Nelson Peltz Finally Gets Around to Blasting Disney for Its "Woke" Agenda In Filmmaking

He had been dancing around it, trying to let it be the elephant in the room he wasn't speaking of.

I think that's a good strategy, because the minute you breathe a hint that you might be objecting to the left's culture warring, all the good little Marxists will line up to join the culture war.

So I don't know if this was wise.

Perhaps he felt that he wasn't winning the proxy war to get two seats on Disney's board -- and finally have two board members who represent the shareholders, and who aren't just Bob Iger's handpicked cronies -- and felt he had to do something dramatic to shake the proxy race on.

I guess we'll see.

As the Disney board proxy fight nears its deciding day, activist investor Nelson Peltz is taking aim at what he calls the company's "woke" film strategy, particularly as it pertains to Black Panther and The Marvels.

In a recent interview with The Financial Times, Peltz questioned the leadership of Marvel chief Kevin Feige and the larger movie strategy under Disney CEO Bob Iger. Though he said he did not want either leader unseated (Peltz is outwardly campaigning to take the board seats of current members Michael B.G. Froman and Maria Elena Lagomasino), he questioned how long Feige should remain and what the strategy should be moving forward.

"People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained," Peltz said in the interview. "They don't go to get a message."

"Why do I have to have a Marvel that's all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can't I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?" he later said in the interview.

These comments recall similar anecdotes about former Marvel Entertainment chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who is a friend of Peltz's and a supporter of his proxy fight.

In Iger's 2019 memoir The Ride of a Lifetime, Iger said he had received pushback on his idea to diversify the slate of Marvel movies and stop exclusively featuring characters who were white men. When presenting the idea, Iger wrote that one of the leaders of the Marvel team in New York, run by Perlmutter, told him "female superheroes never drive big box office." But Iger decided to move forward.

And boy did Bob Iger show him!

Is the proxy fight going poorly for Peltz?

Well, he just got a big ally. ISS, a firm that advises shareholders on how to vote during proxy fights, has recommended that Disney shareholders vote the Peltz slate.

In a blow to Walt Disney, activist Nelson Peltz received a powerful endorsement in his battle against the entertainment conglomerate on Thursday, when proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended shareholders elect him to the board.

ISS, whose recommendations can sway hundreds of investors' votes, said Peltz, a large Disney shareholder, could ensure the board does its job well as it tackles questions of CEO succession and strategy at the home of Mickey Mouse.

The recommendation comes as Disney CEO Bob Iger continues to rally support among a high profile cast that included Emerson Collective founder and president Laurene Powell Jobs on Thursday and Star Wars-creator George Lucas earlier this week.

"Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around," the report seen by Reuters said.

Peltz's Trian Fund Management is vying for two board seats, one for Peltz and the other for former Disney financial chief Jay Rasulo, while another activist firm, Blackwells Capital, is pushing for three board seats.

The fight over who will help guide Disney, valued at $213 billion, is one of the year's most bitter and closely watched board battles, pitting a prominent activist investor, who says he works well with target companies, against a talented media industry CEO who returned to the top job two years ago after the board fired Iger's hand-picked successor.

Peltz and Blackwells said Disney bungled plans for life after Iger, lost its creative spark and failed to properly harness new technology.

At the end of this clip, Jim Cramer mentions some other CEOs who are backing Peltz.

On the other hand, Bob Iger got a huge supporter -- none other than George Lucas himself, who owns a lot of Disney stock thanks to Disney's purchase of LucasFilm.

A lot of the Star Wars fandom declared that this was the end for them, and that George Lucas' betrayal of the brand was the final proof that Star Wars is not salvageable.

Which I could have told them five years ago.

If George Lucas is happy with Kathleen Kennedy's version of Star Wars, then why should anyone else have hope? Or have any cares about it?

But one thing I know ex-fans are eagerly awaiting: The ultimate in "Put a chick in it and make her gay, make it lame" Star Wars Content, The Acolyte.

Elon Musk tweeted out that Disney is now parodying itself with this one. The only entertainment Disney delivers these days is the comedy of woke incompetence.

Critical Drinker apparently agrees with Doof about Road House not being very good.

Like I said: I didn't like the first Road House. I thought it was dumb and I was bored.

So I had no Swayze Nostalgia watching this one. I liked the Florida Keys setting (and could have used more local weird charm) and I really liked the boat chase at the end. Boat chases often look slow to me. This one looked fast and dangerous.

I even kind of liked Jake Gyllenhall's punch-drunk, possibly brain damaged portrayal of the fighter.

I liked it. This and The Beekeeper are both worth watching.

I mentioned the Beekeeper was written by Kurt Wimmer, who wrote and directed Equilibrium.

What a great movie. And a fantastic commentary track. I don't want to cast aspersions, but he sounded like a right-wing wacko gun nut on that commentary track.

As I was watching The Beekeeper, I thought of an anecdote he mentioned.

After this fantastic scene, Christian Bale has a mysterious neck wound. Which is confusing, because he is never hit by any attack:

(By the way, The Acolyte is ripping of the weapon-trapping martial arts style seen in this clip.)

Wimmer explained that Bale had the neck wound just because the actor thought it would be cooler if he had a wound. He had the make-up person apply the fake wound.

But it creates a plot-hole, because he was never hit.

Wimmer explained that he didn't think Bale should ever be hit. "He's the hero," he said, and I guess he was thinking "he's the HERO," as Achilles or some other demi-god is a hero. Just absolutely an untouchable, unbeatable force of nature.

Some heroes are like John McClane and Indiana Jones -- behind the 8-ball most of the time, and only barely scraping to a victory in the end.

Many are like James Bond or Batman, fully in control 90% of the time, and only occasionally in danger.

And only a few are HEROES who are always well beyond their enemies. I think Dirty Harry was like this almost all of the time. Steven Seagal, of course, is never threatened by anyone in his movies.

The Beekeeper has Jason Statham as the HERO through most of its runtime -- he doesn't pick up a gun until the end, and he just walks through hails of gunfire as if he's not concerned about bullets at all. I wondered if he, too, knew Gun Kata.

Maybe Wimmer was won over by Christian Bale, because near the end of The Beekeeper, Jason Statham finally does start getting hit, and pretty badly, too. Which I liked. I think a hero has to suffer before he wins, whether he's a hero or even a HERO.

Which category of hero do you prefer? The invincible, the mostly invincibile, or the quite-vincible?

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:24 PM

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