Talking Points #4
Reflection:
This was a very difficult article for me to read. I was a kid who always loved cartoons, Disney movies, and Disney World in Florida. I still occasionally like to watch cartoons now, and I'm 19 years old. Now, that they mention it in the article I do realize how they depicted certain characters. All the different stereotypes that are depicted show people of color, fat people, women, and other types of people in bad ways. So, when children watch this they get this image in their head of how these types of people act. No one acts different because of what they look like all people are the same and deserve to be treated the same.
One part during the article was when a couple of the students mentioned how they never see the main character as African American, and they thought the Disney movies would be better if the main character isn't only depicted as white. It wouldn't change how we learned from it. If the main character is black or white like in Cinderella the story will still end the same. It will end happily ever after the girl will get her prince charming just by changing how she looks, and making herself look more beautiful. Happiness doesn't just come from getting a man, and changing your clothes and hairstyle. This brings me back to SCWAAMP. Especially the "A" in scwaamp" which means Ablebodiedness. Everyone has this image of beautiful as you should be skinny or just look like a barbie doll. That is also what a movie like Cinderella is trying to get across just because of how beautiful you are means that you will have a happy ending in life. The world is not like that. I wish everyone could have a happy ending, but its not that easy. You have to work hard in life, and achieve your goals, and find someone you love. Not everything is based on how you look. The link I put there shows exactly the point I'm trying to get across about how a Disney princess like Cinderella sends the wrong message to young children.
Comments: I will always love Disney movies and cartoons because I grew up watching them. They do send bad messages to children, but when they are that young they don't realize what they are learning. When they get older I hope they realize that the messages these movies sent were wrong. I wish that they didn't have these types of messages in the stories. Disney movies had all sorts of subliminal messages that I didn't know about. Why would they put those in their movies when they know the general audience for them are children? I hope that in newer cartoons they send better messages to children, and I don't think that these movies should be taken away from them all in all. I just think at some point children should learn about the messages these movies were depicting, and realize it was wrong to depict them that way.
Alex! I think your post is very interesting especially the video at the end. I don't know about everyone else but when I watch a disney movie at this point in my life I'm either watching it with a child that I babysit or i'm watching a cartoon to help me fall asleep at night. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm either watching them through my inner child when i'm babysitting or my half asleep brain isn't quite paying attention to the movie. I'm sorry but I'm not going to sit around and watch a classic disney movie looking for inappropriate things and neither are the children watching them! Disney has to target a large audience yes they have to please the children but they also have to make the movie enjoyable for their parents which is why a lot of the jokes in disney movies are targeted at adults and not the children.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the article that you linked to. It really complemented your thoughts and reflections, and even explained that Disney has started to change for the better. The latest princess is Tiana (Princess and the Frog) who shows girls that regardless of race, hard work pays off and you can follow your dream and still get the man. The video, however, shows the parts of Disney movies that are most likely fake. Whenever I see the "subliminal" messages, I can't help but imagine that a group of teenage boys tried to find evidence of their dirty humor in their little sister's movie. Although some things may have been intentional, I think alot of the subliminal messages just depend who is looking at them with a dirty mind. Like Stephanie said above, little kids don't notice these things at all. There are also some issues with continuity, where in Aladdin the person believes that "take off your clothes" is being said when horses are running in the desert. That literally makes no sense in regards to the movie. I don't think the directors would have thought that intently about where to put perverted messages in their "wholesome" children's film.
ReplyDeleteI also related my respond to SCWAAMP and focussed mainly on ablebodiedness. You are absolutely right, however, when I was watching these movies as a child I did not pick up on a lot of their subliminal messages. They are classics and I still do enjoy them. I also agree with your point that the race of any one of these classic characters could be changed and I would still appreciate the movie the same way. For instance -- I like "The Little Mermaid" not because of the fact that Areal is white, but because of the music and the funny supporting cast of sea creatures.
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