Patrick McGann intelligently wrote: "Does racism in a film always have to be overt, David? Would you grant that there's such a thing as covert racism that often goes unrecognized and unacknowledged, and is just as devastating and problematical? I don't think of myself as a racist--in fact consciously work not to be--and yet as a white male I find I still on occasion have racist stereotypes and assumptions pop into my head unwarranted. From a semitotic perspective, culture "naturalizes" racism in subtle and unconscious ways that become easy to take for granted--ways that we are exposed to early on in our lives. This may or may not be an issue in _The Lion King_, but why automatically discount the possibility?" Did I AUTOMATICALLY discount racism? Did I, in fact, not point out an example of racism, consciously or unconsciouly intended by Disney (and how could it NOT have been conscious)? No, for me, my response was to an issue was posed in a SPECIFIC way, that the actors behind the screen were linked to racist characterizations of the ANIMALS on view. But, there is a larger agenda here: What I objected to, and still do, is the easy way in which academic liberals want to attack perceived racism in Hollywood movies. Nothing is easier than doing that, and then we can all sit back and pat ourselves on the back for being good liberals, not racist, no, not us--we see through those devious Hollywood movies, products of a white, male, ruling class, a cabal of secretive capitalists. Hollywood can't or won't fight back. Why should they bother? Indeed the political inefficacy of the academic left should give the ruling class more than a good chuckle or two if they even bothered to consider us at all. No, my point is the posturing that goes on here on the list. It's safe to talk about racism in _The Lion King_, but have you accomplished anything or merely made yourself feel good and let the rest of us know that you are a good, non-racist, political leftist, fighting the good fight against Hollywood's sinister influence? Who are we trying to convince when we post such messages? David ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]