As predicted, theme park actors are now being followed and filmed by families with the intent to manufacture gotcha moments for money.
Before diving into this article, we should all read the words I wrote on July 20th about the Sesame Place incident that has now devolved into a family demanding $25 million from the theme park plus plenty more.
I don’t know what is going on here. I don’t know if the performer was in a hurry, asked to do something improper, didn’t want to hug children of African descent… I don’t know. I do know that it’s sad that I can only imagine that it will lead to less interactions with all children for future parades in all parks around the country. For each time that something like this could occur based on racism, surely there would be more times that would occur based on misunderstanding. But that wouldn’t stop the media from running with it. It’s too late — we’ve already rewarded the algorithm with this video. Now the clickbaiters know they can get money off of something like this, instead of making sure the little girls get to meet a cute character and receive a hug.
— Racism Accusations Against Sesame Place Are a Chance for Kindness
Now it’s all coming to pass, just as I said it would.
A family at Disneyland Resort approached the Rapunzel princess character being played by a cast member as she was leaving the public areas of the park. As she is leaving, the little girls are calling for her and then quickly the mother switches to claiming that Rapunzel is acting “like Elmo.” She begins making racially charged accusations against the actress. Now of course the princess doesn’t turn around and engage the family — I can tell you that training for face characters at Disney Parks is to avoid any situation that could lead to an ugly incident on camera. Do you really want Rapunzel being accused of racism on camera if you’re Disney? What makes the video more ludicrous is that Rapunzel is clearly meeting and chatting with children of all ethnic backgrounds as she walks. And then the video ends when Rapunzel notices the children who are being goaded into talking about racism and know about Sesame Place. Who in the world tells their very small children about Elmo and Rosita being racist at Sesame Place?!
Of course, all of this comes across as a setup and not as a real incident of racism. But when $25 million is being asked for from Sesame Place, you know that people are going to attempt to create these sorts of situations at places like Disney. In the end, this will just make companies have to institute new policies to keep actors away from guests. That damages the experience for everyone. Just remember, Disney has cameras and monitoring everywhere; if they catch an employee acting in a racist way, that employee is going to be fired. But now employees are going to have to be aware that a very small number of guests may go from actor to actor to actor, working to manufacture a situation that could lead to a lawsuit.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cgm7VdlMbEV/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
So there you go. People like the actress playing Rapunzel, meeting children of all ethnicities and working to be kind to them, are now being followed by families with intent to harm them. Read the caption on the Instagram. The actress is called a “racist ass shit.” She almost certainly had not a single negative intention whatsoever and the video clearly ends the moment she’s aware of the children. I wonder what it’s like to be that actress and have your likeness all over the internet with Disneyland News Today and WDWNT covering it as if it’s a real story of real racism? How would you like to be thrust into this conversation and called a “racist ass shit” for simply greeting children of all backgrounds with kindness every single day?
There will be more of this though. Fame and money are available to those who attempt now to compromise theme park workers. Good job, media. Good job, corporations.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts.
