Have You Ever Thought About It?

              Growing up everyone loves watching Disney movies whether its The Lion King or Aladdin we all just fell right in love. What we did not know growing up however is that each of these movies we watched seemed to effect us in ways you could never imagine. That is why i decided to create a blog all about the underlying issues of sexism and racism in Disney animated films. In my blogs you will see me point out and talk about some of the examples i found while watching these movies. It is interested to see how interconnected this two issues truly are , and how one can definitely effect the other. In the end all of these films are sending to messages to children whether we like it or not so it is important to think about future films.All of my blogs are in reverse chronological order with the newest movie coming out in 2014 and the oldest introduced in 1953. Think about all the negative messages we are sending about race and sex in the world, and how after 61 years it is continuing to happen. So take a few minutes to read my blogs and ask yourself the question "Have you ever thought about it?"

Frozen

The final movie in my blog series will be the newest Disney movie to date, which also happens to my personal favorite Frozen. Right from the beginning I fell in love with its upbeat musical tunes, magic, and of course Snowman Olaf. Overall this movie seems to have a pretty positive not finally showing the two female characters overcoming their hardship, and succeeding. However like every other film they cannot do this all alone.

                When looking at race in this movie we can see that all of the main characters are white just like in the typical Disney film. Not only that but its dealing with the typical white girl being brave and facing a challenge no one else has ever encountered. It is interesting to see that this movie like other Disney movies was based on Norway. Why do writers continually use the same setting even when they have so many different options? This film reminds me a lot about Ella Enchanted and how she had to live with the curse of obedience; however Ella was not born with the curse like the main charter in frozen, but was rather given it at birth. 

When you look at the film overall you do not see very many people of color unless it is in the scene with the ball which is against what is actually seen in the real world. Why did writers choose to make Hans white even though he was from a different country then the main characters? They could have taken this opportunity to incorporate different races and make the movie more diverse. 

Princess and the Frog

The first African American princess finally it seems like Disney is taking steps in the right direction, but are they really. Honestly before writing this project I had never seen this movie, because it didn’t appeal to me. In my defense I haven’t seen Brave or any other newer Disney movies. I am glad however that I did watch this film, and was surprised to see that it had racist aspects. In this film southern African Americans are portrayed as the typical poor families that cook southern food such as gumbo. When paying attention to the main male character they did not even make him a truly black man. 

Why is Disney afraid to have a black male in a situation of power, and why is he so power hungry right from the beginning. Another interesting thing about race in this film is to see that the main characters are only in their colored human form for a minimal percent on the entire movie, but spend most of the time as frogs.

In this film sexism doesn’t play such a major role as it does in the past Disney films which is nice to see from a viewer’s point of view. However is you look close enough you can see the underlying message of women not being able to be royal and successful on their own. It is only once she falls in love with a male that she becomes a true princess. So why are Disney films continuing to teach are children they women cannot survive on their own?

 I believe it is because that is what they feel is normal, and what has happened in the past. When thinking about the real world you can see that there are no real famous female leaders except the Queen of England whose title is basically for show. So when will women get the opportunity to stand on their own two feet and accomplish things on their own? 

Mulan

Mulan, the fearless warrior who saves her village, and sacrifices herself for the better good of her family especially her father. When you think about the story in general we finally think children will be given a strong female role model, but as in other cases we again wrong. To begin with Mulan, another multiracial female, is known for breaking the law and disobeying her family by joining the army even though she was trying to do good for everyone. 

Then we see throughout the film she is being advised by a tiny male dragon, and that she is eventually saved the man she falls in love with by being spared when it is found out that she is a women. We can also see the intense pressure from the beginning that Mulan receives to get married just like every other Disney film talked about. Not one female can truly be strong all by themselves throughout a Disney movie, and this can negatively impact children.

                Racism is also very evident in this film when you look at how stereotypical the characters are drawn especially Chi Fu. 

This character is drawn like a caricature with emphasized facial features and he also has an extremely heavy accent. Another reason this movie can be considered to be racist because everything in the film is stereotypical Asian rather than the traditional cultural aspects. Also if you look at a lot of the evil huns warriors you can see a trend of handlebar mustaches with their leader having yellow eyes, vampire teeth, and massive claws.

Pocahontas

When you think of Pocahontas you think of a beautiful young lady who ultimately defies her father to be with the man she loves even though he is from a different culture. So the fact of this whole movie being based on a biracial it can’t be racist can it? Wrong this movie is just as racist as all the rest of movies I’ve talked about.  We can see the straight up racism when the Europeans invade the Native American land and sing the song savages. In this song Europeans sing “Their whole disgusting race is like a curse .Their skin’s a hellish red .They're only good when dead”. They are straight out saying that the Native Americans are worthless and are nothing but bad. However the Native Americans do fight back saying that “the paleface is demon” so unlike other films both races are taking a hit. Like in Peter Pan the Native Americans are seen as the typical red skinned, painted face, with feather head pieces with fits with the typical racist stereotype.  

                Similar to Aladdin, Pocahontas has attitudes of sexism and racism present within the major female character. In all of the Disney movies talked about it is interesting to pay attention to the females wardrobe, if you look carefully the white women are more likely to be fully dressed with very little skin showing. On the other hand the multiracial females have skimpy outfits exposing their legs and even breasts to some extent.

 This is making multiracial women look more like a piece of meat then a strong independent women fighting for what they want or trying to make a change. These multiracial females are also usually the ones shown to defy their father’s wishes like when Jasmine wants to marry Prince Ali, and in Pocahontas were she wants to marry John Smith. This is teaching younger children that people of different races don’t fall rules or respect their families. 

