“Corporate Social Justice Warriors”

A doll brand that once taught children history is now suggesting puberty blockers

For years, the iconic American Girl franchise created a series of dolls whose clothes, accessories, and stories taught young girls about our nation’s history. The brand was acquired by Mattel (the same people who make Barbie) in 1998. Now, American Girl is creating fun learning opportunities for children about how to access puberty blockers if they don’t trust their parents.

Kathy and I were visiting Chicago, just aimlessly walking about in the area of the Magnificent Mile when we began to notice a surge of young girls and their Moms carrying American Girl shopping bags. We tracked them to the source – The American Girl store.

We went inside and I have to admit it was a refreshing change that brought a smile to our faces.

This was in the pre-Mattel buy-out era.

Now Mattel has the dolls mass produced in Communist China.

Thanks Corporate America for taking a charming bit of Americana and reducing it to a soulless blob of plastic.

I don’t buy their crap anyway.

h/t AL

Disney looks set to have another flop on its hands, as the animated adventure Strange World proves a dud at the box office as moviegoers criticize the movie for what they see as forcing progressive ideology in a childrens’ movie.

The cartoon, starring a voice cast including Jake Gylenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu, and also features Daily Show contributor Jaboukie Young-White as the voice of what’s been heralded as Disney’s first openly gay character.

Strange World looks set to not even clear $20million at the Thanksgiving weekend box office on a gargantuan budget of $120-130million.

For a league composed of muscular brutes and known primarily for hard-hitting body checks against the glass occasionally relieved by brilliant sticking and puck manipulation, this seems an odd stance. I’m not sure why they even chose to enter the fray, but they did. It began with this tweet.

Everyone who knows nothing about how real life works is all excited about former Disney Chief Bob Iger returning to the captain’s chair.

I’d love to know why.

It was from Bob Iger that freshly-booted CEO Bob Chapek inherited the primary reasons Disney’s stock is tanking. Granted, Chapek didn’t reverse Iger’s mistakes and frequently appeared lost and indecisive. But let’s get real about Disney’s problems.

The Criterion Collection — the prestigious DVD and streaming label widely considered the gold standard among serious cinephiles — has reportedly laid off 20 percent of its staff amid a restructuring effort to address “challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”