Hating on “Disney adults,” grown-ups who enjoy Disney theme parks, movies, and merchandise, has become an all too familiar, often tired trope on the internet. But this week, it took a darker and far more disturbing turn when CNN commentator and conservative strategist Scott Jennings delivered a remark that many found cruel and dehumanizing.
During a recent appearance, Jennings said:
“If you’re over the age of 21 and you go to Disneyland or Disney World and you don’t have children – straight to Alligator Alcatraz, El Salvador.”
To unpack that: “Alligator Alcatraz” refers to a new immigration detention facility built in the Florida Everglades. The mention of El Salvador, meanwhile, is an apparent reference to U.S. deportation practices involving sending undocumented immigrants to El Salvador. In short, Jennings joked that childless Disney-goers should be detained or deported in the same way.
Let’s be honest: Jennings may have meant his comment as a joke, but that doesn’t make it any less disturbing. Framing a harmless activity — like visiting a theme park without children — as something worthy of deportation, especially in the context of real and inhumane immigration policies, is deeply unsettling. Sure, it was meant to be a joke. But the excuse of “just joking” has become an overused cover for mean-spirited rhetoric, and in this case, it clearly goes too far.
At its core, this is part of a broader cultural phenomenon, one where adults who find joy in things deemed “childish” are ridiculed by those who mistake cynicism for sophistication. Liking Disney as an adult might not be everyone’s idea of fun, but it’s hardly an offense worthy of mockery, let alone comparison to imprisonment. Especially when that mockery is coming from someone with a national platform, on a network watched by millions.
This kind of rhetoric has consequences. Not only does it reinforce the idea that adults must conform to narrow ideas of maturity, but it also risks alienating international visitors and law-abiding tourists. The U.S. travel industry, especially tourism to places like Walt Disney World and Disneyland, already took a major hit during the Trump administration due to concerns for their safety. Casual remarks that mock travelers or paint them as worthy of punishment can further harm that recovery.
Scott Jennings should issue a public apology, not because Disney adults can’t take a joke, but because decent people shouldn’t need to be told that jokes about jailing innocent theme park visitors are mean-spirited, lazy, and wildly inappropriate. As a society, we have a responsibility to call out language that normalizes this kind of rhetoric, because it’s not okay, joke or not. No matter your political affiliation, left, right, or center, we should all be able to agree that this kind of talk doesn’t reflect the values we stand for as a country.
And maybe, just maybe, we should retire the whole “hate on Disney adults” discourse altogether. It’s overdone. It’s unoriginal. And it says more about the people making the jokes than those they’re trying to ridicule.
Source: Reddit
