Frozen Heart

Phototcred:  www.hintmag.com Phototcred: http://www.hintmag.com[/caption%5D

I saved the most popular movie for last:  Frozen. Although I personally do not believe that the film was any better than Tangled, it does have a warm place in my heart as my third favorite Disney movie (right behind Tangled and Mulan). I know that many Disney fans, mainly younger ones, now consider Frozen their favorite Disney movie, so bear with me as I dive into analysis. And if you have a concern about reading this week, I suggest you “Let it Go.”

  1. Because we like Kristoff so much better than we like Hans, we do not question that Anna repeats her “Hans” mistake with Kristoff.

There is no debating that Hans was a soulless ginger (no offense to gingers of course) and Kristoff is a completely sweet guy, but the two men do have a similarity that many of us fail to recognize because of their vast differences:  Anna fell in love with both of them within a few days. Elsa was absolutely right when she said that you can’t marry a man you just met, especially in the case of Hans. But the implication is that Anna will become betrothed to Kristoff quickly as well. From what we know about Kristoff, this will be a perfect, safe match for Anna borne from true love by both involved parties, but by letting this union happen so quickly, Disney becomes hypocritical. They argue that marrying a man you just met is always bad, unless it’s Kristoff, sending a bad message to young girls who may run off and try to find their “Kristoff” without considering that they may be more likely to run into a “Hans.”

  1. We ignore the rock trolls’ conspiracy to eliminate Anna’s fiancée because it is hidden in a catchy musical number.

Nearly everyone who has seen Frozen remembers “Fixer-Upper,” the catchy, sweet tune sung by the rock trolls that inspires us to remember that although nobody’s perfect, love can inspire individuals to become better versions of themselves. The song has an extremely powerful, uplifting message…for the most part. However, many of us forget that as the trolls plan to wed Anna and Kristoff during the song, they sing, “get the fiancée out of the way and the whole thing will be fixed.” Although we typically shrug this off as another funny quirk of the rock trolls, they appear to be serious about wedding Anna and Kristoff, even ending the song with a legitimate attempt at a marriage ceremony before Anna passes out. This makes it even more probable that the trolls were serious about eliminating Hans from the picture. Although this may not necessarily have been a bad thing in the case of Hans, who was planning to violently take over Arendelle, the intentions were perhaps a little too maniacal for the creatures who were supposed to be seen as wise, quirky beings in the movie.

  1. We forgive Elsa for being unapologetic after striking Anna in the heart with her powers because we are too caught up in the moment to process what is happening.

At the end of the “For the First Time In Forever Reprise,” Elsa flashes back to her accident with Anna years ago and once again hurts Anna with her powers. Instead of rushing to Anna to make sure that she was ok as Elsa did the first time this tragedy happened, Elsa just stands dumbstruck, staring at Anna without making a move to assist her. We can of course give Elsa a little leeway by saying that she was horrified at herself for having hurt her sister a second time, but to do nothing other than send her back out into the cold with another stranger seems like an extreme. This almost makes Elsa seem “too evil” at this point, and makes viewers subconsciously distrust Elsa a little more once they finally recover from the fast-paced action to realize what they just witnessed Elsa do to her sister.

I hope that wasn’t too difficult to bear. I promise that I don’t have a “Frozen Heart!” Leave any comments below, and as always, have a magical day!

I See The Light

Photocred: www.couriermail.com Photocred: http://www.couriermail.com[/caption%5D

Tangled is my absolute favorite Disney movie of all time, so it was extremely crushing to write this blog. However, upon further review of the movie and its amazing qualities, I was able to find a few flaws that significantly impact the meaning of the movie (although, will have little to no affect of my love for it). So without further ado, I’ll help you shine some light on Tangled’s darker features.

  1. We ignore Disney’s subtle praise of a social hierarchy because of our fascination with their use of a classic story line.

The fact that Disney really doesn’t branch out much from the stereotypical fairytale format of narrating the background information for their movie makes us expect the presence of a king and queen. And since we know the tale of Rapunzel, the only novel concept in the movie’s exposition is that of the magic golden flower that has the power to heal all ills. It kept Mother Gothel alive for at least a good 200 years more than she should have lived, and would have continued to do so if her evil plan had not been ruined by her timely demise. Despite the immense, unlimited healing power of the magic flower, it was used to heal only one person, the queen of Corona. Fortunately, the flower’s power is saved through Rapunzel, however, it is restricted to those that Rapunzel would choose to heal or those that hand enough time and strength to visit her in her kingdom. But even this doesn’t last for very long, since Rapunzel’s golden hair is cut at the end of the movie and is no longer magical, making the magic gone forever. So instead of chopping up the flower, why didn’t the king and queen use it in a more conservative manner like Mother Gothel so its power could be saved? One answer is that they did not know the proper song to sing, but if an evil hag woman could figure it out, there is no doubt that an entire kingdom of people could have as well. However, instead of waiting to investigate how the flower could be better used, the kingdom decides to destroy it after using it for their rulers. There are bound to be other sick peasants in the kingdom, some who may have been in a worse condition than the queen, but they were just peasants, not the clearly “more important” queen of Corona. Although it was slightly necessary for the movie’s plot, the fact that Disney allows for the use of the flower on a “higher-up” without any further questioning implies to children that a definitive social hierarchy where only few at the top can have the luxuries of good health, high income, and power is ok and that there is nothing they can do to change it. When goods need to be rationed, only people at the top of the ladder can receive them, and people who need things equally as badly are out of luck because they have not yet excelled in the social system. This message could potentially discourage kids from succeeding because they know that unless they make it to the very top of the social hierarchy, the benefits of their work will be severely diminished.

