Disney has been generous enough to put all of their classic films and shows on their own streaming service. Hooray, right? Except, did you know that Disney owns Hulu? So then why didn’t they just put all that stuff on the streaming service they already run that many people already pay for?
Or, since Disney earns $59 billion in annual revenue, $12 billion in annual profit, and that number increases every year since they also own Marvel, Lucasfilms, ABC, ESPN, Touchstone Pictures, Fox, and way more, why can’t they just release the movies for free without making a dent in the billions of dollars? So that multimillionaire Disney CEO Bob Iger can get another 80% pay raise?
Disney + is a completely unnecessary addition to Disney’s approaching monopoly on the film and tv industry. It is in no way “the best Christmas gift Disney could have given us.” Unfortunately, I would be very surprised if this streaming service flopped, I fully expect it to dominate amongst the top three apps along with Netflix and Hulu (which, as a reminder, Disney owns.)
Disney + is the most convenient option for families, people who host family and friend gatherings, and college students who grew up watching Disney channel. It comes at an affordable $6.99 a month which sounds nice until you remember that Disney dropped $4 billion on Marvel Studios and you feel guilty when you spend $4 on a coffee.
Disney + is a way to take more money from families with kids and young adults with the guise of generosity.
I don’t blame families or college students or anyone signed up for Disney +. Disney and their child companies have made some of the best movies of all time in my opinion. I myself have the service on my shared roommate’s tv, although we don’t pay anything because we stole the password from a friend. But it does bother me when people blindly cheer for a company worth $130 billion that could choose to end American homelessness 6 and a half times instead spent their time creating a product to make more money.
The United States in particular has a disparity between billionaires not knowing what to spend their wealth on and average Americans making 361 times less than the CEO of the company they work for. And that’s an average employee, not the entry level or a janitor. Consider what Disney doesn’t want you to know before cheering for their new streaming service.