Ellen DeGeneres heard the news that this weekend, while thousands were protesting President Donald Trump's travel ban, the President himself was hosting a screening of Finding Dory in the White House theater. DeGeneres, the voice of Dory, had some thoughts about that—and offered two very non-political lessons Trump could use about immigration and the effectiveness of walls from the film. One: Walls don't work. And two: It doesn't matter what nationality or race you are, good people help those in trouble.
Or as she cleverly put it:
Thanks for being here. You are the only people not protesting something right now so thank you…
A lot of protests going on at the airports all over the country, really, because of the President's travel ban. At the airport in Los Angeles, there was chaos and confusion–nobody could get in or out before the protests start –that was before…
If you haven't heard, this is what happened over the weekend on Friday, The President gave an order banning people from 7 countries from entering the United States, including people with green cards. Then on Saturday, the President screened Finding Dory at the White House. I don't get political, but I will say that I am against one of those two things.
Like I said, I don't get political, so I'm not gonna talk about the travel ban. I'm just gonna talk about the very non-political, family friendly, People's Choice Award-winning Finding Dory.
Now, of course Finding Dory is about a fish named Dory. Dory lives in Australia and these are her parents, and they live in America. And I don't know what religion they are, but her dad sounds a little Jewish. It doesn't matter.
Dory arrives in America with her friends Marlin and Nemo. She ends up at the Marine Life Institute behind a large wall. They all have to get over the wall and you won't believe it, but that wall has almost no effect in keeping them out.
This is Becky. She's not important—it's just a hilarious comedic element that makes for wonderful storytelling.
Even though Dory gets into America, she ends up separated from her family, but the other animals help Dory. Animals that don't even need her. Animals that don't have anything in common with her. They help her, even though they're completely different colors. Because that's what you do when you see someone in need—you help them.
So that is what I hope everyone who's watching Finding Dory has learned. Tune in next week when I explain women's rights talking about the movie Mr. Wrong.
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
