I was particularly interested in Isabel's lecture. I mentioned this in class, but one of my childhood friends was not allowed to watch Disney movies. I never understood why this was and her parents were a bit cooky so I just thought they were being weird. Now I understand that they were a bit smarter than my young 2nd grade mind may have realized. The only Disney movie they were allowed to watch was Mulan. Mulan stands out against other classics like Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and Cinderella. First of all it stars a minority character and secondly it shines a different culture in a good light instead of as a villain type, thirdly it embraces women as strong and powerful. Although it may not legally be Disney's responsibility to think about every character they choose to put in their films and how they portray them, you would think that they would want to embrace and utilize this power. Disney is one of many companies that has a strong influence on young children and they should be happy to teach positive lessons to children.
The whole idea of race and ethnicity being portrayed in Disney films has been discussed before. An issue Isabel mentioned is that of sexuality and the lack of diversity. As Isabel said, everything is heteronormative. It is assumed that there is a mom and a dad, and assumed that no one is gay. Disney has improved over the years with its image of different races, such as in movies like Mulan or Lilo and Stitch. However, there has yet to be one that brings to the table the reality of homosexuals in our culture.
2 comments:
I definitely agree with your friend's parents that Mulan is different from other Disney classics. As a kid, I hated watching older Disney movies like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. Even though the women in these movies are the main characters, they are very meek, waiting to be saved by their prince charmings. I definitely identified more with strong, active characters like Peter Pan, rather then Wendy, because none of the women in Disney films were strong women. Hopefully Disney will continue making movies that give women dignified roles, rather than characterizing them as sex objects or victims to save.
I agree with both of you. Disney has definitely improved over the years but they definitely have a long way to go. I thought the point that was made about Beauty and the Beast was very interesting and made me think about Disney in a way I had not before. The line about how Belle can change the abusive beast and that she should excuse his abuse. I agree that this is definitely not the message that young girls should be receiving.
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