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Antiwork

Pixar’s “A Bug Life” is low key about seizing the means of production, and you should have all kids watch it in that context.

Okay, so it's not a long bow to draw at all to come to that conclusion, it's pretty obvious if you actually pay attention AND I'm certainly not breaking any new ground by drawing anti-capitalist sentiments from it. But, as a tool, it's a FANTASTIC way to teach children about worker exploitation in an engaging and not too upsetting way. With the Grasshoppers as cruel, greedy bosses and the Ants as the working population. Initially written to be loosely based off Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper, many people have drawn very strong similarities to Akira Kurosawa's classic “7 Samurai” I see the Thespian bugs as refugees and migrants escaping their own exploitation, and when accepted into the Ant colony they only strengthen it bringing diverse culture. A scene worth mentioning is when the Ants stop needing to collect the extra food for the Grasshoppers, they are free to…


Okay, so it's not a long bow to draw at all to come to that conclusion, it's pretty obvious if you actually pay attention AND I'm certainly not breaking any new ground by drawing anti-capitalist sentiments from it.

But, as a tool, it's a FANTASTIC way to teach children about worker exploitation in an engaging and not too upsetting way. With the Grasshoppers as cruel, greedy bosses and the Ants as the working population.

Initially written to be loosely based off Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper, many people have drawn very strong similarities to Akira Kurosawa's classic “7 Samurai”

I see the Thespian bugs as refugees and migrants escaping their own exploitation, and when accepted into the Ant colony they only strengthen it bringing diverse culture.

A scene worth mentioning is when the Ants stop needing to collect the extra food for the Grasshoppers, they are free to engage in feasts, song, dance, plays, culture, raising young. Whilst before it was all work no play.

The Ants coming together at the end, realising they are so much stronger as one, is a very clear tip of the hat to Unionism.

Yes, there's a Queen, so it's technically a monarchy hahaha, but I mean, it doesn't really play much into the storyline, and Ants do have Queens so…

TLDR:
Show your kids, or niblings, or friends kids A Bugs Life and draw parallels to the plight of the Ants to the working class, and the Grasshoppers to Capitalist greed. Extra points if you can radicalise kids of conservative parents

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