monetary and tax reform
Hmm, we should stage a takeover of one of the major parties in an attempt to do that. We could call it MAGA or something.
heart of the issue
A widespread preference cascade is at the heart of the issue, though. We'll never be able to pass the political reforms we want without it.
how can they afford
They're a multibillion dollar conglomerate that is also, as you pointed out, getting ESG money. They can sustain losses for quite a while. Look how long it took for Buzzfeed News and Vice to finally declare bankruptcy, and they're no Disney.
adjust our mentality
What do you suggest besides a siege? Layoffs and bankruptcies are now, finally, ravaging our original targets (unethical journalist outlets) after years of hard work on our part. The mainstream has absolutely noticed the Bud Light disaster, causing Target to make an (admittedly bullshit, half-hearted) attempt to walk back, despite ESG mandates. DIS stock is now down 20% in the past year, or 11% in the past 5 years, and that doesn't account for inflation. Genuinely, what do you suggest?
It really isn't. As others have said, rule of thumb is 2x to 2.5x the budget to get to breaking even (including marketing, etc.) But the studio only banks between 50% (domestically) and 25% (in China) of the box office. So a $500m box office would mean a $250m loss for Disney on a $250m film like TLM.
This graphic paints an even bleaker picture, but even going off of the accepted rules of thumb, this is a disaster for Disney.
Edit: to bolster my point, even pReddits boxoffice sub is saying that the film will need between 600-700m to start turning a profit, due to the theater cut.
I've had a similar idea, though I think the recipient should be barred from receiving any money, gifts, salary, or any other thing of value, for the rest of their lives. Obviously they would receive a pension, but failing to do this would open up the very obvious loophole of, "oh, vote the way we want and if you get thrown out, we'll have a great, high-paying 'job' for you."
I love Adams' asides. The importance of carefully choosing your words, lest you spark a pointless interdimensional war, had me rolling.
The movie was okay. Guide is one of those properties that sounds like it would make an amazing movie, but it never seems to work out nearly as well as the book. That said, I had a mildly enjoyable time watching it. Obviously that means I like it quite a bit more than some.
Sci-fi comedy rather than sci-fi mystery, but I clicked your headline and I'm not giving up now. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is not woke at all, genuinely hilarious, and widely considered a classic. Can't recommend it enough.
There's always MidJourney for your cover art.