Post by Theotokos on Jul 12, 2005 18:34:48 GMT -5
Was the moral boycott against Disney effective?
Note: Mr. Mattingly is an Orthodox Christian and his weekly syndicated colunm is widely read.
Subject: [tmattingly-weekly] 07/06: Did the Disney boycott do anything?
To: tmattingly-weekly@lists.gospelcom.net
This column was syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service on 07/06/2005
Once upon a time, there was a magic kingdom of family entertainment that
was loved by values consumers from sea to shining sea.
But an evil leader entered the castle and things went amiss. Mighty were
his deeds, though he was small in stature. Then a throng of angry Southern
Baptists appeared at the gates waving Bibles. Some even began to have
second thoughts about paying the mini-mogul to help them raise their
children.
In time the evil one fell, although people inside the gates insisted that
all was well. And so it came to pass that the kingdom remained profitable,
although its image was tarnished.
That's the Rev. Richard Land's story, more or less, and he's sticking to
it.
The Hollywood establishment says the Southern Baptist Convention's
eight-year boycott of the Walt Disney Co. did little or no financial
damage to the media superpower. Thus, the recent vote to end the boycott
was of little consequence.
Disney never repented. Investors yawned. The end.
But the president of the convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission has responded to this stark verdict with a question: Does
Disney enjoy the same public trust it did eight years ago? He believes the
answer is "no."
"There are lots of entertainment companies and I think they're all pretty
much the same," said Land, who has both a soft Southern drawl and a
doctorate from Oxford University. "But for most of our people, Disney used
to be different. Disney was supposed to be a cut above the others. We
expected better from Disney.
"Today, Disney is the same as everybody else. I think that most of our
families now treat Disney no differently than they do other companies out
in Hollywood. The boycott helped knock Disney down a notch."
The June 22 resolution claimed that the boycott "communicated effectively
our displeasure concerning products and policies that violate moral
righteousness and traditional family values." In the future, it said,
Southern Baptists must "practice continued discernment regarding all
entertainment products from all sources."
Boycott organizers concede that Disney continues to extend employee
benefits to homosexual couples and holds "gay day" festivities in its
theme parks. However, they say Disney has made subtle efforts to be more
gracious to religious believers, such as cutting its ties to Miramax. It
also helps that, in December, Disney is teaming with Walden Media to offer
a movie version of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis,
one of the most beloved works of Christian fiction ever written.
"We still have concerns about Disney," stressed Land. "But Disney has done
its share of listening. … Still, I don't think there was any way that the
boycott would have ended without the departure of the princeling of
darkness."
That is Land's nickname for Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
Eisner's dramatic exit -- after a no-confidence vote by disgruntled
shareholders -- was a crucial moment. According to Land, the infighting
that haunted the final Eisner years even inspired after-hours calls to
Southern Baptist headquarters in Nashville. At Disney, executives have
offered no public reaction on the end of the boycott.
"I have had enough off-the-record talks with some important people at
Disney to know that they thought the boycott was biting them in some
places that hurt," said Land. "But these people inside Disney also
convinced me that the cancer in the body was Eisner and that, once he was
gone, we would see more signs of improvement."
But for Southern Baptist leaders, said Land, the critical question is not
whether the boycott affected Disney, but whether it affected life inside
Christian homes. There is evidence -- he cited sobering prime-time ratings
and box-office statistics -- that millions of Americans are having second
thoughts about the media they consume.
The bottom line is that American families have more media options, from
TiVo to Podcasting, from home theaters to interactive video games. The
question, said Land, is whether they will make wise choices.
Satellites and fiber-optic cables can carry filth as well as faith.
"If Jesus is the Lord of our lives then he is supposed to be the Lord of
our entertainment lives, as well. It's easy to forget that," said Land.
"But that's what I hope Southern Baptists took away from the boycott.
That's what this was about."
Note: Mr. Mattingly is an Orthodox Christian and his weekly syndicated colunm is widely read.
Subject: [tmattingly-weekly] 07/06: Did the Disney boycott do anything?
To: tmattingly-weekly@lists.gospelcom.net
This column was syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service on 07/06/2005
Once upon a time, there was a magic kingdom of family entertainment that
was loved by values consumers from sea to shining sea.
But an evil leader entered the castle and things went amiss. Mighty were
his deeds, though he was small in stature. Then a throng of angry Southern
Baptists appeared at the gates waving Bibles. Some even began to have
second thoughts about paying the mini-mogul to help them raise their
children.
In time the evil one fell, although people inside the gates insisted that
all was well. And so it came to pass that the kingdom remained profitable,
although its image was tarnished.
That's the Rev. Richard Land's story, more or less, and he's sticking to
it.
The Hollywood establishment says the Southern Baptist Convention's
eight-year boycott of the Walt Disney Co. did little or no financial
damage to the media superpower. Thus, the recent vote to end the boycott
was of little consequence.
Disney never repented. Investors yawned. The end.
But the president of the convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission has responded to this stark verdict with a question: Does
Disney enjoy the same public trust it did eight years ago? He believes the
answer is "no."
"There are lots of entertainment companies and I think they're all pretty
much the same," said Land, who has both a soft Southern drawl and a
doctorate from Oxford University. "But for most of our people, Disney used
to be different. Disney was supposed to be a cut above the others. We
expected better from Disney.
"Today, Disney is the same as everybody else. I think that most of our
families now treat Disney no differently than they do other companies out
in Hollywood. The boycott helped knock Disney down a notch."
The June 22 resolution claimed that the boycott "communicated effectively
our displeasure concerning products and policies that violate moral
righteousness and traditional family values." In the future, it said,
Southern Baptists must "practice continued discernment regarding all
entertainment products from all sources."
Boycott organizers concede that Disney continues to extend employee
benefits to homosexual couples and holds "gay day" festivities in its
theme parks. However, they say Disney has made subtle efforts to be more
gracious to religious believers, such as cutting its ties to Miramax. It
also helps that, in December, Disney is teaming with Walden Media to offer
a movie version of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis,
one of the most beloved works of Christian fiction ever written.
"We still have concerns about Disney," stressed Land. "But Disney has done
its share of listening. … Still, I don't think there was any way that the
boycott would have ended without the departure of the princeling of
darkness."
That is Land's nickname for Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
Eisner's dramatic exit -- after a no-confidence vote by disgruntled
shareholders -- was a crucial moment. According to Land, the infighting
that haunted the final Eisner years even inspired after-hours calls to
Southern Baptist headquarters in Nashville. At Disney, executives have
offered no public reaction on the end of the boycott.
"I have had enough off-the-record talks with some important people at
Disney to know that they thought the boycott was biting them in some
places that hurt," said Land. "But these people inside Disney also
convinced me that the cancer in the body was Eisner and that, once he was
gone, we would see more signs of improvement."
But for Southern Baptist leaders, said Land, the critical question is not
whether the boycott affected Disney, but whether it affected life inside
Christian homes. There is evidence -- he cited sobering prime-time ratings
and box-office statistics -- that millions of Americans are having second
thoughts about the media they consume.
The bottom line is that American families have more media options, from
TiVo to Podcasting, from home theaters to interactive video games. The
question, said Land, is whether they will make wise choices.
Satellites and fiber-optic cables can carry filth as well as faith.
"If Jesus is the Lord of our lives then he is supposed to be the Lord of
our entertainment lives, as well. It's easy to forget that," said Land.
"But that's what I hope Southern Baptists took away from the boycott.
That's what this was about."