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This is the exact argument at the center of scientific racism. "Black people are more primitive, less evolved, and don't fit in with white society." It's the assumption behind everything from the racist crack laws to the racist superpredator laws (hey, look, the word "predator" is right there).

You might say that I'm reading too much into this. "Why are you making everything about race?" is the internet's favorite complaint, after all. But in this case, the movie is demanding that I put my own life into the film. All the animals live in human-style apartments, worship human-style pop culture (Shakira is in this movie -- she's a gazelle, and she has her own iPhone app), and even have similar goals. Judy Hopps moves to the big city to pursue her dream of being a cop, the same way I and so many of my friends moved to Los Angeles to pursue our dreams of being writers, or musicians, or mimes, or strippers (I like to keep a diverse friend group). Even the central plot of the story -- that a corrupt and racist government is using a drug to villainize an innocent minority -- reflects the crack epidemic of the 1980s. I'm supposed to see not just myself, but my entire civilization, reflected in this movie.

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You might say, "So wait, any movie in which a bunch of animals live together is racist? What are you, some kind of doof?" Of course not, and please watch your language, as this is an article about a children's movie. I don't think Robin Hood is racist, and Rescuers Down Under is the best movie I will ever see in my life. But if you're making a movie about racism, the premise that "a bunch of different animals living together and dealing with their fundamental differences" works better as a pro-racist metaphor than an anti-racist one. Check out this scene: