seedlings, but they could have easily died at any point. Plus he might have needed adult night howlers before the seedlings were ready for harvest.
So stealing the night howlers isn’t a plot hole.
 
 
 
Bellwether’s Name
 
Assistant Mayor Bellwether is a sheep; a bellwether is a sheep-related term in real life. Using a sheep term for a sheep name was good.
 
But is calling this ewe ‘Bellwether’ appropriate?

A bellwether is a wether (castrated ram) that wear a bell around its neck, allowing the shepherd to hear where the flock is located. Calling any ewe ‘Bellwether’ thus seems off. However, many shepherds report that they place a bell over their leading ewe, the one that decides where the flock goes. These ewes (because they serve the same purpose) are thus termed bellwethers in their own, non-castrated and non-male right. So Assistant Mayor Bellwether having that surname despite being a ewe isn’t too farfetched.

Furthermore, Bellwether is her surname. Many people are called ‘Smith’ or ‘Potter’ even though they’ve never done those activities. Plus, surnames om English don’t usually change just because of the person’s gender (many women have Johnson as a surname, for example.) So there would be no requirement for Assistant Mayor Bellwether to be a Bellwether in any sense. Just the ancestor that was first given the name is acceptable.

Also, a bellwether in politics is a constituency/state that always votes for the winning party. By looking at the bellwether’s local result, the national result can be predicted. In a sense, they lead the way. Considering Assistant Mayor Bellwether leads the way in her master plot to bring down the predators, her name in a political sense is perfect. (Particularly when she herself is a politician.)
 
But how did the term ‘bellwether’ develop in the world of Zootropolis?

Bellwethers are individuals who have been castrated. But why would the individuals in the world of Zootropolis castrate anyone? This isn’t something many sentient men would agree to. It is hard to imagine bellwether’s political sense be developed without the shepherding sense coming first, after all.

Maybe it was the same sort of thing as eunuchs. That is, because fertile men can’t be trusted around women, infertile eunuchs could be. Castrating a male not only removes the most visual thing about masculinity (male genitalia) but it also changes the behaviours/desires associated with developed genitalia. Zootropolis shows no signs of eunuchs, but neither do real life modern countries that once had eunuchs (China and Turkey), so why would modern Zootropolis show signs?

Perhaps this castration practice was developed by the predators before peace was secured? (There would be no way for peace between predators or prey to develop before sentience, meaning the predators still had to be eating prey once they had developed sentience. Or perhaps only predators developed sentience at first and only turned away from predation once prey became sentient, too?)
 
 
Questions
 
These are mere curiosities, not causing deep questions like with Bellwether’s name. Nonetheless, there’s still the space to ponder these, too.

I wonder how the Tundra is kept cold whilst nearby there are hot environments like the Rainforest and Desert? Perhaps it’s like a fridge, whereby heat is taken from the place where cold is desired (Tundra/inside the fridge) and this heat is dumped elsewhere (Rainforest and Desert/outside the fridge). Mind you, in the summer the Gobi Desert is hot yet there can still be snow. There are plenty of possibilities.

Nick is a red fox, a species that usually has a white tail tip; however, Nick’s tail tip is brown and black. As there are no other red foxes to differentiation Nick from, this deviation from normality isn’t required. Yet some red foxes do have this colouration, so this isn’t a matter of false representation. Thus it’s only an artistic choice and, as it is aesthetically pleasingly, this artistic choice can’t be criticised.

Judy has a pair of neighbours that live together. Presumably they have the same sized tiny room as her. Are they friends, gay, brothers, roommates? It’s unclear. However, this ambiguity allows the audience to think what they want. It means people can be happy that gay people are represented but, because it’s not directly stated, homophobes can’t get angry.
 
 
Predator Problems

If predators are no longer savage hunters, where does their food source come from

Only mammals are shown in this film. We can thus guess that only mammals are sentient. Do predators still eat meat, only not from mammal? Reptiles, birds, insects, amphibians etc? But the film makes such a big deal over predators no longer being savage hunters: surely still eating meat would veto this representation?

Although it’s like how some humans don’t consider fish meat. Or perhaps predators farm the non-mammals and farmed animals aren’t hunted. Possibly predators aren’t considered savage for eat the non-sentient.

