Los Angeles, Alta California
February 9, 2001
DISNEY COMPANY: Eisner Continues Insensitivity Towards Mexicans
The Magic Kingdom was a very different place when it was under the control of its founder Walter E. Disney. Now that it is under the control of the super Jewish Mogul Michael Eisner, it has lost much of its enchantment. It has now become a greedy money making machine that routinely steps on the sensitivities of religious and ethnic groups. Our national group is often the victim of the Disney Company which is now a huge business octopus with tentacles touching everything from the radio station you listen to, the magazine that you read, the TV channel that you tune to, and the films that you view at your local theater. Yesterday, the U.S. indigenous organization Mexika Eagle Society issued a press release condemning Disney Studios for their recent decision to cast Antonio Banderas, whom they called a "white Spaniard", as Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in an upcoming film. The Mexika Eagle Society stated "This is an insult to the Chicano-Mexicano people in particular, and a direct smack in the face to all Indigenous nations as a whole." Michael Eisner who also controls Miramax Films, Hollywood Pictures, and Touchstone Pictures could care less what we think as long as he keeps bringing in the money. His motivation is strictly "greenbacks" and he cares nothing about who's sensibilities he steps on. Walt Disney would have a heart attack if he resurrected and found out what kind of films have now been produced by the company he founded. Among some of these Disney films are:
Pulp Fiction (1994 -Miramax Films) Disgusting R-rated adult film which contains over 320 obscenities and profanities, ongoing graphic and gratuitous violence, a homosexual rape, and much bizarre behavior.
Color of Night (1994-Hollywood Pictures) Gruesome R-rated murder mystery with bloody killings, stabbings, an impaling, and choking. Also, a sexual affair with graphic sexual content and nudity, and over 100 obscenities and profanities.
Priest (1995-Miramax Films) This controversial R-rated film sympathetically portrays a homosexual priest and depicts other Catholic priests as disreputable characters. Contains scenes of graphic homosexual lovemaking. Catholics nationwide protested the film.
One disturbing situation in which Eisner is endangering the Mexican community is in the way he allows his many radio stations to broadcast hate against us over the airwaves. With its acquisition in 1995 of Capital Cities/ABC, Disney became the world's largest media company. Through its 1995 ABC acquisition, Disney owns 26 AM and FM radio stations, and has more than 3,300 ABC radio affiliates. One particular radio program that airs regularly is hosted by the white supremacist Glenn Spencer of American Patrol. The program is used by Spencer to incite hate against Mexican migrant workers and to raise funds for his cause. Repeated complaints by Chicano and Mexican organizations to Eisner have fallen on deaf ears. Eisner controlled airwaves are used regularly to transmit hate propaganda against us and has motivated mentally unbalanced racists to commit hate crimes against our community.
Another Disney situation adversely affecting our community is the Disneyland/Rainforest Cafe
association. The Rainforest Cafe restaurant chain has a shoddy record of mistreating its
customers of Mexican descent. Two serious incidents occurred at one of the restaurants located at the upscale South Coast Mall in Costa Mesa, California. The mall is one of the last white enclaves and is located not far from the City of Santa Ana. Santa Ana is predominantly Chicano/Mexican and the white people of Costa Mesa refer to the city as "Little Tijuana"
which is reference to the Mexican border city across from San Ysidro, California. During the last decade, the Mexican population has encroached closer to the mall and the management, mall security and Rainforest Cafe have resorted to harassing unsuspecting Mexican shoppers in order to keep us away. One potentially lethal situation occurred in the mall's Rainforest Cafe when a Mexican customer complained about not being served. The restaurant manager called the mall's security and about 9 security guards assaulted the customer asking no questions. The customer was thrown out of the mall and asked not to come back. A lesser serious but similar incident occurred to a Mexican couple at the same Rainforest Cafe.
Yesterday, in Anaheim, California which is not far from Costa Mesa, Disneyland opened a new attraction site with a Rainforest Cafe. There is in addition a Rainforest Cafe in Disney World in Orlando, Florida. La Voz de Aztlan is investigating the exact nature of the relationship between the Disney Company and the Rainforest Cafe chain. This situation is particularly serious because Disneyland attracts families with children. It would be very sad if an unsuspecting Mexican family with children is mistreated or demeaned while in the Rainforest Cafe in Disneyland.
As a community, the only defense we have against the Eisner/Disney insensitivities is our consumer power. We do not have to spend our money with business interests that do not care about our well being. We must become informed about who owns what and direct our spending money to businesses that respond to our concerns.
