The hits keep on coming for the embattled Disney corporation. Unfortunately for the woke company, those hits aren’t in the form of movies, programming, or streaming numbers. All of those, on the other hand, are terrible. The company, once a cherished, trusted source of wholesome programming for the entire family, is a leftist husk of its former self, and viewers are running away in droves.
It is hard to feel sorry for Disney. Much of their woes have come at their own hands. Parents used to be able to turn Disney on for their kids and not have to worry about what they were seeing. In recent years, however, the company has made deliberate efforts to incorporate LGBTQ themes and characters into its content, including animated releases.
Perhaps folks didn’t notice at first, but since the much-publicized fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the state Parental Rights Bill, enough light has been shed on Disney’s nefarious intentions that parents have taken notice and action. Not only is Disney shedding an alarming number of subscribers, but their Lucasfilm division is also facing a lawsuit from former Mandalorian star Gina Carano, and over at Pixar, there are rumors of mass layoffs.
Disney+ recently revealed that they lost 1.3 million subscribers in the final quarter of 2023, much of it due to price hikes but partially due to the quality of their content as well. Social media has taken note of the struggles, and as expected, the response isn’t kind. Social media user Xaccount@screentime posted the news of the losses: “Disney+ lost 1.3 Million subscribers in Q4 2023.”
This prompted scorn and ridicule from other users. One user warned, “It will lose more if they don’t stop their wokeness,” while another chided, “That what happens when you go woke.” Wokeness is a recurring theme amongst many of the responses on X. Others responded: “Go woke. Go broke,” with another echoing that sentiment: “Go woke, go broke baby,” while yet another said, “That’s what you get for your woke s***.”
It appears the industry as a whole is suffering from streaming fatigue. As new options are added and prices increase, many consumers are left confused and tired of tracking all of the entertainment options. Many who “cut the cord” to fight the high price of cable have found they are paying just as much in streaming fees. For some living in Joe Biden’s economic mess, that is too expensive.
The Pixar division, which used to be bulletproof, now projects as much as a 20% cut in its workforce as the company tries to offset mounting losses from its box office flops and lost streaming subscriptions. However, woke content isn’t the only reason given by social media users. One user said, “Hopefully they lower them crazy a** prices now,” while another bemoaned the lack of creative content, “Not enough creative, original content. Can’t just rely solely on MCU and Star Wars. We’re over streaming services.”
Streaming as an option is struggling. Nearly every service regularly loses billions of dollars, and many consumers are sick of rising prices and stale content. For Disney, they could have avoided all of this by keeping their content family-friendly, fresh, and creative. Instead they push narratives and politics, and continue to crank out tired, old content. The results should be enough to let Disney know they need to make changes, but so far, they aren’t listening.
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