  1. Rapunzel’s sweet attitude throughout the duration of the movie encourages the submission of women to harsh circumstances, but distracts us from this fact because of our fascination with her demeanor.

I do love Rapunzel’s perfect blend of sass and innocence, but after spending 18 years locked in a tower, you would expect more pent up anger towards Mother Gothel for keeping her trapped against her will. Instead of reprimanding Mother Gothel for keeping her out of a place full of wild adventure, Rapunzel cries about abandoning her and later hugs her when she creepily appears from the forest. Admittedly, by the end of the movie, Rapunzel does end up taking a stand against Mother Gothel, but the only reason why she refuses Mother Gothel at any point in the movie is because of her man, Flynn Rider (who is arguably the best part of Tangled). When Mother Gothel doubts Flynn’s inclination toward Rapunzel, Rapunzel refuses to go back to the tower with her, and when Mother Gothel hurts Flynn, Rapunzel admits that she won’t stop fighting Mother Gothel. This is a clear reference to the submission of women, first by Rapunzel’s acceptance of being trapped in solitude in a tower in the middle of nowhere for the first 17 years of her life, and then by her only finding strength stereotypically because of her love for Flynn. In this way, Disney shows young girls that they shouldn’t challenge the norms of society unless a man comes along, in which case they can only protest causes that relate to the well-being of their relationship with that man.

  1. We don’t see how truly evil Mother Gothel is because we’ve already stereotyped her as the typical Disney villain.

Mother Gothel is plainly downright evil! She kidnaps a baby, holds an innocent old man at knifepoint, gets violently angry at the only human being who feels any type of affection for her, and ensures that this same human being is hurt by almost murdering her love interest and trying to drag her further into isolation. The point here:  Mother Gothel just may be too scary for kids. No child wants to see their favorite human character of the movie (yes, I’m talking about Flynn Rider) unexpectedly stabbed by the villain. We expect this when a sword fight is taking place, but not when Flynn unsuspectingly climbs through a window to see his true love. The first time I saw Tangled, even a senior in high school who I was watching it with was so much in shock that Disney would allow their woman villain to directly harm a character had to confirm that Mother Gothel stabbed Eugene (“Did she just knife him?”), further depicting that Mother Gothel’s character may indeed be just a little too evil for kids to handle.

I hope you found these points relevant and enjoyable! Leave comments below if you see anything differently or have other comments to add. And as always, have a magical day!

Legends are Lessons

Photocred: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/disney-leading-ladies/images/30515488/title/more-brave-photo Photocred: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/disney-leading-ladies/images/30515488/title/more-brave-photo%5B/caption%5D

Merida, the star of Disney’s movie Brave, was recently inducted into Princess-hood at Disney Parks. There was much controversy surrounding her induction, since they changed the image of the untamed, independent young women into that of the skinny, frilly classic Disney princess. However, there are deeper issues at play within the actual plot of the movie, hidden by Disney’s apparent stride toward disproving female stereotypes.

  1. We don’t mind the dumbing down of the male suitors because we are focused on the theme of female empowerment.

I think that most of us got pretty excited when we realized that Disney had finally created a princess who doesn’t need a man to make her happy. Princess stereotypes weren’t going to work on this movie. However, Disney instead brought in male stereotypes in efforts to make their representation of women seem less clichéd. Let’s break down the suitors one by one. The first, of the Macintosh clan, is portrayed as a traditional worthy Disney prince but with a side of outright arrogance typically not made noticeable in other Disney princes (except for in the case of Flynn Rider, where his arrogance is more charming). The representative of the MacGuffin clan is overweight and awkward, although incredibly strong, and seems to have very little confidence. The Dingwall representative is at first masked by a massive, muscular prince, only to later step out from behind the huge man and reveal himself to be short, oddly shaped, and seemingly slow-witted. Merida is clearly not impressed by any of these princes. However, the fact that Merida judges and later insults each of these suitors shows that Disney almost reverse stereotypes the men in the movie. It would be more aligned with Disney’s feminist objective for the movie if Merida had only immediately rejected the arrogant suitor, as this would show that Merida refuses to believe that the prince is better than herself. However, her rejection of the more awkward princes isolates and insults people who are different in a way other than Merida; just because the other suitors are not females, Disney believes that they can be criticized for the sake of preserving the message of female empowerment in the movie. However, Merida’s unfair rejection of these princes shows a clear step backward in Disney’s efforts to achieve a message of equality in their films.

