A Bug’s Life is a Disney/Pixar film made in 1998. It follows the “ants and the grasshopper” narrative from Aesop’s Fables, in which the ants gather food all year to prepare for winter, and the grasshopper takes the food from them. In this movie, an ant named Flik, the main character, hires a crew to take care of the grasshoppers, not realizing that they are actually a circus troupe. It presents problematic scenes in terms of gender and race, but also presents empowering moments for women.

Race

In the circus troupe’s act, a praying mantis does a disappearing act using an empty Chinese take-out container. Throughout his act he calls on the spirits, noting that this magic comes from “the mysterious region of uncharted Asia,” emphasizing an Orientalist mind frame of exoticism and mysticism towards the Far East. Additionally, throughout the film the praying mantis speaks slowly and gives advice in such a way as to paint him as the stereotypical wise old man a la Confucius. In fact, the audience is introduced to the character while he is in a trance. This adds up to create an Orientalist image of the Asian mystic, with Westerners portraying the apparent exoticism and mystery of Asia (Said, 1978).

The two pillbugs in the troupe are presented as buffoons. They have thick eyebrows and speak a foreign language, which appears to have Slovak origin, while all other characters speak English with American accents (with the exception of the praying mantis). The pillbugs’ status as foreigners is a running joke; no one understands them, they make comments out of turn and without context, and have little understanding of serious events happening around them. They are one of the few insects on the protagonists’ side who have more than four legs, most are humanized and have only four limbs; the additional limbs help in reducing them to a lesser status. This creates a picture of them as buffoons with funny accents; they are seen as backwards in comparison to Western characters and the Western audience to which this film is aimed.

While the ants gather food, the grasshoppers spend the summer season in a sombrero, evidently in the middle of the desert. “La Cucaracha” is played by a band of mosquitoes, and the grasshoppers eat out of what appears to be an empty tequila bottle, being served by mosquitoes, who they address in broken Spanish. The implication here is that the mosquitoes are Mexican, and the representation of a blood-sucking insect as Mexican, by an American company and for a Western audience, creates a parallel with the anti-immigration ideology that Mexicans are stealing the jobs of Americans; here they are literally parasites. Additionally, the setting, in the desert, inside a sombrero, plays on stereotyped images of Mexican culture. Hopper, the antagonist, has his back massaged while laying on a bullet casing; as it’s in the middle of the desert is has a connotation to drug cartels or other illegal businesses typically attributed to Mexicans. All of these factors merge so that this scene paints a very negative image of Mexicans.

Gender and Sexual Identity

The portrayal of males and females has some sexist undertones. Besides the adherence to a traditional gender binary, with blue male ants and purple female ants (for the main characters), and female ants having the suggestion of breasts, the non-ant insects come in all shapes and sizes as their species vary. While the male insects can be tall, short, skinny, or large, the female insects (the butterfly and spider) share a curvaceous figure and large eyes. This creates a standard for young girls, as boys are shown that they can have any shape and size, and women are confined to a narrow range of choices.

In the praying mantis’ magic act, his lovely assistant and wife, a butterfly, distracts the audience by showing off her colourful wings – using her body to draw attention away from the cheap magic trick. Essentially, she is using her body to encapsulate men for the benefit of her partner, not directly for herself. Her body is thus seen as a source of entertainment, stripping her of her agency and forcing her to assume the position of an object. This subjugates her agency as a character to the praying mantis’ needs and storyline.

Princess Atta, the female lead, is presented as hysterical and neurotic, constantly worried and confused until Flik elicits a change in her character, at which point she stands between him and Hopper, triggering the ants to attack him. Her sister Dot is an empowered young girl, adventurous and brave. She ventures out to find Flik when the ants’ situation is most dire, evading a crazed grasshopper and learning to use her wings alone. She convinces Flik to return and mobilizes her girl scouts troop, getting them to go through with the initial plan to stop the grasshoppers. However, when Hopper, the antagonist, comes up to her after their plan fails, Flik stands in his path and saves her – although this can be attributed to the fact that she is a child, not simply to her gender. Additionally, the queen ant is presented as a wise character and a strong leader, if weakened by her advanced age. While Atta is often confused over how to lead the ants, the queen takes charge and quickly guides them to their duties. When they discover Flik’s deception, princess Atta and the queen revert to appeasing the grasshoppers, while Flik wants to fight them – a demonstration of the traditional active/passive divide between men and women. The only girl who stands out from this divide is Dot, who makes Flik come back.

Additionally, a running theme in the film is the constant misgendering of the ladybug, who continually identifies himself as a man. He has eyelashes, which only female characters do, pinkish cheeks and lips, and a small mole under his lip; it appears almost as though he’s wearing make up. He parallels a transgender individual. However, this is not treated as a serious issue concerning gender identity, rather it’s a running gag, where he becomes the den mother for a troupe of young girl scouts and is called a “natural mother.” He eventually gives in to the misgendering, instead of fighting back against it. The misgendering and overall transphobic theme is problematic for two main reasons; it correlates being mistaken for a women as something that is funny, reinforcing the negativity associated with being perceived as a girl, and does not take into account trans individuals, for whom misgendering is a daily reality and a struggle.

The stick insect character is presented as a very close friend to the ladybug, and is a somewhat pretentious thespian. A subtextual reading of their relationship reveals homosexual undertones, with both characters presented problematically; the stick insect falls into the stereotypical role of the gay thespian, educated and smug. He objects to being used as a prop (he is used as a stick, a sword…etc), literally asking not to be objectified. Gay men are often presented in an objectifying manner, such as the very common trope of the gay best friend (see: Kurt from Glee and Ryan Evans from High School Musical), in which a gay man is reduced to an accessory for a woman. The stick insect is disempowered as his dilemma is a used as a source of humor rather than a serious issue.

Conclusion

A Bug’s Life presents a negative and stereotyped image of non-Western characters, and adheres to traditional gender and sexual roles for the most part. Mexican characters were portrayed as parasites, with all of the common stereotypes attributed to Hispanic character; the sombrero, mariachi band, tequila, and implication of illegal activities. The praying mantis was presented in an Orientalist frame, exotic and mystical, and the pillbugs were uneducated and clueless foreigners. While the representation of gender tended to enforce gender roles, Dot stood out as a somewhat empowered female character, but was not able to effect change by herself – she require the aid of the male protagonist. Additionally, it sticks to heteronormative standards of gender and sexual identity, not seriously considering the issues facing LGBTQ+ individuals.