It all began as a family night out, and everyone wanted to see "Zootopia" which had just come out the previous weekend. I had no idea what this movie was about, other than your usual cute animals that Disney creates. My first thoughts were that it was going to be somewhat like "Madagascar" where the animals went on their own adventures away from the humans. Boy, was I surprised. This movie is all about perseverance, going over obstacles in your way, and most of all discrimination.

Yes, good old Disney has given us something more than just animals in clothes or princesses looking for a husband. They gave us our own lives, this is the society we live in today. Some groups are "assigned" social standards that have been around for years and years. As soon as Stu Hopps said " as long as you don't believe in them too much" about his daughter's dream of being a cop, I was hooked. Here come the spoilers.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking, its just a kid's movie, why think of it so sociologically? My answer is, how could you not? There are so many key elements that stick out; a delicate bunny (woman) wants to be a cop, foxes(minorities) are criminals, and predators(minorities) are "evil" and harmful to the 90% of prey(majorities). I think this movie is trying to show us through a microscope of what we are doing to ourselves through the media and our perceptions on other human beings. We can see our society amplified in many ways through the movie.

Judy Hopps

We first meet Judy as a young child who has always had her mind made up of becoming a cop and going to the big city of Zootopia, where "predator and prey can live in harmony". Sound familiar? Well, it should because it sounds like America, you know the melting pot, where we have this huge "American dream" that anyone can be anything they strive for. So we have this tiny delicate bunny - or woman - wanting to go out into the world and put her best foot forward. Her parents and everyone around her think otherwise because she is so small that she couldn't possibly be a cop, she has to be a carrot farmer because that's just what bunnies do.

Just like women should "stay home" or have "womanly" jobs. If Judy hadn't become an officer, the 14 animals would still be missing and more and more would become savage due to the night howlers. Therefore, there should never be discrimination against bunnies or women in an officer position in the first place, because they have the same capabilities as the larger animals or that men do. She is repeatedly called a "dumb bunny", which is what society used to- and some still do- consider women. She doesn't want to be called "cute" because it isn't intimidating, and sometimes its demeaning to say to a woman with authority, because it strips them of it. Even after she makes it onto the force she is still discriminated against, being bashed with "meter maid" duty, and being told to "wait for the real cops". When watching the movie you see the time and heart she put into her career, and even women today have to work ten times harder then men so that they can reach their goals.

Nick Wilde

This one stood out the most to me because their lines were blunt and to the point. Nick here is introduced going into an ice cream parlor. Next, Judy walks in the ice cream parlor to make sure he's not up to any mischief, but he's with his "son", who's wants to be an elephant, to get ice cream on his birthday. The elephant at the counter asked him why he was even in "this part of town" like he didn't belong there, foxes are segregated from the other animals.

Well if a fox, why not a lion? Oh, the lion is the mayor that's why, but he's still a predator as well, sounds a lot like Barack Obama who is our first African American President. Foxes are seen as sly and sneaky in Zootopia, it doesn't seem to get any lower than a foxes' social status. They even have fox repellents and tasers; this is just amplifying what some American's think or say today. The waiter at the parlor then says "you probably can't read", why because he might have a lower education because he had to work since twelve so that he could stay alive? Once he and Judy partner up to solve this missing animal case, others start to question Judy, "you're going to trust a fox?", well, why wouldn't she, he's the only animal that would help her solve the case efficiently. Judy looks past the fact that he is a fox and she is a bunny, even though she was bullied by one in her youth. Just like humans should look past a skin color perhaps.

Predators

The police department of Zootopia has a 14 missing animal case on their hands, and they just happen to all be predators. Judy being the great detective that she is, finds the hide out that is holding 15 animals that have gone savage. Savage is basically when animals go back to being the animals we know except ten times crazier.

The first thought is that all of these animals are going savage one by one, which will then dwindle down to every predator in Zootopia, including their mayor, to become savage. Looking at it from the prey's side, they could "never become savage" because they have always been the helpless ones, the one's that are always abused or harmed by the predators. The prey become immediately scared for their lives, asking Judy what this whole case means. Judy being nervous states that this is "biologically correct" that all predators will become savage over time because that is what it was like thousands of years ago. Now, humans may not think that people can go savage, but some do in fact still believe that minorities are "rapists and drug dealers", and that the majority should shield themselves with barriers (or walls).

Like in Zootopia, it was many years ago when the United States was segregated by law, however that is not the world we live in today, and we must change our perspective on humans, because at the end of the day its not about biology, all of our chromosomes are the same. We all have parents, siblings, and feelings. Our hearts all pump red blood, so does it matter what's on the outside?

Like Judy said "Life's a little bit messy. We all make mistakes. No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you. It starts with me, it starts with all of us." Life is "messy" but we have to take it one day at a time, and help your fellow human, or animal, out.