  1. We ignore the fact that Merida is still essentially a princess because of her outward defiance toward everything that a princess does.

Yes, of course we know Merida’s a princess. Why is that a bad thing? Well, we were all relieved when we found out that Merida wouldn’t be chasing after her perfect man throughout the film, so it wasn’t just another story about a princess finding love. However, the plot line of Brave still essentially revolved around men, just in the opposite way of typical Disney movies; instead of chasing men, Merida was running away from them. The argument that Merida is differentiating herself from the typical princess can continue forever, and personally I agree, but there is no disputing the fact that the plot of the movie is still based on the typical princess problem of marriage. The reason why the movie exists is still because of the idea of finding a man. Therefore, Merida is still on the most basic level a typical Disney princess worrying about her marriage prospects.

  1. We forget that Mor’du is another human being because of our original association with his person as a bear.

The implication in the movie was that Mor’du was terrible and cruel to his brothers and that his transformation into a bear was just punishment for his wickedness. However, Brave is all about seeing things from another person’s perspective. So although Mor’du was portrayed as a symbol of wickedness, Disney really should have afforded him a chance to be looked upon with more sympathy. And let’s not forget that although Mor’du had been transformed into a bear, there is still a very gray line that establishes him as a human being who has lost the ability to control his actions. Although we do pity the King for having lost some of his leg to Mor’du, it can be assumed that Mor’du did not do this out of a hatred for the king; he was just unable to control the nature of the bear in which he was trapped. Thus, it puts us in a moral dilemma; was it right for the King to have killed this human being, or was he doing the trapped soul a justice by setting him free?

I hope these points gave you something to think about. Even if you disagree, please let me know in the comments below. And as always, have a magical day!

Dig a Little Deeper! You’re Almost There!

disney-characters-face-reality-for-unhappily-ever-after-designboom-08 Photocred: http://www.designboom.com/art/childhood-disney-characters-face-unhappily-ever-after-05-05-2014/%5B/caption%5D

The Princess and the Frog is a classic fairy tale that Disney completely turned around into a 1920’s masterpiece. Anyone who watches the movie can’t help but become entranced by the New Orleans jazz and start singing “Almost There” with Tiana. However, behind the scenes, more sinister elements are at play. Fortunately, they’re not too tough to find if you just “Dig a Little Deeper.”

  1. We ignore the stereotyping of the blonde, man-chasing ditz because we find her character ridiculous and humorous.

Little Lottie clearly encompasses all of the outwardly princess-like qualities that little girls adore:  fancy castles, pretty, pink, puffy dresses, servants, and tiaras, just to name a few. However, despite the qualities that make little girls want to become Lottie, they should not view her as a role model. In reality, Lottie is an extremely shallow character. By the end of the movie, Lottie does try to help Tiana find true love, but she never helped Tiana before to fulfill her dream of owning a restaurant. Clearly, Lottie has money to spare. If she went a few days without wearing expensive dresses, she could definitely afford to give Tiana enough money to start the restaurant she’d been dreaming about for years. Even though Lottie and Tiana are best friends, and there is no animosity between them, Lottie is still clearly caught up with finding a man instead of supporting Tiana during her struggles to earn enough money to buy her restaurant. If little girls follow the example of Lottie in the movie, they will only learn to care for their friends on superficial levels and be convinced that in order to be as amazing as a princess, they need to focus on material possessions and marriage above all else.

  1. We cannot conceive that Disney portrays racist views in the movie because we only see that Tiana is the first black princess.

I think that most of us were pretty excited when we heard that Disney would be featuring an African-American princess in the Princess and the Frog. However, there has been recent controversy about whether or not Tiana’s race was a major step forward by Disney to embracing other cultures. The main sticking point for many people regarding Disney’s treatment of their first black princess was that Tiana was a frog for most of the movie anyway. Clearly, frogs do not have ethnic associations, so the fact that Tiana was African-American was not “as big of a deal” as it could have been if she were inserted into a movie where her human character had seen more screen time.  Also troublesome is the fact that African masks are used to aid Dr. Facilier (the villain) in performing voodoo on Prince Naveen. This scene is frightening even for me, so I can’t really bring myself to believe that most children wouldn’t be at least a little freaked out by the weird magic facilitated by the African masks. This implies (or at least, debaters of racism in the Princess and the Frog believe this implies) that African culture and tradition is “scary” and magical, which can potentially have a racist connotation.

