Quick Movie Review of 'Zootopia'

Last week I was invited to go watch a movie at the theater. I was not interested in watching any of the movies that were currently playing but I was invited to watch Disney's new movie called "Zootopia". I watched the movie because I wanted to spend some quality time with my friend.

The movie is about the advanced animal kingdom that has evolved into a world that is past the savagery of predatory animals slaughtering prey. The plot was fun. A small bunny overcomes the odds of becoming a cop and then lands the case of her career. The message of the movie seemed to positive: you can be anything you set your mind to.

However, I wanted to write a quick blurb about the movie to serve as a quick call for wisdom to parents of children. While the message seems to be good, it was carried too far. Animals were encouraged to be anything they wanted to be...even if meant denying their biology or DNA. The broad example of the message going too far was that the predatory animals were able to deny their biological urges and deny their savage practice of eating prey. Another short example of this was a scene in which a youthful fox desired to grow up to be an elephant. The father said that he needed to encourage his child's dreams.

This may seem harmless at first, but fictional stories teach a worldview. The harm comes in teaching our children that it is okay to deny his/her biology in order to achieve his/her dreams. We are already seeing this happen in many of our public realms. Many children are wanting to self-identify as a gender that is contrary to their biological gender. In a very subtle manner, the movie is advocating such sexual trends seen and popularized in media.

I am not accusing Disney of trying to educate our youth. Every person has a belief system and the belief system of the writer found its way into the script of the movie.

As a pastor, I would advise against watching the movie. It may have some funny moments but the message that is intended to be positive is carried too far; to the point that it is contrary to the Christian faith. Psalm 139:13–16 makes it clear that God took an part in forming us in our mother's womb. To say that our biological gender is wrong, is to deny that God's work is good. As parents, on this topic of transgenderism, we need to teach our children that God's work is always good because of His all-encompassing wisdom and that He has designed us intentionally as He best saw fit.