The Other Side of the Disney Argument

I lived through the Golden Age of Disney. I was an active participant in Disney putting out some of its greatest films. I watched Disney films like they were going out of style and they are a big part of my life. They were a constant companion to my childhood and hold a special place in my heart. Even now, when I have a bad day, Disney movies will always cheer me up. So naturally, when something has been as good to you as Disney has been to me and someone starts attacking it, you attack back.

I was recently shown a documentry called "Mickey Mouse Monopoly", during which, some very well educated people demonized Disney for about an hour and 20 minutes. They attacked something that couldn't defend itself and presented several one sided arguments. I am here to fight back for something I love. While I admit that the cynic I have become argues that Disney films create some pretty unrealistic expectations in real life, at the end of the day, real life is what is REAL and Disney films will always be a FAIRYTALE.

Beauty & the Beast
Criticism: This film is about womanizers and a girl who stays in an abusive relationship with the belief that she can change him. Then she makes excuses for his earlier behavior to justify her choice to stay with him. We should also not consider Belle an independent woman simply because she reads.
Response: Wow-that's a pretty lofty allegation. How naive of me to always think this movie was about a girl who gets trapped in an enchanted castle and learns to not always "judge a book by it's cover" (a rather clever theme in a movie about a girl who loves to read if you ask me!). The level of hyperbole in the womanizer Gaston is part of the comedic charm of that movie as well as the development of his character. The presence of those 3 blonde bimbos who always hang around him makes you realize that he could have any girl in town, a fact that he is obviously aware of, but he has set his sights on the smartest girl in town (who also happens to be the prettiest). The other womanizer who was sighted by this film was the candlestick, Lumiere. Honestly, was anyone out there ever offended by Lumiere??? He was always my favorite of the enchanted objects because he was funny and not as uptight as Cogsworth!!!
Now, onto the meat of your argument-your problems with our heroine. The Beast is both physically and emotionally abusive...well, his character name is "The Beast" for a reason. Disney movies utilize hyperbole in every extent. In Gaston you have an overexaggerated womanizing, meathead. In Lumiere, an overexaggerated flirt. In Cogsworth, a man who is wound too tightly (hence him being a clock-get it?). In the Beast, you have just that-A Beast. He is meant to be horrible-you are supposed to not like him, because it shows little girls that sometimes you love the last person you'd expect. And I feel it an important point that he never lays a hand on her. He may toss her father into the carriage, but, again, I cite hyperbole.
As to your argument about her not being an independent female because she reads, it is not this quality that qualifies her as an independent female. You've failed to notice that she lives her life in want of more than anyone expects from her. She wants "much more than this provential life" and "so much more than they've got planned." What better message for girls than to reach for the stars? Not to mention, she stands her ground against both Gaston and the Beast on more than one occasion.

Aladdin
Criticism: The opening song originally contained the lyrics "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face/it's barbaric, but hey! it's home!". Deemed offensive by several members of the Arab world, the first part of the lyric was changed, but the second was not, still refering to Arabics as barbarians. Also, Jasmine uses her body to distract Jafar, making it seem like a woman's body is her only asset.
Response: Did you listen to what the lyric was changed to? "Where it's black and immense and the heat is intense/it's barbaric, but hey! it's home!". When I hear this line, I don't consider the Arabic world barbaric. I do consider that weather barbaric, but hey! I have problems with extreme heat...
As for your argument about Jasmine using her "femine wiles" to distract Jafar, she is using what was going to work. Let's face it: Jafar was a sleaze. She wasn't exactly going to distract him by discussing business, now was she? Also, Disney is not the only culprit of exploitation of the female body. At least Jasmine isn't real.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Criticism: This woman exists for the soul purpose of cooking and cleaning for the 7 men she lives with. Between that and going into a coma, that is the only purpose she serves in the movie.
Response: Hi, yeah, okay-this movie was made in 1937. The women of this country had yet to be liberated. Women of this era were brought up to cook and clean for the men in their life. It was a societal norm, just like smoking was in the 1960s so it was okay to have a chain-smoking villian like Cruella deVille. To suggest we stop showing this film because this is no longer the mindset little girls should grow up having is to deny our own history. Whether you like it or not, this is how our world once functioned. Only by remembering our history can we ever be sure we don't repeat it.

Mulan
Criticism: Mulan wins the war, almost single-handedly, but when she returns home it is like none of that mattered because she still didn't have a man.
Response: I invite you to read my above response. The time period this movie was set in would mean just that. It's fine and dandy that Mulan saved her country, but without a man, she is nothing. Portraying the world as it was does not make it the wrong way to portray it. Though the majority of Mulan is historically inaccurate, I have one word: hyperbole!!!!!!! Exaggeration for the sake of entertainment is a staple in the entertainment industry and, again, not a sin that only Disney is guilty of. Did you not see Titanic?

Pocahantas
Criticism: Pocahantas and John Smith were never romatically linked because the age gap between them was much larger than in the movie. Also, boiling down the differences to both groups thinking the other "savages" is an oversimplication of history.
Response: Last time I checked, Arthur Miller changed the ages of Abigail and John in his play The Crucible and no one complained. This was also something that was used to educate the general public about a major event (the Salem Witch Trials, in case you haven't read it) and he wasn't exactly accurate. Where are those complaints? Also, I dare you to find me a single Disney Fairytale that doesn't have a love story in it, in some way, shape or form. It's there in every one-at least the popular ones.
As for your other argument, I ask you to remember that the target demographic for Disney animated films are like 5 to 10 year olds. Sometimes, boiling it down to simple racial prejudice due to a lack of understanding is the easiest explanation you can give a child, and that is all the explanation they need. In case you haven't noticed, it doesn't take much to get a child to go along with the story you're telling. The root of prejudice is fearing that which you don't understand. That's the problem I have with this movie. The lyrics to "Savages" make me angry because that is how some people still think. But by having the "bad guys" sing this, you show kids this ISN'T how they should think. Pocahantas is not a movie to give a history lesson, it's there to give a lesson against prejudice-a noble moral ambition in my book.

Your Basic D.I.D: Damsel in Distress
Another accusation of this film I want to touch on is the overuse of girls always needing rescuing. While I will admit, I think Disney plays the D.I.D card a bit heavily, the examples the movie used to illustrate their point was comical.
The first was the scene from Beauty and the Beast where Belle is being chased by wolves. First of all, she didn't exactly sit there and let them eat her. She tried her best to ou run them and fight them off, but her best wasn't good enough. Secondly, when was the last time you single-handedly fought off a pack of wolves?
The second was the scene where Esmerelda is almost burned at the stake in Hunchback of Notre Dame. I have a very serious question for you: HOW WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF THAT ONE ALONE???

There were other things about Disney criticized, but these were the ones I wanted to touch upon. Something I think we need to remember is that kids are a whole lot smarter than we give them credit for. They know the difference between real and make-believe before you think they do. The truth of the matter is, playing make-believe is more fun than playing real.

The film closed with the highly educated people who had been talking to over an hour wanting for Disney to own up to some of the atrocities they had perpetrated. You know what I want? I want to live in a place that will let me watch Disney movies and not feel wrong in doing so. Oh wait! I do...I live in America.