As always, comments are appreciated. I hope you were inspired to rewatch the Princess and the Frog; I know I was! And as a special treat, since I mentioned it in the introduction above, I am including a link to Tiana’s “Almost There” for you to enjoy. Because if you’re anything like me, it’s been stuck in your head since I mentioned it. As always, have a magical day!

So This is Disney

Cindy gone rouge

Photocred:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2385475/Dina-Goldsteins-Fallen-Princesses-shows-Disneys-Snow-White-Cinderella-unhappily-after.html

Cinderella is one of the more standard Disney princess tales that has been adapted over the years numerous times; nothing says “classic” like a Cinderella story (which is coincidentally the name of one of the more modern interpretations of the Disney classic). However, even the oldest Disney films have questionable messages, and Cinderella is no exception. Sit back and relax as I show you what’s really going on behind the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.

  1. We ignore the King’s somewhat psychotic mood swings because we are more worried about his son’s marriage to Cinderella.

To be honest, I almost forgot about the interesting King of “a tiny kingdom in a faraway land” for two reasons. 1) It’s been a little while since I’ve actually seen Cinderella. 2) When I did see Cinderella, I thought the King to be a little strange, so I ignored him to concentrate on the romance. However, upon reviewing clips of Cinderella, I grew ever more worried about the King’s strange behavior. I’m not sure if you remember, but at one point he tried to slice his squire in half with a sword. This clearly unstable temperament is not fitting for the ruler of a kingdom; people want their King to be a just, kind ruler, not a maniac. But beside the fact that the King almost became a cold-blooded killer before the eyes of all watching children, the more pressing issue at hand is whether or not the Prince will behave in the same manner once he grows old. No, I am not arguing that all kids develop the bad traits of their parents as they grow up. However, since we know practically nothing about the prince anyway (What’s his name again? You don’t know? I didn’t think so.), we are unsure if he will turn on Cinderella in this way. After all that time waiting, we want Cinderella to have the most kind-hearted husband, and if the prince is prone to mood swings like his father, this would be a terrible shame for Cinderella.

  1. We blindly accept that Cinderella’s patience was rewarded even though it was really just a lucky break because we believe she deserves her happy ending.

Clearly, Cinderella is a lovely girl who is sweet and patient. You can’t really get any kinder/more “princessy” than sewing clothes for birds and mice. We were all waiting for her to catch her lucky break, and we knew that she would since she was so easygoing despite all the crap she had to put up with from her stepsisters and stepmother. But this might have been a hasty conclusion. Yes, Cinderella does end up meeting her “fairy godmother,” who gives her everything she’d ever wanted and more, and ensures that she meets her Prince Charming. But we forget to ask if it was really because of Cinderella’s complacent attitude that she got what she wanted. It is not a question of whether or not Cinderella deserved her happy ending; most of us would agree that Cinderella’s life was rough for no good reason and she really did need some more happiness. However, people rarely stop to think about what Cinderella did to ensure that she would get her happily ever after, and the answer to that question is simply nothing. Of course, Cinderella didn’t take any action that would have deemed her unworthy of a happy ending, but she certainly didn’t fight for her right to be treated equally. Especially in society today, people can’t sit idly by waiting for their next promotion or an “A” on their Chemistry exam; they have to put in some sort of effort, stay late to do work or study hard for example, to achieve their goals. Cinderella unfairly gives kids the idea that things will fall into place if they just wait. And wait. And keep on waiting. Instead of empowering children to stand up for themselves, Disney really just says, “don’t fight for what you want; just wait for people to hand you your desires on a golden platter.”

I hope you enjoyed reading this week’s installment of “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Again, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or funny stories, feel free to post in the comments section below. Unfortunately, I don’t have any bonus content for you this week (I’ve really been spoiling you lately), but stay tuned; there are bound to be more videos in later weeks. As always, have a magical day!

Reflection

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Photocred:  http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/unhappily-ever-after-has-disney-heroies-face-the-horrors-of-real-life

I’m sure many little girls looked up to Mulan when they watched her transform into a hero before their eyes. And let’s be honest, regardless of our age, we all still burst into “I’ll Make A Man Out of You” for no apparent reason. But although Mulan eventually brought honor to her family, there is need for deeper “Reflection” of the hidden messages in this seemingly innocent and empowering Disney film.

