Nobody in the world can think that a company like Disney has hidden and sublime messages in their movies. The company owns TV shows, magazines, radio stations and theme parks. With practically total control over the media, over the years they have been able to shape up children’s imagination and way of thinking in several aspects with the use of images, stereotypes, races and classes. In other words, they give children a model on how react towards certain situations and people. They also taught children the “correct” way to look, act and talk depending on their gender. Through movies they portray females as the weak, helpless creature with the ideal body, flawless skin, silky smooth hair and perfect smile, who always needs saving. No matter how strong they might seem to be, sooner or later a male figure will appear and dominate the scene, giving kids the idea that females always need men to succeed in any situation. For example, in the movie Mulan when she comes back of the war the first thing that her grandma says is "she brought back a sword instead of a man". Not only do they present women as weak dependents of men, they also emphasize in the importance of appearance and sensuality. An example of this is the usual tiny little waist, long legs, perfectly proportioned breast and flattered eye lashes. Girls will become very self-conscious of their physical appearance and how to use it appropriately. Almost every princess in each movie uses her body language (sexuality) to obtain what she wants. For example, when Jasmine literally becomes a whore and seduces Jaffar to capture his attention, she is telling girls “hey it’s okay to use your body to get what you want”. These actions will directly stimulate sexual behavior in early childhood.
Another hidden and very serious message is the female tolerance in abusive relationships. This kind of behavior is shown in Beauty and The Beast, where Belle tolerates screaming and violence constantly. She keeps coming back for him even though he yells at her. As Beauty, young girls might be convinced that it’s their responsibility to overlook the violence and bring out the prince out of an abusive relationship. They teach the girls it's okay to wait for the perfect prince charming, after all there is one out there for all of us. Newsflah, that's bull!! Another message Disney movies express in a very subtle way is stereotypes. Latino characters are always the “desperate for women” Chihuahuas or the ones that do the bad things. Furthermore, black characters are usually represented in very clownish and musical characters like monkeys. This multi-millionaire company is all about making money; they don’t really care if a culture gets offended by their movies or insinuations. In the Aladdin movie the theme song shows racism towards the Arabian American. The author consciously chose it over another song that didn’t express racism. The bottom line is that Disney has created a statement for almost every culture, gender and race, and not a pleasant one.
I’ve always thought of Disney as a very powerful corporation that has control over many things, especially money. However, I never EVER internalized the depth of the situation. It never occurred to me the effect something so “innocent and magical” could have on our minds. When I saw the part of Jasmine seducing Jaffar I was stunned! I could remember myself thinking, as a young girl, “I want to be like her, but juck not with Jaffar”. How was that possible? Well, as a young girl I was constructing my own meaning of beautiful, in this case, as a seductive and powerful woman. Disney definitely isn’t innocence paradise anymore for me. Now I see it more like an adult industry. A very racist and deceiving industry that enjoys deceiving other’s minds. However, this doesn’t mean I will stop going to Disney or won’t see any more of their movies. It just means I’ll maybe see them with another perspective in mind, and I’ll obviously be more aware of the hidden messages. It’s kind of an ignorant attitude, knowing all the hypocrisy and darkness behind it, but like a said in class, I grew up with that and just hearing the “ta na na na naaaa” makes me want to cry of joy. What I can assure is that when I have my kids, I’ll be very aware of what Disney movies I expose them to.
Another hidden and very serious message is the female tolerance in abusive relationships. This kind of behavior is shown in Beauty and The Beast, where Belle tolerates screaming and violence constantly. She keeps coming back for him even though he yells at her. As Beauty, young girls might be convinced that it’s their responsibility to overlook the violence and bring out the prince out of an abusive relationship. They teach the girls it's okay to wait for the perfect prince charming, after all there is one out there for all of us. Newsflah, that's bull!! Another message Disney movies express in a very subtle way is stereotypes. Latino characters are always the “desperate for women” Chihuahuas or the ones that do the bad things. Furthermore, black characters are usually represented in very clownish and musical characters like monkeys. This multi-millionaire company is all about making money; they don’t really care if a culture gets offended by their movies or insinuations. In the Aladdin movie the theme song shows racism towards the Arabian American. The author consciously chose it over another song that didn’t express racism. The bottom line is that Disney has created a statement for almost every culture, gender and race, and not a pleasant one.
I’ve always thought of Disney as a very powerful corporation that has control over many things, especially money. However, I never EVER internalized the depth of the situation. It never occurred to me the effect something so “innocent and magical” could have on our minds. When I saw the part of Jasmine seducing Jaffar I was stunned! I could remember myself thinking, as a young girl, “I want to be like her, but juck not with Jaffar”. How was that possible? Well, as a young girl I was constructing my own meaning of beautiful, in this case, as a seductive and powerful woman. Disney definitely isn’t innocence paradise anymore for me. Now I see it more like an adult industry. A very racist and deceiving industry that enjoys deceiving other’s minds. However, this doesn’t mean I will stop going to Disney or won’t see any more of their movies. It just means I’ll maybe see them with another perspective in mind, and I’ll obviously be more aware of the hidden messages. It’s kind of an ignorant attitude, knowing all the hypocrisy and darkness behind it, but like a said in class, I grew up with that and just hearing the “ta na na na naaaa” makes me want to cry of joy. What I can assure is that when I have my kids, I’ll be very aware of what Disney movies I expose them to.
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