The Subtle Evil of Disney Magic
I enjoyed the irony in the article that we read for Monday. The authors took Disney, a symbol of happiness and magic, and portrayed it as an evil empire that attempts to oppress another generation of young girls every seven years. I also thought it was interesting how they pointed out that during the Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty Years, all of the writers at Disney were male. This brought an interesting picture to mind: a group of old, womanizing men sitting in an underground lair, smoking cigars, drinking gin, wearing suits, and discussing how to not only oppress women through cartoons, but how to reinforce the patriarchal way of life through cartoons about princesses.
For these reasons, I think that the article was a little on the dramatic side, and also little bias considering it was written by three women. I wonder what it would have been like if a man had been involved with it. I honestly don’t think that Disney cartoons have a huge impact on the way women act. I know girls that have seen Cinderella a thousand times, and they don’t care about being pretty, or courteous, or polite. Also, I know girls who have seen Pocahontas a thousand times, and they don’t care about having dreams, or being free-spirited, or what is just around the river-bend. In my opinion, this article is just looking for a scapegoat, and ironically, they decided to pick Disney.
People don’t act the way they do because they saw some trite cartoon a few dozen times. They act the way they do because of how their parents raised them, and who their friends are, and what kind of experiences they’ve had during their lifetimes. It’s absurd to blame a cartoon for spreading patriarchy, and oppressing women.
Comments
Times change. At the time of Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty, the United States and Disney was dominated by white males. A person could also respond there were no black charactors in disney tales either. Does that mean blacks should boycott Disney? To say a story book tale impacts a person's life would be like claiming the Road Runner and Willie Coyote is responsible for all the suicides that occure. If a feminate or anyone has an axe to grind you can be criticle of anything written by past generations. How about "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or even "Huck Fin" using the "N" word, certainly not politically correct by today's standards, but at the time they were written it was accepted as being politically correct.In order to grasp the complete picture one must realize the nature of the times when something was written. You can not apply today's standards to justifying any position that is predated to the current times. Political correctness has evolved from the mistakes learned from our fathers, (okay, Mothers too for the sake of being politically correcl).Life is a journey and time does not stand still. We must move on not looking for things to blame, but to look for answers. Perhaps the answer lies within us. You can change the future, but can only learn from the past.
Posted by: bbwolffman | April 5, 2007 2:40 AM
Nick,
I could not agree with you more, infact, if you read my posting, it is almost identical to yours, and I read yours after I had written mine. I think you are completely right, it is absurd to blame a cartoon, a form of entertainment for kids and adults alike, for the ideas and beliefs people hold. There is no way Cinderella makes little girls think they must live their lives as pretty princesses and solely live to find their prince. Nor does it mold their minds to think they need to keep their mouths shut. Look at all the successful, outspoken women in the world today, is someone going to try and tell me that none of them watched Disney princess movies as little girls?!? If they say Disney movies are re-created every 7 years, just about every girl on this planet has probably seen one Disney princess movie or another. Our beliefs, male or female, stem from our upbringing, our friends and our experiences, just as you said. Stereotypes definately exist in the media, but it is a bit extreme to say the "stereoptypes" portrayed in the Disney princess movies are influencing the minds of young girls. I really enjoyed your sarcasm with the male writers too, considering that argument is coming from a group of 3 women authors. If Disney was such a terrible influence on little girls, why is it that almost every girl in America has had the opportunity to see one?!
Great posting Nick!
Posted by: Landyn Shanks | April 6, 2007 1:01 AM