Hannah Hecht's Blog

As a little kid, I was a Disney fanatic. I would sit in my basement and watch Cinderella, Dumbo, or The Lion King straight through, and then when it finished, I’d rewind and watch the same movie again. It’s kind of funny for me to watch one of the old movies now, because I find myself thinking all of the dialogue before it comes up and singing every song word for word, even though I haven’t seen some of the movies in ten years. Just as I was unconsciously memorizing the dialogue and scenes, I was also unconsciously taking in all of the commentary on society that the movies contained, whether it was intended or not.

Right now, I’m taking an Intro to Literary Analysis class and it’s really interesting. One of the main things that we’ve learned is that although an author may not intend to send across a point, and though audience may not always perceive it, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Every piece of text, film, clothing, advertising, etc. is a product of the time period and culture that it was created in, and therefore, represents the feelings and thoughts of people at that point in time.

Similarly, the racist and sexist references in Disney movies may have been put there on purpose or on accident, but either way they are there and little kids, whether they know it or not, are picking up on it. I mean, how many little girls out there want to marry a prince and become a princess? How many kids believe that if you wish something on a star, it will really come true, without any work on their part? How many little boys are watching the Disney heroes and learning that physical strength is the most important asset to have?

One of the things that surprised me the most was that a lot of the politically incorrect references and horrible lessons to teach kids were in the Disney movies of our own generation. While, “What makes the Red Man Red?” probably wouldn’t fly in a new movie in today’s society, a lot of the more subtle problems were found in the more recent Disney classics, such as Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. This makes me wonder if similar themes are present in movies that are being created at this very moment. Has society really changed all that much?

I’ve read recently about how Disney-Pixar’s summer 2012 movie Brave is supposed to have a “new” type of heroine. I wonder if it really will, or if the movie will go back to Disney’s same old song and dance.

Brave Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEHWDA_6e3M