  1. We justify Mulan’s laziness and fundamental foolishness because of our ability to sympathize with her endeavors.

When the matchmaker catches on fire, Mulan in the most literal sense “fans the fire,” igniting it even further by providing it with the very oxygen it needs for survival. Seeing as Chinese roofs in this period were typically made of thatch, one would assume that Mulan would know the most effective way to put out a fire so that her house wouldn’t burn to the ground. But alas, Mulan shows her foolishness through this blunder, which could have been prevented had Mulan actually prepared for her interview. After all that, can you really blame the matchmaker for belittling Mulan? Even though we all clearly understand that Mulan didn’t mean for the matchmaker to suffer, she has now inconvenienced the other maidens by making them wait longer for the matchmaker to recover from almost being burned to a crisp. However, we do not recognize the justification behind the matchmaker’s anger because we know that Mulan just ruined something huge, and we’ve all been in situations where we’ve messed up something important. For example, many of us may have waited to do our homework until the last minute or refused to recognize the difficulty of an upcoming exam, resulting in a poor score on the assignment. Even though it was our own fault that we put in little effort, we still regret having made the mistake. We can equate this phenomenon to Mulan’s situation; she did not prepare in advance for her meeting with the matchmaker, but she was still upset that she had disappointed herself and her family. In this way, Disney justifies our laziness by applying an unfair pity to the outcome of the meeting even though it resulted from Mulan’s own actions, which does not properly teach kids the value of hard work and dedication when pursuing a want.

  1. We do not catch Disney’s reference to the demerits of cross dressing because of the rest of the chaos in the temple.

From the silly comments and well scripted ancestors, viewers understand that the scene in the temple of the Fa family is supposed to bring even more humor into the already funny movie. But within the humorous exchanges of the ancestors, one line tends to become lost in the bustle. Before the fight breaks out, an old woman retorts to a previous insult, “Your great-granddaughter had to be a cross-dresser!” This is a very real, very controversial statement within this children’s movie. Here, Disney takes the stance that cross-dressing is morally wrong. Because in many cultures, including that of Mulan’s time, elders are regarded as sources of wisdom, Disney means to make this old woman’s statement one of absolute superiority. Additionally, Mushu leaves with the comment, “let’s get this drag show on the road.” These carefully placed comments which are lost in the later hype of the movie are still prominent and provide Disney’s viewpoints on an extremely controversial issue, miraculously without raising any outward controversy. Although Disney could have gotten by without these demeaning comments, they still exercised their power over viewers to express their view unnecessarily, unfairly manipulating children into adopting their beliefs. (This issue has been recognized in the more recent video by Jonathan Cozart, After Ever After 2, which will be posted below for your enjoyment.)

  1. Because Mulan is now regarded as a war hero, we fail to realize that by the end of the movie, she is once again reduced to the position of a defenseless woman.

There is no denying the Mulan kicked Hun butt when she saved China from the evil Shan Yu. Clearly we think that she proved her value to her family and the rest of China and should now be judged with absolute equality. However, Mulan’s hilarious grandmother clues us into the fact that our perception of Mulan’s new position among society is not as equal as it seems. The grandmother says, “Great, she brings home a sword. If you ask me, she should have brought home a man,” and Shang magically appears as if summoned by the implied truth of her words. This quote is really a clever metonymy, which implies that even though Mulan has proved her worth through her acts of bravery (the sword), her real purpose in life is to marry and bear children (the man). Alone, the quote may have been played off as nonsense by a senile, stubborn, old woman. However, the fact that Disney brings in Shang in response to this statement shows that they indeed agree with the grandmother’s opinion. This blatant show of loyalty to traditional gender roles cannot even pretend to be hidden behind a story of true love. Although viewers knew from the beginning that Shang and Mulan were meant to be together because it is the typical structure of Disney movies, their love story was not nearly as powerful as those of their Disney counterparts. Therefore, the union of Shang and Mulan was unnecessary to the plot, and was instead used as an excuse to put Mulan back in her “proper” place in society.

Again, I hope that you found something that struck you in this blog. Please feel free to comment with your opinions on my points or with ideas of your own. And since I promised you, here’s the link to Jonathan Cozart’s “After Ever After 2!”

And as an extra bonus, here’s Grandma Fa being her humorous self:

Just Around the Riverbend

Pocahontas

Photocred:  http://www.dontparty.co.za/design/illustration-design/disney-unhappily/

Pocahontas, though not my favorite Disney movie, is still pretty high on my Disney movies to watch list. The story of true love conquering cultural barriers is truly inspiring, or at least it is on the surface of this movie.  Without further ado, I’ll delve into what these Disney “Savages” are hiding “Just Around the River Bend.”

  1. We ignore the lack of historical accuracy in Pocahontas because Disney knows that we are not aware enough to realize their mistakes.

