Henrietta Hay's Column

Boycott Bambi and Mickey Mouse? Those icons of virtue? Those sturdy defenders of family values? Oh, come now.

Of course, the boycott, in one form or another, is an old American custom so why should Mickey be exempt? The dictionary says that to boycott is, "to abstain from or unite with others in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with."

You could probably call the Boston Tea Party a boycott. The colonists united and certainly abstained from drinking the tea.

A nationwide boycott in the early sixties led by Cesar Chavez of the National Farm Workers Association urged us not to eat table grapes. That was easy. I don't much like grapes anyway.

I have been boycotting Coors Beer for many years. When ultra-conservative Joe Coors became a Regent of the University of Colorado I was sure he was going to ruin the University. Actually, he didn't, but I have never bought a Coors beer since. The Coors Company has since become fairly liberal in its social policies and very generous with its money, but I am still, boycotting them as a matter of principle. Indignation can become a habit. I am quite sure that the Coors family never knew about, nor cared, nor were hurt in any way by my lack of patronage.

But Bambi and Mickey Mouse and Pocahontas and John Smith?

The Southern Baptist Convention has voted to ask their 15 million members to stop patronizing the Walt Disney Co. and everything it owns, which is just about everything in the entertainment field. They claim that Disney and its affiliates are, "increasingly promoting immoral ideologies, such as homosexuality, infidelity, and adultery, which are biblically reprehensible and abhorrent to God and His plan for the world that He loves."

Those are pretty harsh words. I suspect that Hercules would be more tolerant, or even the little Lion King after he grew up.

A boycott is probably the most peaceful and least effective means of social protest in our modern world. If the 15 million southern Baptists want to stay away from all Disney productions, they have every right to do so. But it is ironic that a group, which advocates what, it defines, as "family values" would turn its back on the leading supplier of wholesome, family friendly entertainment.

And think of all the toys and t-shirts and stuffed animals the children will be denied, to say nothing of millions of Happy Meals in the fast food outlets.

Besides theme parks in California and Florida, Disney owns ABC, ESPN, A&E and Lifetime. The company is also Hollywood's main supplier of family fare, including this summer's George of the Jungle and Most Valuable Pooch. Sure, they brought us "Pulp Fiction," but they also brought us "Emma" and "The English Patient," this year's winner of nine Oscars.

The major criticism seems to be that Disney is giving health benefits to same-sex partners of employees and allowing "Gay Days" at its theme parks. It is now a national trend, with many corporations incorporating same-sex benefits in their employee benefit packages. Disney special days at its theme parks include many special groups, including the annual Night of Joy," devoted to Christian music.

The ultimate outrage seems to have been the "Ellen" episode on television, in which Ellen DeGeneres character came out as a lesbian. By now, however, the whole homosexual issue is out of the closet, and the "Ellen" episode was an entertaining non-event.

The term "family values" as used by the Christian Right confuses me. It has been my experience that every family has a slightly different set of values and there are very few rigid, universal rules. For a "family values" group to boycott the network that carries Regis and Cathy Lee, that icon of American motherhood, along with Bambi who lost his mother, does seem like cutting off your nose to spite your face. But hey, it's legal.

The boycott of the Disney Empire will have about the same effect on Disney as my boycott of Coors Beer does on the brewery. But if it makes them feel good, I don't care. I can still watch whatever I want.