KATHY BARNETTE (RADIO TALK SHOW HOST): One of the things I think that this particular company and many multibillion dollar companies tend to forget is my child already has a parent. My child does not need them, nor do we look to them, to parent our child, right? I love Belle from Beauty and the Beast, she's my favorite. But Belle will not be the one to teach my daughter how to be a woman. I am my daughter's role model, I will teach my daughter what a strong, confident, and educated woman looks like. Not Disney. So I think that they are operating outside of their pay grade, as I often say, and they need to stick with the fun and fairy tale and imaginary kind of life, right? Because life is heavy enough all by itself.
JEDEDIAH BILA (GUEST CO-HOST): What about people who say, though, that the cartoons should evolve? That they should change to meet now some of the issues going around in society where people are saying, you know what, for a long time women were oppressed, now women are coming out. You have the #MeToo movement now, a very self-empowered movement. What about people who say it would be great if these cartoons reflected that so that young girls, very young, would learn that they don't need a Prince Charming to come rescue them?
BARNETTE: Well, again, kind of alluding back to what you said earlier, you still watched those shows and managed to grow up a very strong, confident, and intelligent woman, right? Again, I am my daughter's role model, not Belle. As much as I love Belle in the Beauty and the Beast, right? And, of course, we get that companies want to stay relevant, they want to be able to evolve. But I would suggest that Disney step a little bit further outside of their hyper-liberal bubble and begin to take a look at the fabric of America. There are many mothers who reject this, the weaponization of the #MeToo movement as we've seen it in this past political process. There are many mothers who reject today's form of feminism that says believe woman, believe the women irrespective of facts and logic. So again, I would suggest -- I understand we want to evolve, we want to do all of that, but I think even Walt Disney would have a problem with the production that we're getting out of Disney these days.
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BARNETTE: We have actually blocked the Disney channel because, no, I do not appreciate smart-mouthed little kids running around everywhere, trying to usurp the authority of their parents, and I reject this whole feminism and this push of very liberal ideas onto my children. I will parent my children; you entertain them with fun, friendly, imaginary kind of characters, and we can all get along.