We were all amazed when we were told that Pocahontas was a Disney movie based on a historical event. It was such a relief to know that Pocahontas and John Smith really did fall in love and Ratcliffe actually got what he deserved. But again, Disney fooled us. When John Smith and other settlers came to Virginia from England, Smith did not meet a beautiful, 18-year old Native American woman. If he did, it was certainly not Pocahontas. When John Smith met Pocahontas, she was only a girl of about 10 years and John Smith was a man of 28 years. Starting to get the creeps yet? Don’t worry! In real life, John Smith and Pocahontas were never truly love interests; Pocahontas just looked up to Smith as more of a father figure. However, the love story between Pocahontas and an English settler is not entirely fabricated. When Pocahontas was about 18 years old, she was captured by a group of English settlers and fell in love with one of them, John Rolfe, who she married the following year. However, it clearly would not be in Disney’s best interest to write a movie reassuring girls that if they become captured by strange men, it’s alright because one of their captors may become their husband. Although Disney was not entirely as historically accurate as they had advertised, they still had their basis in fact.

  1. We look over the fact that Ratcliffe’s aim was genocide because of its hidden location within a catchy musical number.

Everyone loves the music of Disney, but sometimes we apparently don’t listen to the words closely enough. In the song “Savages” (link below in case you feel like jamming out), Ratcliffe literally sings that the Native Americans are “only good when they’re dead,” and later convinces a majority of his men that “destroy[ing] their evil race” is a good, moral behavior. However, we only consciously recognize the fact that there is an impending war, not an attempted genocide, because we focus a little too closely on the details of John Smith’s rescue instead of the larger picture of impending mass murder.  Although the movie clearly doesn’t attempt to teach kids that the brutal murder of an entire race of human beings is a good thing (Ratcliffe ultimately fails in his endeavor to wipe out the Native Americans), it is still a very peculiar place to insert such a broad, gruesome issue. I personally am not entirely convinced that it was a necessary addition to a movie that could have succeeded simply as a battle with one Native American tribe incorrectly believed to be hoarding gold.

  1. We do not pick up on the loss of innocence theme when Thomas kills Kocoum because we are more concerned about John Smith.

Of course we’ve all fallen in love with John Smith, but the cute, goofy sidekick Thomas was still a great character. He always sides with John Smith in regards to the Native Americans, refusing to blindly adopt Ratcliffe’s prejudices like the other pilgrims. Therefore, much like John Smith, we see the clumsy, relatable Thomas as an embodiment of innocence in the movie. However, when Thomas kills Kocoum, even though he does so by accident, this illusion is shattered and we see that evil can come in any form. I know this is kind of deep and depressing for a Disney movie, and I admit that I might be reaching a little bit, but children who can relate to Thomas because of their mutual purity may on some level feel betrayed by this wrongdoing. Otherwise, why wouldn’t we be happy that Thomas prevented Kocoum from killing John Smith, who we’d been rooting for throughout the entire film?

As always, feel free to leave any thoughts below! And now for a special surprise! I know that many of you have seen the viral video After Ever After about the sufferings of Disney princesses after the credits roll on their movies. If you have, I’m sure you’ve also noticed that I ordered my blogs for the past four weeks EXACTLY as Jonathan Cozart sings about the Disney princesses. So, without further ado, I present “After Ever After!”

P.S. A shout-out to http://pocahontas.morenus.org/ for providing all the background info on historical context!

Something There

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Photocred:  http://en1.alllies.org/

Beauty and the Beast was by far my favorite movie as a kid. I related so much to Belle because of our mutual love of reading, our brunette hair, and our crazy dads. So naturally, this was one of the more difficult blog posts for me to write. Regardless, please “Be [My] Guest” as I help you see “Something There [that wasn’t there before].”

  1. We ignore the Beast’s abuse toward Belle because they end up falling in love.

The Beast was absolutely brutal toward Belle at the beginning of their acquaintance. He locked her in a cold, damp jail cell, was set on making her starve as punishment for her disinterest with joining him for dinner, and almost gave her a heart attack for getting lost in the castle. These don’t seem like the actions of kind, attentive husband. We just blindly assume that the Beast has changed; that there is no way that he could revert back to this state. Although unlikely, the Beast could very possibly fall back into this pattern of abusive behavior during his marriage to Belle. However, we do not consider this possibility because of our fondness toward the happy couple. Regardless of whether or not we trust the Beast’s behavior, the love story between Belle and the Beast sends a bad message to young female audiences. The intended message was to treat others with kindness and compassion, which by itself is a good virtue for children to adopt. However, subliminally, Belle’s eventual acceptance of the Beast’s harsh attitude shows young girls that it is ok to suffer through abuse in hopes that, eventually, their significant other will become a “prince.” Unfortunately, not all abusive men will change their ways for their love interests, so girls are wrongly given the impression that it is proper to accept what seems to be temporary abuse.