The final major form of sexism involves the repetition that Pocahontas is not capable of picking her own mate, because she is not capable and destined to marry who she is told. This is making it seem like women can not make their own important life choices without being told to. 

Aladdin

It’s Disney’s version of the classic love story of a poor boy who falls in love with the beautiful princess, and they want to marry but her father will not allow it.

 However right from the opening scene we can the evidence of apparent racism of the stereotypical Arabic village. We see the typical dessert scene, with a merchant riding a camel through this town that appears to be a wasteland. This scene also had to be changed because a number of protesters did not appreciate the line “Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face” because it makes it seem like those of Arabic decedent are extremists that will stop at no costs to make their country how they want it. We can also see the stereotypical Arabic man being portrayed as an overbearing man with distinct facial hair and other features. 

In this movie in particular sexism and racism are closely related and we can see this through the main female of Jasmine. Disney completely throws out traditional clothing and dresses Jasmine in a number of skimpy sexual outfits that objectify women which is extremely sexist. They also use her character to try to say that their government is extremely forceful, and that women could not run the country alone which causes her father to find her a mate at any means necessary. 

This shows how women are undervalued and put below men in other countries teaching young women they are not good enough to do things alone. To find her mate we see men fight over this beautiful women like she is a prize to be one, until she is captured by Jafar. While captured Jasmine tries to escape using her looks which is basically saying women only have their looks going for them, and can’t fight like men. She is eventually saved by Aladdin because she can’t escape by herself which fits in the typical damsel in distress stereotype of women, and how they cannot take care of themselves.

Beauty and the Beast

Such a wonderful love story, two people fall in love with looks not being the key factor. It may be possible that Disney set up Beast to represent an African American man, thus assuming that African American males were angry and abusive. However in the end of the movie the beast turns into a white man. This could have been to protect themselves from having a biracial couple and the underlying issues shown. 

Racist issues against the minority aren’t has relevant as the issue of the typical innocent white girl. All her outfits fully cover her entire body, and she never has a hair out of place. She always has a book in hand excited to learn and read more.

Before this movie became popular Disney representatives publicized Belle as a true feminist, the complete opposite of Ariel from the little mermaid. Compared to Ariel Belle is a lot more feminist because she is fully clothed, and does not change herself for true love. 

However Belle is responsible for forcing the Beast to change from an angry cruel beast to a loving man. This is basically saying that a women tries hard enough she can change an abusive man into a caring one. If real women were to follow this message and try to change their abusive partner they would most likely end up in the hospital. 

The Little Mermaid

This movie is known for upbeat catchy tunes, colorful fishes, and magic but there is more to this movie then meets the eye. Ariel is the most anti-feminist character in all the Disney movies created to this day.  You may be asking why I say this. It is simple she makes a drastic changes to make her physical appearance to be more appealing to a man. Not only does she change herself but she gives up her voice, and everything she has to say. With all these changes she is completely changing the person she used to be, and losing herself. 

Ariel does everything she possibly can to get the man of her dreams, and he almost marries someone else. This shows that you can do everything in the world to make someone and you still might be good enough.  With the idea of her giving up her voice, she is giving up her right to her opinions, which makes her the submissive one in all her relationships. Women are often seen as the less dominant sex forced to listen and follow what their counterparts tell them to do.Not only do we see women looked down on and taught to change for men, we also see a number of underlying racist choices. The famous tune under the sea is one of the most well-known songs in the entire film, but if you listen closely you here a different message. 

The main singer is Sebastian the crab, who seems to portray the voice and characteristics of a Jamaican man. All of the fish in this scene are thought to be those of African American decent, some even resembling famous artists. 

The problem with this is that they are all singing a song about how Ariel should stay and be lazy with them, because up on shore they work all day. This is connecting to the common stereotype that African Americans are lazy and do not want to work and take the easy way out. 

Peter Pan

We all know Peter Pan as the story of the boy who never wanted to grow up, but when you watch the movie and pay attention closely you see much more. Overall this movie is very entertaining but at what costs, what messages are our children taking from this animated film? We can see very early in this film the sexist portrayal of women in the caregiving situation. This idea continues throughout the movie when Peter takes the children to Neverland, and asks Wendy to be there mother who will be in charge of doing laundry, spring cleaning, and telling stories. Wendy is then left to do all these things while the male children go explore the forest and play. This view is teaching children that women are the ones supposed to take care of the children and watch them which should be there man purpose in life. It also shows that females can’t be as adventurous or do the dangerous things their male counterparts do.

Not only are women portrayed as the caregivers, but also the spiteful jealous type. In the film the mermaids are mean to Wendy, and Tinkerbell even tries to kill her because they are jealous of the attention she is receiving from Peter. These situations encourage young females to act out against those they are jealous of rather than trying to find a less damaging way of solving their problem.We can also see the sexist view of writers in the character of Tiger Lily who plays the damsel-in-distress who has no lines at all. She relates to the ideal that women cannot take care of themselves and always need saving by a male.

            The Stereotypes don’t stop there within the character of Tiger Lily we see not one, but two major stereotypes. Not only is she a weak woman, but she is also Native American, who is often referred to as the “savages” by the lost boys. In the film the Native Americans are all red faced, wearing some sort of feather headdress at all times, which is the biggest stereotype of a Native American stereotype. These “savages” also play the drums, live in tepees, and smoke out of a pipe.