- On April 11, "Lilo" trended on
Twitter as a result of people arguing against an artist's take on the film. - The since-deleted critique, posted by artist Hailey Lain (known online as SquigglyDigg) argued that the film's central message is a dangerous one to pass on to kids.
- The discourse crossed over into the mainstream as people leapt to defend the film online, causing it to trend.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
This weekend, Twitter erupted with a bizarre, anachronistic bout of discourse over 2002
The question was sparked by a now-deleted drawing that Lain had posted on her Tumblr blog featuring herself and fellow artist Jessica Kalei Sheffield about how "Lilo & Stitch" is the "worst Disney movie ever." After receiving questions regarding her opinion, Lain elaborated, defending her viewpoint.
The crux of Lain's argument is essentially that rather than showing Lilo having to face the consequences of her bad behavior throughout the film, which frequently comes at Nani's expense, "Lilo & Stitch" reinforces the message that family must take care of each other despite any level of abuse. "Lilo is of the mindset that it's Nani's job to clean up after her messes, and takes that entirely for granted," Lain wrote. "And the message of the movie, 'family means nobody gets left behind,' underscores this and even says that it IS the family's job to fix its members' messes… without holding that family member responsible or accountable." A companion post by Sheffield, who was mentioned in the original post, regarding the representation of Hawaiian culture in the film also circulated on Tumblr and Twitter.
While Lain originally reposted the critique on Twitter on April 5 (and appears to have deleted the tweet on April 13), it began to gain traction as the week progressed, culminating in "Lilo" trending on Twitter on April 11. The ensuing discourse largely consisted of people replying or quoting Lain's tweet or tweeting about it without directly interacting, disagreeing with Lain's take.
—Ama (@nekoama) April 11, 2020
One of the biggest critiques of Lain's take was that it was unfairly harsh on a child of color, reflecting biases inherent in society. "Black & Brown Kids do not get to be kids," writer Vita Ayala wrote. "They're held to adult standards demonized from the jump."
—✊Vita Ayala️ (@definitelyvita) April 11, 2020
—charb (@alterego) April 11, 2020
Others remarked upon the absurdity of seeing "Lilo & Stitch" discourse on Twitter in 2020, something that was exacerbated by the fact that "Lilo & Stitch" is not only generally beloved, but also nearly 18 years old.
—chai ♡ (@givemeabrekk) April 11, 2020
What followed the initial explosion in commentary, however, was a natural progression for the kind of mid-2010s Tumblr discourse that it emulated. While both her art Tumblr blog, SquigglyDigg, and personal blog have been currently set to private, people began to dig up old posts, most prominently one that Lain appears to have reblogged discussing asylum seekers. Insider was unable to verify the screenshot because the original post appears to have been deleted.
Ultimately, discourse about cartoons (even older movies) isn't particularly notable —
—Connie Glynn (@connieglynn) April 11, 2020
What was exceptional, however, was the fact that this discourse made it into mainstream Twitter, spreading out of fandom social circles and inspiring waves of people to defend the film, eventually making it trend.
—TRAFON (@RiseFallNick) April 11, 2020
—Rae Geiger ✌✨ (@raegeii) April 11, 2020
A final takeaway from the incident: yes, people do go on the internet and get angry about cartoons.
—Ghost Panda Haunting Indoors (@JumpcityA) April 11, 2020
- Read more:
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