Once Upon a Time in a Bloggers Land…
As I child, I couldn’t get enough of the Disney films. I’d sit my little toddler bottom down on the sofa and become immersed in the world of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White, to name a few. Not only did the songs captivate me, but it was also the world the characters lived in and the beauty of the female leads. When playing with my friends, we’d pick characters and pretend to be princesses, and if we were lucky enough to get our parents to buy us the outfits, we practically felt like we were the princesses.
I can remember falling asleep to the soundtracks of all my favorite Disney movies, which is probably why I still know all the words to this day, and then I’d dream of Prince Eric coming to my rescue from the evil Ursula. I knew then I’d marry a handsome prince one day, and I craved for it.
Let’s look at some common Disney themes:
-Friendship is important
-Family is important
-Good conquers evil
-Women are always beautiful
-Villains are often ugly
-The women needs rescuing
-The women is waiting for her prince charming
-The women’s role is to find her prince charming, marry and bare children
What we don’t see often if at all:
-Leading characters that are not Caucasian
-Gay relationships
-Women heroes
Now that it’s 2009 and I look back at the films I grew up watching, I don’t think Disney is any kind of negative for children. Most of their films truly do have a good message. Although many of their themes may be outdated, that’s all they really are, outdated, and that’s no ones fault but time itself. Disney should be credited for evolving with time. Their story structures are changing, which brings me to my first point.
I took a screen writing class and the first thing you learn is story structure. You need a lead character or hero, someone who is likeable and in that, they should also be attractive because an audience wants a likeable and attractive character. You also need a villain, without a villain you don’t have a conflict. You need a conflict, without one there’s no reason for the audience to invest any time into your story, and in that conflict you often have someone who needs saving, traditionally a young lady. So you have your attractive hero, you have your conflict, and you have your villain.
Disney follows this traditional story structure in their films not because they are sexist or unoriginal, but because that is how you tell a basic and good story. With time the hero’s have changed, and the stories are evolving to keep up with the beliefs and ideals of today. Take Mulan for example. This is a story about a young girl who went against societies norms. She is everything women activists stand for and Disney exemplifies that in their film.
Disney is also making a film to be released this year called The Princess and the Frog. According to IMDB, it’s “a fairy tale centered on a young girl named Princess Tiana who lives in New Orleans’ French Quarter during the Jazz Age.” I believe this will be the first Disney film where the lead woman is African American. Although some may argue that she is black with Caucasian characteristics, I would argue back that even Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have unrealistic Caucasian characteristics; they might as well be Barbie.
Still, we are seeing a change in Disney films. As time changes and racism diminishes, I believe we will see more and more African American lead characters and other ethnicities as well. We are already seeing the role of women change in these films, so there’s no limitation to what Disney might do in the movies to come.
My life is no Disney story, but I think you come to realize that as you age and we’re able to distinguish the differences between our realities to the fantasy we once dreamed of when we were younger. I’m not upset about it and I won’t be suing Disney for their false “promises.” I loved growing up with Disney films and I’ll be sure to have all the films for my kids. As a film major, I’ve learned that film is used as an escape from the reality we are living, often during hard times like a depression, and the audience, old or young, wants this for the most part.
I have not been hurt or traumatized by the roles women play in the early Disney films, and I think children are too young to truly understand those meanings anyway, especially as society differs in the reality today. I know my friends who grew up watching these films feel the same way, and my parents do too. Sure film does in some way influence us when we are younger, but we are also and more greatly so I believe, influenced by our parents, our home, our culture, our society, our teachers, and our friends, so much so in fact that the Disney films truly bare no weight when included with everything else.
Additional Links:
Blogs on controversy over Disney films