The other solution is that they don’t eat meat at all. As stated before, considering the film goes for ‘not savage anymore’, the basic question of predators’ food source needs answering. On one of the many occasions where people said predators overcame their instincts, a quick sentence like, “and now they eat bugs” or “and they turned veggie” or something would have eliminated this problem.
 
Questions surrounding mammal sentience kept cropping up.

The Mammal Inclusion Initiative is an odd name. We only see mammals in this world: how can mammals be included in something if they’re the only available option and are hence already in that something? The ‘Mammal’ seems to be a stand in for ‘Small Mammals who haven’t yet been hired by the police’. So perhaps something like ‘Police Inclusion Initiative’ would have been better because it does exactly what it says on the tin without any hang-ups.

Mr Big’s grandmama was buried in the skunk’s butt rug that Nick sold him. So they use the skin/fur of each other? This film doesn’t show non-sentient mammals so it’s hard to think they exist at all. Skunks shouldn’t be a non-sentient exception.
 
 
Minor Problems
 
There were a few out-right mistakes.

Judy’s landlady was an armadillo who was wearing her clothes. Under her shell. Which would mean she has to take off her shell to put on her clothes. This doesn’t make sense because an armadillo’s shell is their skin. The thought the landlady has to take off her skin to dress? Nope.

Bellwether says that, “prey outnumber predators ten to one.” But earlier, Bellwether said that the city is ninety percent prey. As such, that ratio would be nine to one. If two facts about the same topic disagree, at least let different characters state them; this would present it as two different opinions, rather than one Bellwether being inconsistent.

Judy, a rabbit, is taller than Mrs. Otterton, an otter. Otters are much bigger than rabbits in real life. I see no viable reason for this film to make their otters smaller than rabbits. Sure, the sizes of all mammals have been modified so that they fit in this world, but these modifications should still be in proportion with each other.
 
Two things made little sense.

Bunnyburrow’s sign has its population on it. Having a settlement’s population written on its sign is such a weird concept. Why on Earth would anyone do this? It’s random and unnecessary. Plus it would change often so it would be an unnecessary cost on the local council’s behalf. So yes, the population going up is funny, but adding this weird detail for a little joke is bonkers.

When Judy chases the weasel, she rips off her hat and vest. So, that’s the main character portraying littering as if it’s okay. That’s not an appropriate message to give children. Also, why does Judy takes these things off? She has a full range of movement whilst wearing these items, plus they are light, so they wouldn’t hold her back whilst running. Especially considering how healthy she is! Everything about this is odd.
 
 
Nonsense Problems
 
Judy’s parents have many kits (as does the rest of Bunnyburrow), resulting in many issues. (Even though the joke is funny.)

Judy’s parents have two hundred and seventy-five kits. If every rabbit couple had this amount of children, there would be severe overpopulation. (This is before even accounting for other species that have loads of kids!)

Now, because predators no longer hunt prey, this means prey numbers aren’t culled. Plus, they live in a modern society with hospitals, meaning death can be prevented. How, then, can the world of Zootropolis support so many herbivores?

The space and resources required for so many individuals would be immense. Yes, we produce enough food to feed over eight billion humans (the amount of food waste in wealthy countries is enough to feed food-deprived people), so productive on a massive scale is possible. But extrapolating based on Bunnyburrow’s population, the number of prey in the world of Zootropolis would far outstrip our number of humans in our world, meaning massive food production literally couldn’t keep up with the population of Zootropolis’ world.

One could argue that only Judy’s parents have this many children, thus eliminating this whole concern. However, when Judy leaves Bunnyburrow, the train goes past its village sign which shows the population continually increasing. That number is far above the two-hundred and seventy-five count that Judy’s parents claim to have. Hence that continual uptick in Bunnyburrow’s population size means other rabbits are giving birth to many offspring. As such, Judy’s parents having that many kits isn’t an anomaly but a pattern.
 
At one point, we see a doughnut between Clawhauser’s collar and his neck.

But this doughnut doesn’t appear until that very moment. Indeed, earlier Clawhauser moved, meaning this part of the neck was exposed, and yet only moments later a doughnut magically appears in this same gap?

Theoretically it could have ridden up. But if that were the case, there doughnut would have bulged his shirt (but there was no bulge). Also, considering the size and shape of the doughnut, the probability of that riding up is very minimal. As such, the doughnut ridding up isn’t a valid explanation for the doughnut’s sudden appearance.