Oh, definitely. It seems to lean really hard into opposites attract romcom tropes, qnd the whole premise seems really reminiscent of Zootopia.
Watching the trailers definitely gives the sense that it's something you've seen before, and I guess people also hold Pixar to a higher standard then most animation studios so there's extra backlash when something doesn't live up to expectations.
Ah, that explains the joke I saw online that's my main reference on what the premise may be:
Ever since Incredibles 2, Online places have been dismissive of all Pixar projects. and only get accustomed to them once they release (if they are good that is)
and like I cannot really blame that reaction considering Toy Story 4 and Incredibles 2. But still, nothing they have released has been as bad as Cars 2 so there is that. (I don't hate TS4 and Lightyear as much as some people, but I understand why you would dislike them.) and Soul, Luca and Turning Red are legitimately great (Soul Especially)
and for Elemental specifically, It does not look like they fixed the big problems that hurt Zootopia when it comes to the allegory, and as such it is a really easy target. and the advertising in general has it look generic.
I did see
Incredibles 2, but not
Toy Story 4.
Incredibles 2 was definitely a letdown compared to the first film, though it was probably the least of Pixar's problems in the past decade. They've been incredibly hit or miss, and
Elemental seems to be eliciting that "miss" feeling from a lot of people.
Lightyear was also a very high-profile misfire that actually seemed to result in layoffs.
Cars 2 was the infamous pivoting point where Pixar had made its first poorly-received film, and they never fully recovered to their former glory. I've heard people remark how Dreamworks seems to have hit their stride again recently, however.
I just think it's wild to have a movie where a kid crushes on an adult and she shoots him down by saying "Sorry kid, race mixing is bad" which is the most recent clip. I'm aware the fire girl is meant to be Korean cause of the "Haha spicy food" joke they use in trailer, but the in universe city structure outright being segragationist and the vibes of fire lady going from "ew race mixing" to a solid element with the grassy kid to wanting the water dude accidentally comes across as "Race mixing is ok but only if their skin looks kinda like mine"
A lot of us are also just tired about heterosexual stories being about forbidden love, especially in today's political climate and how Disney handled queer **** like Owl Houuse
So it sounds like a simple case of a reasonable idea being poorly executed. Trying to portray a story about the challenges of interracial romance, through an allegory that's honestly quite clever, but then the actual execution is rather clumsy and misguided. It could have been done well, but the actual style and tone of the story doesn't fit well.
Makes me think about how, for most of my life, I've heard such renown for the
X-Men series and how it serves as a powerful allegory for how marginalized groups are treated. Only in recent years have I seen people gradually begin to consider that, in-universe, a lot of the fear and stigma of mutants is entirely sensible given that they are legitimately dangerous and unpredictable, so the allegory doesn't actually work. Or, taking the allegory literally, portrays the opposite message that it might intend to.
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