i might not look it, i 've always gotten mistaken for armenian and most recently oddly enough italian. i may not speak the language perfectly and in the words of my grandfather i'm a pocha. i might may not watch copious amounts of telenovelas. but in my veins runs the blood of my mexican ancestors and i keep that dear to my heart.
so earlier this week when i found out that disney applied to trademark "dias de los muertos" with the united states' patent and trademark office in preparation for their upcoming film that's set to be titled after the holiday, i initially laughed cause i was in disbelief that they would actually try and do it. but then again disney is a business and is in constant pursuit of making more and more money, so of course they would. i'm not necessarily mad that they're making a film about it, i'm well aware they won't necessarily be socially responsible when making the film but who am i to stop anyone from making any artistic content. an upside is that they'll bring a pinch of mexico's cultura to the attention of the world. it won't be historically accurate but which disney film has been? it'll introduce the subject to many and later in their spanish classes or on their own time through the internets they'll discover the true meaning of the holiday. i know some might disagree about this, but its fine cause maybe their passion about the subject will get disney's attention and aid in making the film as commercially historically accurate as possible. and for those interested here's a great article that talks about this point.
my main issue was with the title of the film and the attempt to trademark the name of the holiday. disney couldn't trademark hercules, who's story and name is public domain. dia de los nuestros is public domain, its a national holiday that has been celebrated in mexico long before the spanish conquistadores landed in present day mexico. and even when mexico was converted to catholicism the people kept their indigenous holiday. it was so powerful that the church aligned the holiday with their all saints day. the holiday is deeply inverted into mexico's culture. it teaches people to respect their past and their ancestors, and to honor them. its a beautiful thing. plus i really love the orange marigolds used to decorate the altars.
you can't trademark any part of the holiday: the name, the skeleton figures, or even the sweets associated with the holiday. people make christmas movies all the time, but no one tries to trademark a christmas tree or the image of santa clause. its would be ridiculous if anyone tried to do that, so why was it acceptable for disney to think they could trademark dia de los muertos. it makes no sense. essentially they wanted to trademark a religious and spiritual holiday to make money on toys they would sell to accompany the release of the film. and for disney to think they could actually get away with it was laughable.
but this was put to end thanks to the powers of the internets. like myself, many others thought this was ridiculous and one very lovely woman from colorado, grace sesma, started a petition on change.org. the petition went viral and within 24 hours the trademark requests were dropped. the power of the internets held disney accountable for their ludacris trademark request. and hopefully this outrage will have disney double think the route the take with the film and make it something of substance and not just another cash cow.
now some might read this and ask what it has to do with politics. well trademarks are all politics. plus social issues and the imperialistic view of another culture are political issues. it isn't proper for a culture to be minimized for corporate gain; while the traditions of a group of people is exploited and they themselves don't reap any of the benefits, its corporate greed. the politics of this all is for a profit and its understandable since disney is a corporation based in a country that holds on dearly to the idea of capitalism, but it doesn't make what they are doing right. and this incident shows that people aren't going to sit quietly while this happens. it shows that the power of the internets and essentially the power of the people will only get stronger from now. it will hold others accountable and shape policies. cause after all this country's constitution starts with we the people, not we the corporation.
i'm also aware that some might say that mexico's national holiday isn't an american issue. but don't forget that this country is a country of immigrants, with a nice chunk coming from mexico. so yes, mexico's cultures will have some sort of effect on this country because the future of this country is based on the past of another's, and that's a beauty of immigration.
i feel like this post took a few tangents, but i hopefully got my point across. that mi gente, people of the internets, people prioritize social issues, americans who value the people, and people of mexican decent from all over the world that hold on to their traditions and ancestors dearly, can make a differences in this country and world.
so earlier this week when i found out that disney applied to trademark "dias de los muertos" with the united states' patent and trademark office in preparation for their upcoming film that's set to be titled after the holiday, i initially laughed cause i was in disbelief that they would actually try and do it. but then again disney is a business and is in constant pursuit of making more and more money, so of course they would. i'm not necessarily mad that they're making a film about it, i'm well aware they won't necessarily be socially responsible when making the film but who am i to stop anyone from making any artistic content. an upside is that they'll bring a pinch of mexico's cultura to the attention of the world. it won't be historically accurate but which disney film has been? it'll introduce the subject to many and later in their spanish classes or on their own time through the internets they'll discover the true meaning of the holiday. i know some might disagree about this, but its fine cause maybe their passion about the subject will get disney's attention and aid in making the film as commercially historically accurate as possible. and for those interested here's a great article that talks about this point.
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| an example of an altar with the very lovely mexican marigolds |
you can't trademark any part of the holiday: the name, the skeleton figures, or even the sweets associated with the holiday. people make christmas movies all the time, but no one tries to trademark a christmas tree or the image of santa clause. its would be ridiculous if anyone tried to do that, so why was it acceptable for disney to think they could trademark dia de los muertos. it makes no sense. essentially they wanted to trademark a religious and spiritual holiday to make money on toys they would sell to accompany the release of the film. and for disney to think they could actually get away with it was laughable.
but this was put to end thanks to the powers of the internets. like myself, many others thought this was ridiculous and one very lovely woman from colorado, grace sesma, started a petition on change.org. the petition went viral and within 24 hours the trademark requests were dropped. the power of the internets held disney accountable for their ludacris trademark request. and hopefully this outrage will have disney double think the route the take with the film and make it something of substance and not just another cash cow.
now some might read this and ask what it has to do with politics. well trademarks are all politics. plus social issues and the imperialistic view of another culture are political issues. it isn't proper for a culture to be minimized for corporate gain; while the traditions of a group of people is exploited and they themselves don't reap any of the benefits, its corporate greed. the politics of this all is for a profit and its understandable since disney is a corporation based in a country that holds on dearly to the idea of capitalism, but it doesn't make what they are doing right. and this incident shows that people aren't going to sit quietly while this happens. it shows that the power of the internets and essentially the power of the people will only get stronger from now. it will hold others accountable and shape policies. cause after all this country's constitution starts with we the people, not we the corporation.
i'm also aware that some might say that mexico's national holiday isn't an american issue. but don't forget that this country is a country of immigrants, with a nice chunk coming from mexico. so yes, mexico's cultures will have some sort of effect on this country because the future of this country is based on the past of another's, and that's a beauty of immigration.
i feel like this post took a few tangents, but i hopefully got my point across. that mi gente, people of the internets, people prioritize social issues, americans who value the people, and people of mexican decent from all over the world that hold on to their traditions and ancestors dearly, can make a differences in this country and world.
what's your take on this? do you think it'll affect how disney proceeds with the making of dia de los muertos? leave your thoughts and comment below!
