Controversies and Feminism

In S.A.C. I've been learning a lot about Disney controversies. All I can say is that most of the complaints are made by people who just want to complain. I've been hearing about lots of complaints over the smallest things that seem to be a figment of the imagination, like Dopey 'giving-the-finger' as if! Is it really racially inconsiderate to have an African-American heroine in a movie "The Frog Princess"? Not really, its just the title of the actual book "The Frog Princess". As a result they had to change the title to "The Princess and the Frog" but I prefer the original title to be honest.

I feel sorry for people who make these kinds of outrageous claims against Disney being racist and sexually subliminal. In "The Lion King" some people think it was being suggested that Simba and Nala were having a sexual encounter with each other, as the song goes "The lion sleeps tonight".

Aparently in "Dumbo" its portrayal of the crows was a racist depiction of stereotyping black people especially since one of them was named "Jim". I think thats just all a big misunderstanding since the crows are just crows not people. Besides, the crows had a certain style to them that I thought was cool. They made the line "I've seen house fly" famous.

By now I am so over feminists. I had to read an article "Disney's Dolls" and I thought it was a very boring read. The writer was too generalised about a few things. "But... Underneath... they're still happy homemakers" was a a very close-minded statement. Take Snow White for example, the very first Disney feature film and princess, she takes it upon herself to clean the Seven Dwarfs' house because she think that it belong to children without a mother. However, what is so wrong about cleaning? My mum does it all the time and she has a full-time job and once even worked on Christmas Eve! Anyway, when Snow White meets the Seven Dwarfs she asks to stay and makes them supper. However, though she is on their turf she upholds authority in their presence, and she's a woman and their seven men regardless of their size, and even changes Grumpy for the better.

Cinderella is also a young lady forced in becoming a servant. But she still held her ground against her step-mother when she tells her "Every maiden in the kingdom is to attend". When all she is going to get is a temporary moment of glamour and dance at the ball and only to mid-night, Cinderella sets a good example of gratitude despite the limits. She also boldly insists to have her turn on trying on the slipper.

Belle was criticized in "Disney Dolls" because the only thing feminist about her was that she reads. Well to be fair that actually displays her intellect and we have to be realistic, the kind of town she lives in is set a couple of centuries ago when someone like Belle would have stood out for reading books but she doesn't care. Even the man she ends up falling in love with encourages her reading his extravagant library.

Another argument in the absurd article was that all the Disney Princesses are looking for a man. That is not true. They have their dreams and ideas that they want to follow and along the way they so happen to bump into their true love. There's nothing wrong with love, it's suppose to be a good thing. Snow White at first ran away from her Prince. Cinderella didn't go up to Charming he came to her. Jasmine hated the idea of getting married and only wanted a friend and coincidentally married her first and best friend who was a street orphan out of all the "stuffed shirt, swaggering peacocks" she met, and even with Aladdin she would express her outrage. Belle didn't throw herself at Gaston like other girls and she definitely didn't love Beast at first site.

Are the princesses damsels in distress? No, its normal for everyone even men to be stuck in tricky situations. Jasmine stood defiant against Jafar even before she realized Aladdin had come to save the day (which was his movie anyway, so he had a right anyway). Mulan saw her cause all the way through despite being discovered as a woman when she was the only one that realized the enemy hadn't died. Belle chose to stay with the Beast to save her father. Pocahontas was a strong woman who believed in negotiation and in fact it was John Smith who was in distress and was saved by her.

Aside from the article now, Disney Productions have been accused of setting bad examples because they make out that girls are supposed to be skinny. The Disney Princesses are teenagers after all going through body change, but I always thought that Snow White had healthy plump cheeks. Mulan was made to feel self conscious of being "too skinny" by the cynical match-maker. The rest of the Disney girls that don't fit in the princess category aren't all skinny either. Lilo from Lilo and Stitch had a natural child's chubbiness and is Disney's most chubby character. Tinkerbell also has slightly plump thighs that she briefly was self-conscious about but went on through the movie without anymore concerns. But the Disney girls aren't anorexic or anything, they are all heathy body times and none of them ever say out loud that they are beautiful.

Personally I think that when girls are little that it is OK for them to look up to fun-loving characters and to think that they can also be princesses in their hearts. Why not? Eventually they'll grow out of that stage but as result they'll start to develop their own independence as they get older. If you go Disneyland and meet Cinderella she tells your daughter "You look just like me when I was your age".