Who watched and grew up on Disney films, films such as: The Lion
King, Aladdin, Cinderella, Pocahontas, Snow White, Mulan, The Little Mermaid,
Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (I
could go on and on). These films seem harmless and enjoyable but they are
layered with Western Ideology as well as gender and racial stereotypes. These
films are targeted at an audience that is still at the early stages of
development and through these messages presented by Disney they shape certain
views about cultures different to their own. Ward and Giroux state in
Muller-Hartmann (2007, p. 400) “Disney’s animated films provide ‘many of the
first narratives children use to learn about the world’ forming their moral
vision of what good and evil are, what gender roles one can aspire to, and how
other ethnicities and cultures can be viewed, thus making Disney an important
‘moral educator in the lives of children and young adults’”. This post will
discuss how and why Disney films can change and influence views of different
cultures.
I will now present examples of western ideology, race and gender
stereotypes in Disney films. When looking at race the message that is presented
is white is good and black is evil. This isn’t in all Disney films especially
modern films yet in the early twentieth century this stereotype is evident.
Hurley (2005, p. 224) states “The princesses (and princes) are overwhelmingly
White, several with either blond hair or blue eyes when the hair is not
blonde.” The use of colour black and the connection of it representing evil is
further evident in Snow White. Hurley comments the wicked queen is dressed in
black, lives in a black castle and is surrounded by a black forest while snow
white is surrounded by white birds, is laid to rest on white flowers, and is
rescued on a white horse by a white prince to live in a white castle. (Hurley,
2005, p. 225). We also see that Disney not only portray the colour black in an
evil way but its view of Arabians is usually negative; we see this with the way
they are portrayed in Aladdin. It is evident that Disney films portray race and
in particular the colour black in a negative light which can attribute to changing
ones view of a different culture.
Gender roles are also obscured as Disney portray women to be
powerless domestic goddesses that can only get ahead in life with the help of a
man. Again not all films. This is evident in Snow White, Cinderella, The Little
Mermaid and Rapunzel to name a few. Please watch the YouTube clip attached, it
is really good when tackling this issue.
To reintegrate Disney films in my opinion are a form of art that influence the way we view a culture, this is through western ideology, race and gender stereotypes. Not all Disney films are to be viewed with criticism but it is good to be weary of the ideologies and stereotypes that Disney sometimes portray in their films about other cultures.
Reference List:
Journal Sources
-Hurley, DL 2005,
‘Seeing White: Children of color and the Disney Fairy Tale Princess’, The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 74,
no. 3 pp. 224, 225.
-Muller-Hartmann,
A 2007, ‘Is Disney Safe for Kids? – Subtexts in Walt Disney’s Animated Films’, Amerikastudien/American Studies, vol.
52, no. 3, p. 400.
YouTube
Source
-Disney Princesses – a gender analysis, YouTube
clip, Simon Fraser University, 3 December 2011, retrieved 4 August 2013, < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQG5pupDQaA>.
Hi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteThe globalization is imminent with Disney Films taking on a “western ideology” of what is right or wrong or more preferable. With these Disney Films, mass-produced globally right from Europe to Asia, the Disney content is highly provocative for young children whom are still in essence, “learning”. Like you mentioned, Disney films are platform for moral education in culture, gender societal roles, beauty, superiority; feminism in particular (gender stereotypes). I can relate to the fascination and glamorization of Disney Films that favor the “Western Society”. For instance I work at ACMI, that had the Disney exhibition on display, the exhibition was adorned with “beautiful stereotypes of females”, however there was the “Frog and the Princess” on display that challenged all race stereotypes by having a “dark coloured” (Cinderalla type) main character which was a movement for “feminist” followers, showing beauty and more equality in all races, is now challenging stereotypes.
Hi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteDisney is a great example on how a multi-billion company has the power to influence our look on various cultures all over the world through stereotypes. It is an interesting subject to discuss, given as kids over all the world watches Disney and on a cognitive level gets a view of different cultures they may not even be aware of. As you give a lot of examples on the stereotypes reflected in Disney-movies, some more visuals, such as images, would have been a great way to improve the blog and may it more interesting for the reader.
Andrew, as soon as I saw the title ‘Disney’, I knew that I had to begin reading your blog post! This well-written article successfully intertwines Western ideology with the famous Disney movies that everyone has grown up with. This makes the article very relatable and involves the reader immediately. I enjoyed your discussion about earlier gender and racial stereotypes in relation to current examples, especially the roles which women have in films. I also felt that the YouTube video that you uploaded was informative and helped me to make sense of the concepts which you spoke about. I love how you view these films as a way of viewing culture and western ideologies, however, I would have liked to see some other facts as well.
ReplyDelete