It's Time To Switch Things Up

I love Disney movies just as much as any child does, if not more.  However, I am not blind to the fact that these movies do have negative aspects and are not nearly as perfect as they seem to be.  The article we read titled, Esacpe From Wonderland: Disney and the Female Imagination, was written by Deborah Ross where she critically analyzed classic Disney movies to find each questionable little detail within them.
     Some of Ross's "evidence" seemed forced and almost as unrealistic as the things she was accusing Disney of.  However, I will commend Ross on defending her argument as well as the amount of research she put into this article.  She provided the evidence then explained why she believed it was wrong of Disney and scrutinized every little detail.  I do agree with her in some areas of her argument, most especially in the area that Disney's messages contradict themselves.  Ross did not use one specific example when discussing these "contradictory messages," but I can see these mixed signals in most Disney movies.  The biggest contradiction is for girls to be unique and brave, but in the end they submit to the male influences in their lives (most often in the form of marriage).  This includes my favorite movie of all time, Mulan.  Mulan disguises herself as a man in order to join the Chinese military to save her father and bring honor to her family, which not only breaks the stereotype but also is highly against the law and is punishable by death.  She defies everything expected of a woman during this time period, but once you analyze this movie with a critical lens, things begin to change.  In Mulan, the message can be seen that being male is ideal and that women have very little worth compared to men.  The only time Mulan is listened to is after she dresses as a man, and once she reveals herself as a woman people once again ignore her.  In order to prove that she is equal to a man, she literally has to single handily save all of China.  Mulan is problematic because it encourages the idea that being male is ideal.  That does not stop be from loving this movie, but it just disappoints me that things are not as perfect as Disney makes them out to be.

     This article makes both valid and useless points.  I did not particularly enjoy reading this, but it did make me think about movies more critically.  However, there was one line of writing that really stood out to me and seems to me as Ross's only truly profound point.  When analyzing Alice in Wonderland, she says that, "Writing a story, [Alice] has decided, is much safer than living one."  This not only applies to Alice in Wonderland, but almost all other Disney movies where girls are encouraged to be unique, but are restrained to stay at home.  In each movie the princess starts off with large goals and dreams, which she soon forgets once the male hero comes into the picture.  Ross proves this when picking apart The Little Mermaid, especially in the song "Part of Your World."  In "Part of Your World," Ariel reveals her goals and desires, none of which include a man.  However, once she sees Eric, she forgets all about the original reasons she wished to be human.  I believe that this one line of writing was more effective than the rest of Ross's article combined.

     Ross forced me to acknowledge the problems with Disney, but that does not mean that I completely hate Disney and will boycott their movies for the rest of my life.  The targeted audience for these movies (young children) would not be anazylzing each little line of diaouglouge as Ross has.  The problems pointed out would not brainwash children since these problems are subtle and they would not see them unless they were looking for them.  That does not mean that Disney does not need improvement and more representation.  So far, Disney movies have been overwhelmed with the culture of power and the stereotypical "hero" often fits the esription of SCWAMP perfectly.  Disney needs to switch things up in order to make them more realistic.  They are somewhat stuck in the past beliefs of the world and need to get with the times.  Soon, I hope to see more LGBTQ representation, more people of color (heros, princesses, princes, and villains alike played by POC), more people with different forms of mental illness, more feminism, people with handicaps, those with different religious and cultural beliefs (accuratly depicted), and basically more representation every person that does not fit the societal "norm."  Disney has many things that they can improve upon, but that does not take away from the happiness that their movies provide people.  I have grown up with these movies and while I do awkaowledeg there faults, they are not completely bad.
     In response to Deborah Ross's article, I do agree with her in the fact that Disney does need to change and get with the times.  However, I do not agree with her irrational argument.  She over analyzed and looked way too deeply into things so much so that some aspects of her arguemnt seems so forced that they lost meaning.  I did not enjoy this article but it does bring to light some real problems with such a beloved company.