Show Dogs is this year’s animal infused kid’s film, a standard movie troupe in the PG realm. The Jason Arnett led film, which was released ironically the same weekend as Deadpool 2, is about an FBI Agent (Arnett) joining forces with a police dog, Max (voiced by Ludacris), to find the whereabouts of a stolen baby panda. To do this, Max must go undercover as a show dog (thus the title, get it?).
Obviously geared to a very young audience, one would expect the Raja Gosnell (director of films like Scooby Doo, Smurfs, etc) helmed flick to be full of innocent humor. However, one running gag throughout the film has caught the ire of many parents, as well as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, who released the following statement:
“It contains multiple scenes where a dog character must have its private parts inspected, in the course of which the dog is uncomfortable and wants to stop but is told to go to a ‘zen place.’ The dog is rewarded with advancing to the final round of the dog show after passing this barrier. Disturbingly, these are similar tactics child abusers use when grooming children–telling them to pretend they are somewhere else, and that they will get a reward for withstanding their discomfort. Children’s movies must be held to a higher standard, and must teach children bodily autonomy, the ability to say ‘no’ and safety, not confusing messages endorsing unwanted genital touching.”
According to THR, the joke in question is in a scene in which Max is grabbed inappropriately, which then leads to a character telling him to relax and go to a “zen place.” This joke runs throughout the film, including the entire investigation at one point hanging on Max allowing himself to be grabbed this way.
Now, while show dogs have their nether parts grabbed constantly during competitions for judging purposes, the scene adds human voices to the characters in which their dialogue accidentally mirrors that of what abusers tell children during molestation. It’s a form of manipulation used to “groom children” for the assault, telling them to ignore the pain and humility by “pretending to be somewhere else”.
Global Road, the production company behind the film, quickly addressed the criticisms and affirmed that the joke was never meant for that intention, but they would diligently fix the issue. They offered a publicly apology for the scene, insisting that they remain “committed to providing quality entertainment for the intended audiences based on the film’s rating” and take “these matters very seriously.” They explained that the revised cut of the movie will become available as early as the coming weekend.
What are your thoughts about the joke, and the new edits? Let us know in the comments below!