Charles Eno Zootopia

The movie Zootopia has a very significant double meaning, which is revealed in several aspects of the film. The most important message on the film is that of society- social class, race, prejudice and opportunity. The main character, a bunny named Judy Hopps comes from a small town where rabbits and other small mammals are constantly intimidated by foxes and other larger animals. In one scene, a fox steals fair tickets from some friends of hers, and she retaliates and retrieves the tickets but in turn is marked by a scar on her face and is told she would never amount to much of anything, and reminded by the foxes of a time when foxes could eat rabbits. That same rhetoric is reminiscent of a time when African Americans, especially in the South would be reminded slavery and constantly under the threat of white supremacists. Going back to the movie, Hopps is determined to prove others wrong and enrolls herself om a Police Academy with the hopes of becoming an officer someday. She goes against the odds and managers to graduate at the top of her class before moving to Zootopia.  Zootopia is a utopic metropolis where mammals cohabit in presumably peaceful conditions. Upon her arrival, she finds that a lot of the prejudice she found back home was present in Zootopia. There's still a strong sense of social division and prejudice, Judy gets a job at the Zootopia police department but is denied reasonable job positions like her coworkers, instead she's listed as a "meter maid." This relates to our society in the sense that for many people, it doesn't matter how hard you work in life, people are always going to perceive you as they please and not necessarily for who you truly are. She finds herself working alongside a fox, who as a predator is generally looked down upon in 90% prey Zootopia. She is unable to solve one of her first big cases without the help of this fox. She learns the significance of people putting aside their differences and working under common purpose. She also learns to not judge by stereotype after a sheep frames predators in order to stay in power by spreading an epidemic in which predator animals lash out and act "savage-like", a stereotype that doesn't necessarily apply to them. There are other less significant messages in the film that deal with issues such as stereotypes and prejudice. At the end of the film, Judy learns that no society is perfect and that we're only as good as our worst off, most disadvantaged citizens. I also find the role of police in the film interesting due to current social issues involving police and their relations to the public, especially minorities in the U.S.