Jenna Barbee, a K-8 school teacher in Hernando County, is under investigation by the Florida Department of Education after screening Walt Disney Animation Studios’ PG-rated feature Strange World for her class at Winding Waters in Brooksville. The first-year teacher posted a longform video to TikTok explaining the situation, which stems from accusations of LGBTQ+ “indoctrination.”
Directed by Don Hall (Big Hero 6) and co-directed/written by Qui Nguyen (Raya and the Last Dragon), Strange World introduces a legendary family of explorers, the Clades, as they attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land. The film caused buzz for introducing Disney Animation’s first openly gay lead character, 16-year-old Ethan Clade (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White).
Barbee’s intentions were to give students a “brain break” after standardized testing, and felt that the animated family movie’s ecological themes aligned with their Earth science and ecosystems curriculum. “My thought process was, what a better way to showcase all these standards along with huge lessons of overcoming differences, spreading kindness, communication and chasing your dreams,” she said in the video.
Students who finished their testing could split into a second classroom and watch the film. The teacher notes in the TikTok piece that all parents had signed a permission slip permitting the class to show PG-rated movies “with no objections to specific content.” She added that she had been approached by fifth graders sharing that they are part of the LGBTQ+ community during the school year, prior to showing Strange World, and that the inclusion of a storyline about Ethan’s crush on another boy was not an influence on her choice of film, saying, “Not pushing anything, just being accepting, that’s what I do … None of my students cared or batted an eye.”
Barbee says she was “turned in” because one student was the daughter of a school board member who is “currently on a rampage to get rid of every form of representation out of our schools.” The teacher opined that investigators interrogating children due to the complaint is more traumatizing than watching the sci-fi adventure. Although Barbee apologized to the board member for not seeing her perspective, but the wheels on the investigation were already turning.
Per CNN, board member Shannon Rodriguez addressed a May 9 public school board meeting voicing her disapproval of Barbee’s choice in children’s movies: “It is not a teacher’s job to impose their beliefs upon a child: religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above. But allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door, and please hear me, they assist teachers in opening a door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms … As a leader in this community, I’m not going to stand by and allow this minority to infiltrate our schools.” She further asserted, “God did put me here.”
According to the Hernando School District website, Rodriguez is a member of the district’s Career and Technical Education Advisory Board and Vice President of the Hernando County Education Foundation.
The account Barbee used to post the video, @becomingbetterbarbee, is no longer accessible on TikTok.
Prior to the film’s November 2022 release, Disney anticipated backlash for its LGBTQ+ representation. The studio opted to forego rolling out the film to multiple territories in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia as well as China to avoid censorship. (Strange World had already been removed from Russia’s theatrical calendar due to the war in Ukraine.)
More trouble in the Sunshine State: Just today, The Walt Disney Company filed a request to a judge to dismiss or stay the state lawsuit brought by the special district that oversees its Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida. The motion says state law requires the court to set aside this litigation until Disney’s federal case against Governor Ron DeSantis is closed.
The company sued the Republican governor last month over his attempt to wrest control of Reedy Creek Improvement District — the self-same special district which has had oversight of the Magic Kingdom and its surrounds for 55 years — away from the elected members and appoint his own “hostile” board. The suit argues DeSantis’ actions were a retaliation for the company’s opposition to Florida’s “parental rights”/ “don’t say gay” bill, violating its First Amendment rights.
The motion asserts that DeSantis took specific aim at the company’s planned investment in Central Florida by having the swapped board repudiate two contracts with local government as “void and unenforceable.” The board further filed a suit asking the court to declare the same, and the Governor soon took his own action, signing legislation that prohibited Disney from complying with their terms.
The filing reads: “That legislation renders Plaintiff’s complaint moot because it makes any order this Court could issue — in either party’s favor — legally irrelevant … any declaration about the contracts’ enforceability, voidness, or validity — either way — would be an advisory opinion with no real-world consequence. Trial courts in Florida are forbidden from issuing advisory opinions, and this case should be dismissed.
“In the alternative, Florida law requires that the Court stay this litigation until Disney’s federal action resolves. Disney’s earlier-filed and earlier-served federal action is pending between substantially the same parties, and it involves substantially overlapping issues.”
[Source: Deadline]