  1. We completely reject Gaston as the “good guy” because Disney uses Belle as a factor for comparison.

Although the Beast acts exactly the same, we automatically condemn Gaston for his behavior because Disney portrays him alone as the “villain.” Everyone who watches Beauty and the Beast knows Gaston as a cruel, conceited, shallow womanizing, (pardon my language, but this next term is about to be super accurate) asshole. However, the Beast’s personality is much the same; like Gaston, the Beast treats others harshly (see previous point), thinks too highly of himself (the reason why he was turned into a beast), and is extremely shallow (unable to care about the beggar woman because of his worry with his own self-image). Despite what should be obvious parallels between the Beast and Gaston, we are still not baffled by the fact that Belle does not give Gaston as much of a chance as she does the Beast. It could be because of her being forced into close quarters with the Beast, or her curiosity about his situation. We certainly know it is not because of looks. In fact, it  is most likely because Disney introduces him first. Since Disney makes us acknowledge Gaston as the “villian” by comparison with Belle’s gentle disposition right away, we assume that the “villian quota” is full for the movie when Belle meets the Beast.  Although we see Gaston as the “true Beast” in the movie, Gaston may very well have been responsive to Belle’s attempts to change him had Belle put forth more of an effort into his transformation.

  1. Because we love Belle so much, we forget that the Beast still just falls in love with a beautiful girl.

The Prince was originally turned into a Beast because he looked down upon the old woman based on her appearance (or so we think, but I’ll get to that point later). Because she was not a beautiful maiden, the Prince did not care to assist her. In order to punish him for judging others by his looks, the woman turns the Prince into a Beast, in theory to show him how it feels to be judged by appearances. However, the Prince still just falls in love with a beautiful maiden. Belle is clearly the prettiest girl in town (Why else would Gaston be so in love with her?), so even though she falls in love with a hideous Beast, the Prince is not really learning his lesson. Belle can look past appearances, but our Prince is still just looking for the most beautiful wife, ultimately defeating the purpose of the curse.

And now, the real kicker….

  1. The brevity of our encounter with the young Prince does not allow us to fully realize that the Prince was 11 when he was turned into a beast.

Disney only introduces us to our young prince for about a minute before casting him away into a hideous monster. During this transition, the narrators explain that the Beast must have someone fall in love with him in spite of his appearance before his 21st birthday(when all petals from a magic rose will fall off), or else he will become cursed forever. However, as we listen to the opening number of the movie and are introduced to the beautiful, charming Belle, Disney completely skips over the fact that they set the next scene 10 YEARS in the Beast’s future. And by the end of the movie, the rose is almost wilted, meaning it has to be close to the Prince’s 21st birthday. Let’s do the math here:   21 years – 10 years = 11 YEARS. Prince Adam (the Beast) was 11 YEARS OLD when the strange beggar woman knocked on his door and asked to stay with a minor in his home. I’m sure that puts a new twist on things. No wonder why the 11 YEAR OLD Prince Adam didn’t let a stranger into his home. Even princes know about stranger danger. If Adam had let the woman in, Disney would have had an even harder job trying to convince angry parents that it wasn’t their intention to encourage children to let strangers board in their parents’ homes for the night.

I’m sorry if that was as heart-wrenching for you to read as it was for me to write, but I hope you at least enjoyed seeing a few different sides of our beloved classic childhood movie. As always, please feel free to comment. And most importantly, have a magical day!

One Jump Behind

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Photocred:  http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/artists/324198000?offset=10&view_mode=2

Everyone remembers Aladdin, the movie about a dashing, young Middle Eastern bad boy who falls in love with a gorgeous princess. We were all enchanted by the charming Genie, the lion’s head sand cave, and the magic carpet rides. As a kid, I rubbed every weird looking lamp I saw, hoping that Genie would pop out and grant me a wish for a pony (I was as pretty typical little girl). But for now, I’m going to show you a world that’s not so shining, shimmering, or splendid hidden within the magical land of Agrabah.

  1. We are distracted from Aladdin’s true potential by his charming knack for thievery.

As an audience, we accept Aladdin’s low class status without wondering exactly why he settles for being a street rat. We absolutely adore his troubled character and pity his situation in life because we understand that Aladdin is an orphan and that he is already looked down upon by many of the people of Agrabah. But even if he cannot find his niche there, Aladdin would be capable of a fresh start in any one of the surrounding towns. He does have a nice little abandoned stone room to sleep in, but nobody wants to feel like an outcast in society and Aladdin is no exception. In fact, Aladdin even sings about how he would get along with the townspeople if he didn’t steal. The real problem in this scenario is that Aladdin is, dare I say it, a little lazy. He’s clearly intelligent enough to become a productive member of his community. If he’s smart enough to evade the cops every time he steals food, you would think he would be smart enough to make a better life for himself instead of settling as an outlaw.  Aladdin is constantly complaining that he wants people to see him as more than just a street rat, but he does absolutely nothing to separate himself from that image.

  1. We ignore the fact that Aladdin should have made it out of the cave safely the first time because the Genie saves him anyway.

