Disclaimer: I have not seen the film, "Peter Rabbit" and am speaking solely based on how the scene has been described in various other articles.
Sony Animation is in hot water. Their latest film, "Peter Rabbit" has an unexpected controversy, all stemming from a singular blackberry.
The movie's plot circles around a rabbit and other small critters fighting against a man named Mr. McGregor. Antics ensue. But those antics are exactly what have some people, namely parents of children with food allergies, upset. You see, Mr. McGregor has a life-threatening allergy to blackberries.
In one scene in the film, the rabbits pelt blackberries at him until one lands right in his open mouth. He goes into anaphylactic shock and promptly uses his Epi-Pen to save him from choking to death.
I would like to begin by saying I, as someone with similarly life-threatening food allergies, am not offended by this movie, per se. However, it does worry me.
This is not the first time an allergen has been used as a weapon in fiction. Take the movie, "Horrible Bosses" for example, in which one of the antagonists has a peanut allergy. The characters take this as an opportunity to kill him. But, the difference here is this an adult movie, therefore I assume any reasonable adult would know murder by peanuts is a big no-no. The problem with "Peter Rabbit" is it is made for children. Speaking from experience, kids do not always fully understand that this behavior is dangerous and wrong.
Growing up with food allergies is no easy feat. People are often shocked by how cavalier I am able to talk about the various times my fellow classmates committed attempted murder against me, albeit not fully understanding what they were doing. They were kids, and just wanted to see what the big deal was, I don't harbor any resentment. But, I, as a matter of fact, had an experience similar to Mr. McGregor.
When I was ten years old, I was playing on the playground when I heard two boys talking about me. They had found a peanut on the ground. "What do you think will happen if we throw this at Erin?" One boy had said. Just as I turned around and opened my mouth to tell them to leave me alone, the peanut came flying towards me, narrowly missing my face. I was lucky. Not everyone is.
13-year-old Karanbir Cheema of London was killed when a fellow classmate put cheese in his mouth.
People often give me strange looks when I mention "food allergy bullying." They often think I'm joking or trying to coin some new PC term. This is not me trying to be politically correct. I am not worried about being offended, I'm worried about food allergies continuing to be diminished and played off for jokes, especially in children's media. I have no problem with jokes involving food allergies, and I am not in the business of censoring or policing speech. If you know me, you'll know I joke about my own peanut allergy all the time. What I am mostly worried about is more children ending up like Karanbir Cheema.
"Peter Rabbit" is a problem because it portrays to child audiences that food allergies are slapstick. It portrays anaphylaxis as something that can be entirely reversed by an Epi-Pen, therefore dismissing the very real consequences of a reaction. Jokes are fine, misrepresentation and understating severity is not. And, when food allergy bullying is still a term met with snickers, it should not only be represented as a joke.
Food allergy bullying is a very real, serious issue, and should not be a punchline in a family movie.
I don't think Sony Animation sought out to hurt people with food allergies. They, like most, just don't understand. That's why we need more accurate representations of food allergies in the media; not necessarily more sensitive, sugar coated one, but real ones. For the love of God, just once I want to see someone have to go to the hospital after using an Epi-Pen! They're not magic, Hollywood!
Finally, I want children's media to stop harping on those with food allergies. Positive representation is important, especially when it comes to kids.
