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You have to give it to Disney. At a time when they’re facing collapsing approval in the United States, largely driven by a backlash from moderate and conservative Americans, you would think that they would be more savvy. You would think they would hold back sexual orientation clothing and toys for very small children. And yet, they’re not. In fact, they’re going even faster into the culture war with pride-themed toys for infants. You would think that Lucasfilm, hot off of controversy surrounding their marketing of an actor of African descent to Chinese audiences (they tried to hide him), would avoid labeling their fans — who are innocent of such a sin — as racists that cause actors to need protection. Yet, here we are. And given all of that information, you would think Disney would be careful with their marketing not to even come close to mocking religions. So, given their track record, it is safe to assume they did just that.
“In Gods We Trust”
It must be a completely different world in Hollywood marketing. While I have no problem with parody, satire or clever wordsmithing, did nobody run a benefit-to-cost analysis on taking the national motto of the United States, one which upholds the monotheistic world view of the Declaration of Independence, and turning it into polytheism? As in, did nobody at Disney think “gosh, we have zero conflict right now with the Norse god mythology of Thor being criticized by Christians, Jews, and Muslims” and then ponder if this new tagline would change that?
All I can figure is we’ve reached a point where Disney is in the throws of maximal incompetence. They’re so ideologically captured that they can’t even comprehend the world in which they live. Why else would you do something that would throw sand in the faces of the groups you’ve been alienating as of late?
There’s always been an understanding in the Marvel world that Thor and all of his surrounding cast of characters are called “gods” in the same way that you might call the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods the same. And there’s always been an unspoken understanding that such labels are lower-cased g’s while the Creator of the universe is given a capital “G”. That God is the God of the monotheistic religions of the modern world — that is the same God which most people in American say they believe in and even worship. So why would you take a national motto that recognizes that Divine Being, whatever you or others might think That is (or Who that is), and twist the motto so that it now puts comic book characters on the level with what many people believe to be the Divine Creator of all existence?
When you do that sort of thing, these are the types of Tweets that begin circulating with that phrase attached to it (warning — not safe for work or for children):
https://twitter.com/dayasjedi/status/1529066241725304832
It’s a completely unnecessary controversy that Disney needs now less than ever, which seems to only exist as a goofy parody. That’s the most benign reading of it. It could also be seen as a purposeful attempt to stick Marvel’s finger in the eyes of believers. But it’s not just believers in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other monotheistic religions that might not be keen on this. The vast majority of people believe in a Creator of some kind. And not like a cartoon or comic book version, but as in they believe there’s a Creator that made the cosmos. That’s a big belief and it’s deeply personal. Many people believe they have a relationship with that Creator, that the Creator loves them, that they can pray to the Creator. Many of these people believe that this world we observe is not fully materialistic, that there is something beyond death, and that acting as if this Creator exists is of the greatest importance. These are not rubes or bumpkins — these are everyday folks and include a number of bonafide geniuses and experts in their fields. So even if this motto parody gets away without an uproar, why take the chance? Why take the chance to offend a huge swatch of your customers for almost no gain whatsoever?
The topic of God is so deeply profound to people that this clip of Dr. Jordan Peterson, a man of astounding intellect (whatever you may think of his positions), has been viewed by millions of people… and there are many versions of this video on the internet. You might easily accept that this particular chat has driven tens of millions of views in total. It’s a hugely poignant topic for the world and it is a topic upon which western civilization has been built.
So for Marvel to parody the motto “In God We Trust,” is a parody of the Declaration of Independence. After all, that is where we are said to have all our rights as a source, right? We’re said to receive all of our “inalienable rights” from “the Creator.” That’s the founding premise of the United States. It’s likewise the premise by which we determined that slavery was wrong. Because you can’t subserviate people easily if you believe that they’re truly children of that God who judges your life. You might be able to take advantage of that religious belief if you don’t buy into it, but if you think that you’re literally going to Heaven or Hell and you are doing so based in part on how you treat others, well good luck with upholding slavery.
So this whole thing about “In God We Trust” is a big deal. I’m not here to say that it should be the national motto or talk about its position in regards to the separation of church and state. What I am here to say is that there are some things that are foolish to parody if you’re an entertainment company in Disney’s position.
Does that mean Disney and Marvel can’t do so? No. It just means it boggles the mind why they would.
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