Race Relations: A focus on Zootopia

Many have taken to the movie Zootopia to explain difficult concepts to children. Throughout the movie it is not difficult to see the take on prejudice and stereotypes. The main Character, a bunny, named Judy Hopps has a complex structure of identities. Judy's identity as a bunny or a female bunny depicts marginalization, when no one believed she could be a police officer. As part of the non-predator group she became a part of the majority, and did not receive the treatment those who were a part of the predator group did. Similarly, there were stereotypes given to each animal.  Judy perceives the city of Zootopia as a place where anyone can do anything, and everyone can live in peace and harmony, often times diminishing the discrimination and prejudices other characters identify. In the book Racism without Racists, Eduardo Bonilla Silva talks about the idea of Color Blind Racism which refers to the notion that if we stop talking about racism it will go away, or the idea that we shouldn't see race, just humans. This movie does a great job challenging this because no animal is the same, and their differences are acknowledged.

The lead male character felt the need to conform to the stereotype of the “sly fox.” Nick, the fox, had a sense of internalized oppression, in which he acted out on the stereotypes that were created about him when he was young. If he was to be treated as a criminal all the time, why not just act like a criminal? This depicts that how minor stereotyping and prejudicial attitudes can impact the lives of the young.

Gloria Anzaldua, in the book, Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza, looks at the divisions those that are minorities have with the majority. She discusses how minorities should allow the majority to be our allies. She suggests minorities introduce the majority to their ways of being, culture, history and needs. The animals in this film are aware of their differences. Judy realized the prejudice she had about Nick and even learned from him.

Looking deeper into this film, we can see the metaphor of the majority-non predators, and the minority- predators. Comparing this film to current day we can see the white population as the majority and the African American community as the minority. On the scene with the bus we see a mother bunny pulling her bunny child closer to her away from a tiger.

One thing wrong with this metaphor is that Judy stated that it was a part of the predator animals' biology to be savage. Although this may be extremely accurate for animals and for the film, in the analogy we see the confirmation of the ignorant remarks made by racist scientists stating blacks were biologically more savage/aggressive, and the remarks made by Hillary Clinton when she referred to black kids as, "superpredators," during the war on drugs. Although the metaphor can be set for interpretation, I believe it portrays black and white relations in the U.S.