A new view of Disney movies!

My boyfriend and I were actually talking about this very topic the other day. We were discussing our favorite Disney movies, Snow White being mine and Aladdin being his. Looking back, we both realized that violence and uneqaul portrayal of characters based on sex, class, etc, were all present in our favorite Disney movies. It was interesting to read Christensen's article because she brought the discussion to a deeper level. She writes about the "secret education" that is present in many children's books, movies and television shows. In the introduction she writes,"...that world depicts the domination of one sex, one race, one class, or one country over a weaker counterpart" (pg. 126). Just by looking at my favorite Disney movie, I can see the truth in this sentence. From what I can remember, every character in Snow White was in fact white. All of the female characters were either portrayed as wicked, such as her evil step-mother, or waiting around for price charming to "rescue" her, such as the main character, Snow White.

It would be nice to stay "happy and ignorant" such as one of Christensen's students suggests in the article, but I think it is important to recognize that these message that have made their way into mainstream children's culture. Children are like sponges when they are young, absorbing every little piece of information that is presented to them, these messages about race, sex and class also being absorbed, even if their parents do no realize it.

Today, I think that improvements have been made in children's television shows. There are shows such as "Dora the Explorer" which has a strong, independent and adventurous little girl as the main character. To address the issue of broadening exposure of children to different ethnic groups, Dora also exposes pre-schoolers to the Spanish language and customs. Even though some shows on TV have improved, there are others that could use some work still. The little girl I babysit for is completely obsessed with Hannah Montana. Even at just five years old, she already believes that being popular, blonde and a rockstar is the way to be. She likes to crank up the volume on her Disney Princess CD player and shake her hips as she dances around, just like Hannah, Miley or whatever her name is. I notice the themes that are being presented in the show, even though Hannah is a strong young woman, doing what she loves with her life, there are other aspects of the show that could be better.


I'm hitting a writer's block with this topic now, the concept is a lot to process... I think I'll finish my thoughts later.... :)