Disney announced this morning that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is starring in a movie version of Jungle Cruise, based on the Disneyland attraction of the same name.
Will it face a “cultural appropriation” backlash as a result? The Magic Kingdom attraction, which simulates a cruise through major rivers in Africa and South America such as the Nile and the Amazon, has long been accused of perpetuating racist stereotypes.
All those animatronic dark-skinned natives throwing spears, masked African headhunters, rhinos and hippos still make “social justice warrior” riders feel distinctly uneasy. Recently the ride has been called ‘racist’ and ‘heavily colonial‘ on social media.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were previously linked with a movie of Jungle Cruise but will the casting of Dwayne Johnson, who is non-white and of mixed Samoan and African-Canadian descent, mean the movie will avoid perilous PC waters? After all Moana, which also starred The Rock, managed to make SJWs happy!
Disney will be hoping for a present-day franchise, free of controversy, along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbean. But already the Screen Rant has pointed out the “ounce of cultural indifference” in Jungle Cruise.
Will the casting of Dwayne Johnson stop the movie from being caught between the Rock and a hard place?
Time will tell. After all the movie won’t be filmed until spring 2018.