Sony Apologizes for ‘Peter Rabbit’ Movie’s Allergy Scene
- 6 years ago
Sony Apologizes for ‘Peter Rabbit’ Movie’s Allergy Scene
Our film should not have made light of Peter Rabbit’s archnemesis, Mr. McGregor, being allergic to blackberries, even in a cartoonish, slapstick way.”
The statement, which was attributed in part to the film’s director, writers
and producers, added, “We sincerely regret not being more aware and sensitive to this issue, and we truly apologize.”
Kenneth Mendez, the president and chief executive of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, saw the movie on Saturday.
Sam Rose has a son who loves Peter Rabbit, a character from a children’s book by Beatrix Potter,
but she won’t take him to see “Peter Rabbit,” the new movie loosely based on it.
When the rabbits fire a blackberry into Mr. McGregor’s mouth, Mr. Mendez said, “there’s a close-up of his face,
and it’s him holding his neck like he’s choking.” When Mr. McGregor collapses and appears to be dead for a moment, the rabbits cheer.
The movie fits an old trope of children’s shows in which two nemeses (like Wile E. Coyote
and the Road Runner, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, or Tom and Jerry) face off, often with slapstick violence in the form of explosions, high-speed crashes or falling anvils.
“Making light of this condition hurts our members because it encourages the public not to take the risk of allergic reactions seriously, and this cavalier attitude may make them act in ways
that could put an allergic person in danger,” it said.
Dr. Andrew Adesman, the chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical
Center of New York in Queens, said he remembered watching Wile E. Coyote cartoons as a child.
Our film should not have made light of Peter Rabbit’s archnemesis, Mr. McGregor, being allergic to blackberries, even in a cartoonish, slapstick way.”
The statement, which was attributed in part to the film’s director, writers
and producers, added, “We sincerely regret not being more aware and sensitive to this issue, and we truly apologize.”
Kenneth Mendez, the president and chief executive of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, saw the movie on Saturday.
Sam Rose has a son who loves Peter Rabbit, a character from a children’s book by Beatrix Potter,
but she won’t take him to see “Peter Rabbit,” the new movie loosely based on it.
When the rabbits fire a blackberry into Mr. McGregor’s mouth, Mr. Mendez said, “there’s a close-up of his face,
and it’s him holding his neck like he’s choking.” When Mr. McGregor collapses and appears to be dead for a moment, the rabbits cheer.
The movie fits an old trope of children’s shows in which two nemeses (like Wile E. Coyote
and the Road Runner, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, or Tom and Jerry) face off, often with slapstick violence in the form of explosions, high-speed crashes or falling anvils.
“Making light of this condition hurts our members because it encourages the public not to take the risk of allergic reactions seriously, and this cavalier attitude may make them act in ways
that could put an allergic person in danger,” it said.
Dr. Andrew Adesman, the chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical
Center of New York in Queens, said he remembered watching Wile E. Coyote cartoons as a child.