Growing up as a small child, I was exposed to quite a few Disney films. They all had an impact on my purchases, whether it be a Little Mermaid mug or a Pocahontas Sega Genesis video game. Many of Walt Disney's films featured lovable and endearing animals, and all of the human protagonists had at least one or two animal companions they acknowledged as their "best friends." When a child sees a Disney character they are instantly drawn to them, their faces light up and it seems to have a catnip affect on them.
Dumbo the Flying Elephant featured a donkey-eared elephant of the same name in 1941. The little elephant Jumbo Jr. is ridiculed and harassed for having such abnormally large ears, and cruelly nicknamed as "Dumbo." We are first shown in the beginning of the film that if you are different, you are not welcome in society. When a group of boys proceeds to torment and pull on Dumbo's ears, his mother understandably attacks the boys. What happens to Dumbo's mother? She's locked away in a tiny wagon, her feet chained to the floor and the only light she can see is through the prison-like bars. Signs that read, "MAD ELEPHANT" and "DANGER" adorn the rickety wagon, and all because a mother wanted to protect her son from the ridicule and scorn of cruelty.
What happens to the boys? Oh, they probably went home and cried about their horrible day at the circus, but nothing else came from it, I can assure you. Because Dumbo had large, flappy ears he was an object for others to play with. Because Dumb was also an elephant and not a human being, he became an object for others to play with. And when Dumbo's mother attempted to intervene and say enough is enough with this crap, she gets locked away. The meloncholy song "Baby Of Mine" prompted me to explode into a fit of tears, not because of the song but because even at a young age I just couldn't imagine life without my mother. What if someone harassed me for being different, and my mother tried to save me? What if she got thrown away like a piece of rotten garbage for my sake? It was honestly too much to bear, and this is one Disney film I can honestly say that I do not love.
And now, in 2009 things do not seem to have changed much. On the internet, where everyone seems to be a keyboard-warrior of some type will openly attack anyone that isn't like them. A woman on Yelp.com attempted to garner information from others about going vegan, and instead of receiving help she received judgemental, hostile replies. One man even went as far as to say:
"My experience reading the posts of vegans and vegetarians here on yelp is that veganism and vegitarianism makes you whiny and bitchy. Really, I've never seen a vegan/ vegetarian actually review a restaurant so much as i see them complain that restaurants don't serve anything that the vegan/vegetarian can eat.
Personally, I'm much more likely to use the words vegetarian and freak consecutively than I am to use the words vegetarian and burger consecutively.
Vegans and Vegetarians just seem like big attention whores constantly screaming, "LOOK AT ME!! I'M A VEGAN/VEGETARIAN FREAK!! LOOK AT ME!!" Life is too short for the normal people in the world to have to listen to that crap as much as vegans/vegetarioans like to talk about it.
I mean really ...who cares. If you (meaning the general public of vegans and vegetarians as opposed to you specifically) want to be vegan, just do it.. But, please !! Quit boring the hell out of the rest of us by talking about Veganism and vegetarianism 24/7. We really don't care."
Another woman entered the discussion to call him out on his outlandish statement by saying:
"Jeez, W.P....what the hell crawled up your butt today?
If every Yelper worried whether ALL other Yelpers actually CARED about their posted topic, no one would EVER post ANYTHING.
If you don't care, don't read the thread!. If you wear a size 9 shoe, do you really give a shit what the store has to offer in a size 11? Do you even look in that section? No, you ignore it.
Yelp is NOT one-size-fits-all. Chill out."
Instead of coming back and apologizing for his blatant douche-baggery, he replies:
"Xtie, your response only further cements my opinions of vegans in general though i must say that this maya is a breath of fresh air. But, remember she is still eating meat."
So since the douchebag decided to make a hostile remark about vegans in general it was only natural for someone to defend themselves. When they do defend themselves, they are scorned and punished. It is perfectly fine for an omnivore to press their views upon vegans, but it is not acceptable for a vegan to press their views upon omnivores. Because vegans are considered different, they are criticized and condemned. This mindset does not apply only vegans, of course, but extends to all minority groups.
In the end, Dumbo and his mother are only accepted and celebrated by society when they find a way to exploit the little elephant with a wonderous and spectacular new show.
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