Disney has come under fire again, this time by the Parents Television Council for adding Marvel series like Daredevil and more to Disney+. After it was reported that the various Marvel series on Netflix, which include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders, would be leaving the streaming service at the end of February, speculation immediately began to spring forth on where the series would move to. Many originally believed Hulu would be their new home, as that is where Disney has put much of their more adult-rated material, but it was announced the shows would be coming to Disney+ on March 16, 2022.
The addition to Disney+ will also come with an update to Disney+ to add parental controls so families can control if younger audiences members can view this material. This is all for the United States, as Disney+ International has Star, which features all of the mature-rated content on the service, and Hulu is not available overseas. While this addition to Disney+ was done to make the streaming service the one-stop-shop for all things Marvel, it appears many parents have an issue with a family-friendly company like Disney adding these series.
According to Variety, the Parents Television Council (PTC) has spoken out against Disney's decision to put the more mature-rated Marvel series on Disney+ as they see it as destroying their brand. Despite applauding the company's parental control updates, their issue is with Disney having the material on their service at all, saying it's against the company's core values as a family-friendly service. They do not think Disney needs to compete with other companies and tarnish their legacy by adding these series. The full statement can be read below:
"For more than 98 years, the Walt Disney Company has been synonymous with the words Family Friendly, and I can think of no other corporation in American history that has been built more squarely on the backs – and on the wallets – of parents and families. The company’s eponymous platform Disney+ logically marketed itself as a family-friendly streaming service, and parents have placed their trust in Disney to deliver just that. It seems wildly ‘off-brand’ for Disney+ to add TV-MA and R-rated programming to this platform, ostensibly to increase subscription revenue. So what comes next, adding live striptease performances in Fantasyland at Disney World?” said Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television and Media Council.
“While we applaud Disney+ for improving their parental controls, the mere presence of MA- and R-rated content violates the trust of families, and may well turn them off entirely.
“There is no need for Disney+ to compete with the explicit content on other streaming platforms. Disney is already at a competitive advantage with a streaming platform that is the safest one out there for families. Its foray into TV-MA-rated fare will forever tarnish its family friendly crown.”
While Disney is known for being family-friendly, the company has pushed its own image in the past. At various points, Disney has owned a number of smaller production companies to create more adult-oriented programming, like Touchstone Pictures and Miramax. Even within their own brand, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was the first Disney movie to hold a PG-13 rating, and it went on to launch one of the company's biggest franchises. Most of Disney's most popular brands, like the MCU and Star Wars are PG-13, something many would not have imagined at the start of the 21st Century. While the TV-MA Marvel series are not an indicator of future moves, the MCU has hinted at more R-rated stories, like the planned Deadpool 3.
This is just one of many controversies to stem from Disney in the past few days, yet this is hardly anywhere near the top of the company's issues at the moment. CEO Bob Chapek has come under fire for Disney's silence on Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay Bill," and his later comment was criticized by many Disney employees and seen as a disappointment for how the company has handled itself. It was also reported by Pixar employees that Disney has censored LGBTQ+ content, and Disney employees' request for the CEO to oppose the controversial bill before it passed was met with silence. The company is taking blows from all sides, but in the grand scheme of things, the issue of R-rated material like Daredevil behind parental controls is nothing compared to the harm the studio does by actively ignoring human rights issues but supporting them as well.
Source: Variety