Baymax the series: We owe it an apology
As someone who is a fan of Baymax, Big Hero 6, a comic author and most relevantly, a mother, I just have to get a few things off of my chest about the new Baymax series which I find other parents not only reacted way too harshly, but I find it was deeply misjudged and misunderstood.
The harshest claim the Baymax series, and even Big Hero 6, gets is that it is not appropriate for children, but that claim alone is flawed because the Big Hero 6 series (movie, books, shorts, cartoons, etc.) was never aimed at small children and always dealt with topics that were serious or went over a small child’s head. While the character Baymax is child friendly with his teddy bear like appearance and sweet demeanor, the series he comes from is obviously aimed for pre-teens and teenagers since the main characters are in that age group and deal with situations people of that age group can identify with. Some of these issues are not even medical, biological or even sexual. They are just social such as having to deal with loss, regret and changes you weren’t ready for. From the beginning of the story, the main character Hiro is an orphan who is initially on the wrong path until his older brother Tadashi sets him straight and even soon after that, his brother dies in a tragic accident. And all of this as well as the other serious topics are presented with class and sensitivity. There is no gore or harsh imagery aside from the funeral itself which was sad, but clean.
I must also point out that in Big Hero 6 progressivism has always been present whether it is in the form of science or social awareness. Just look at how progressively it portrays men and women or the rich and poor. It takes a huge stab (no pun intended) by making Wasabi a swordfighter who is also meek, nervous, insecure, kind of a fraidy cat and yet is still not any less of a fighter for it. Then there is Fred who is very wealthy yet has a job which he is proud of, he gets joy out of simple things, he is unconditionally kind to everyone, does things by himself, he isn’t narcissistic and isn’t concerned with the social class of his peers. Also, it is also very clear that it is a very feminist series because the women and girls of Big Hero 6 and Baymax are diverse and strong. It should come as no surprise to us that it would introduce us to some LGBT+ characters too, present the period as being a normal and natural thing, and have gender neutral bathrooms which might I add only contained stalls which gave anyone and everyone privacy when they had to go. Everything was presented with class and nothing innocence shattering was shown or done.
Not even when during the period episode, it showed men being aware of what a period is and what a girl needs for it. A man is not a pervert for being aware of how basic female biology works not even if he is transgender. And in the defense of that background character who just happened to be a transgender male, all he did was be a nice guy. It is like being aware of how breathing works. Even my husband who has no sisters and is biologically male knows what the period is and how it works. Also, suppose a kid was watching that episode of Baymax, it is alright because most of it would go over their head and nothing private is shown. Even the sight of the hygiene products isn’t so bad because we never even see them directly. We just see labels and boxes. As mentioned before, this series’ main audience consists of teenagers and pre-teens so it is natural for it to address topics like this.
And I also have to come to the defense of Mbita who is gay and openly asked his crush out on a date; there is absolutely nothing inappropriate about a consenting adult asking another consenting adult out. In the eyes of a child who doesn’t get how dating and crushes work, the kid will think Mbita and his crush are just really good friends and they would think the exact same thing if his crush was a woman. That is unless the kid has gay relatives or a gay parent, and even then, it is ok. I did not see an agenda being pushed around or rubbed harshly in the face of the viewer. I just saw a character in a situation that is relatable to anyone who has had a crush they were too nervous to talk to which tons of straight people go through too. If anything, I thought it was sweet. The only part of Mbita’s episode that a small child understands is that he suddenly became allergic to fish at this made him upset because he loves cooking fish and he was apprehensive about cooking something else. That and he clearly fears needles.
If you think the Big Hero 6 franchise is not for small children, that is fine because it admits that it isn’t, but you can’t fault it for that and you definitely should not persecute it for that. Do not make claims that it trying to harm children or push agendas. It is not doing anything that it has not done before and none of it is evil.
Fellow parents, please stop being so angry at a series that didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know about all of you, but I actually think that everything the Baymax series brought to the table so far was nice, well written, heartwarming and relatable to everyone.
I think you owe Baymax and its writers an apology because you said some things that weren’t very nice or true.
