Ron DeSantis and his fellow Florida Republicans may have brought their war on Disney into the classroom in a worryingly authoritarian way. Reportedly, an unnamed teacher is under investigation for misconduct by the Office of Professional Practices Services for showing the 2022 Disney film Strange World.
According to the letter the teacher received, somebody reported her to the Department of Education — which is in charge of deciding whether or not Floridian educators should face sanctions — for “inappropriate conduct.” Strange World was the first Disney film to openly depict an LGBTQ+ character with Ethan (played by Jaboukie Young-White), and as such could be interpreted as a violation of the state’s new regressive, hetronormative laws.
Strange World follows the Clades, a family of legendary explorers who have to learn to live with each other’s differences as they begin a journey to a mysterious land full of strange creatures, in order to save their society’s main source of energy.
The source of the Tweet claims that the teacher in question received a signed permission slip from every student to show “Disney and Dreamworks” films in the class. The source also notes there was space for parents to add specific films they may object to – which means the teacher may be in the clear, legally, because in America if you have the right lawyers you seem to be able to argue anything. And, if this teacher manages to get some attention and possibly Disney onside, she might be granted access to Micky’s legal army.
However, like most legal wrangling, it will all depend on the machinations of the Florida court system. The current Supreme Court of Florida was appointed entirely by DeSantis, so if the case makes it that far, it doesn’t look good for the educator. If the situation wasn’t so dire, it would be interesting to hear the plot of a children’s film used as evidence in the highest court in the state.
Numerous other posters pointed out the irony in a department in charge of enforcing standards having a spelling mistake on its letter.
While making fun of the banal evil of Florida’s current governing bodies isn’t the worst thing in the world, the outcome of what happens to this teacher could end up being quite important to the political direction in which the state — and possibly the country — are heading. There is also a chance that Disney could utilize this in its lawsuit against DeSantis for maliciously targeting the company. There’s already plenty of evidence proving that, but a little more can’t ever go wrong.
However, we don’t know much about the situation so there shouldn’t be too much speculation. There’s no context explaining why the teacher was showing the film, or even what subject they were teaching. Moreover, while the tweet asserts the potential sanction is for showing Strange Worlds, the letter itself doesn’t confirm that.
The message of the tweet, however, is more than reasonable enough. While parental rights are important, educators need to have the freedom to use tools they feel will get the message across — and that means films. And, because LGBTQ+ people exist, the mere fact of them being in these films shouldn’t be illegal. However, in Ron DeSantis’s Florida, erasure and spite seem to be the driving forces.