I’m not sure if anyone else was particularly bothered by this point, but everyone seems to forget that Aladdin COULD HAVE made it out of the cave and not have had his life threatened by molten lava. Everyone likes cute little Abu, but we all forget that he’s the only reason why the cave collapsed in the first place. Aladdin was truly pure of heart, wanting nothing but to help the old man, but the little monkey was obsessed with a shiny jewel and almost got himself and Aladdin killed. You could argue that without the cave collapsing, Aladdin would have been killed by Jafar, but he could have had an all-powerful genie backing him up. And even if Genie would have never been conjured from the lamp, Aladdin beat Jafar in the end simply by outsmarting him. As we previously determined, Aladdin did not need Genie to be cunning.

  1. We ignore Aladdin’s deceptions because everything works out for him in the end.

Aladdin repeatedly lies to the only people who care about him. He tricks Jasmine into falling in love with him by first pretending to be a prince and by then lying straight to her face when she recognizes him from the market. Aladdin wants to lose his old self (whether out of shame or for prestige I’m unsure), but no good relationship can have its foundation in such large-scale deception. We also forget that Aladdin promised the genie the one thing he wanted most in the whole world and then crushed his dreams before finally setting him free. The ONLY reason that Aladdin ever gave Genie what he wanted in the end was because of Jafar. I know that it’s painful to have to thank evil Jafar for anything, but he was the one that changed Aladdin’s plans. Originally, Aladdin wasn’t even going to tell Jasmine the truth, but because Jafar decided to interfere, Aladdin was forced to give up his false identity, finally allowing Genie to be set free. So really, Genie has Jafar to thank for his freedom. And you thought Jafar couldn’t be the good guy.

  1. We ignore the more risqué scenes in the palace because we focus on the more positive aspects of the movie instead.

To be honest, Disney didn’t try very hard AT ALL to disguise these scenes in the movie. It’s really difficult to forget what happened in Jafar as Sultan’s lair. Typically, what happens in the lair stays in the lair, but for the purposes of the blog, I’m going to break this sacred rule. First, the real Sultan was force fed crackers by a parrot. Literally nothing can rectify that terrible humiliation for the Sultan. Disney made children watch as authority figures were disrespected by talking animals. And parents wonder why children disobey them! Secondly, Jasmine kissed Jafar. I had to look away from the screen as a child when Jasmine started coming on to Jafar like that in the movie. Even thinking about it now gives me the creeps. Disney was really giving kids the wrong idea about how to deal with conflict there. Jasmine will NEVER be able to repress that memory, and neither will I. As hard as she tries, she will always have to carry that burden with her. Between the lies and the cheating, she and Aladdin will definitely need some marriage counseling for their relationship to truly work.

As always, comments are appreciated. If you thought of something I missed while reading, I would love to hear it! If you’re happy and you know it, leave me a smiley face or something of that nature in the comments. If you still hate me, you should really give me another chance, but I do respect your opinion. And as always, have a magical day!

Fathoms Below

Photocred: http://mic.com/articles/88827/an-artist-took-disney-characters-and-put-them-into-real-life-situations%5B/caption%5D

As a kid, my absolute favorite movie in the entire world was Walt Disney’s The Little Mermaid. I always wished I could be Ariel. She had long flowing hair, she could swim really well, and she was friends with a cute little fish. Who wouldn’t want to be her? But while I sang along to “Part of Your World”, less innocent events were happening “Under the Sea”.

  1. We are distracted from Triton blowing off his 6 other daughters by our focus on Ariel’s story.

As you read the previous sentence, the first thought in your head was probably “There were other daughters?” The answer is yes. In fact, we see these mysterious members of the royal family before we are introduced to Ariel in the sunken ship. And for those of you who were un-fazed by the existence of Triton’s other kids, do you even know their names? I know I don’t. But since I’ve made you curious, I’ve looked them up for you:  Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina. Yes, Triton had a large, beautiful family of seven daughters, not just Ariel. Despite this, when Ariel seemed to disappear, not one of them seemed to be concerned about Ariel’s well-being. But who really blames them? Triton doesn’t seem to care about any of their problems; he focuses entirely on Ariel. We don’t even hear Triton talk about any of Ariel’s sisters, except to hear them be described as less talented than his favorite daughter. I’m sure a lot of children with siblings would feel dejected after they realize Triton’s indifference to his six other daughters, so Disney only briefly mentions the other daughters’ existences and instead focuses on the story of the charming Ariel.

  1. We ignore Triton’s request for Ariel to stay away from humans because we believe ourselves to be kindhearted.

Of course we’re all human, so we sympathize with Ariel because we know we wouldn’t hurt Ariel. We’re not monsters. But we forget that many humans would actually be a threat to Ariel and her merfriends. It would be very easy for a mermaid to get caught in a fisherman’s net if she were too close to a boat. And there wouldn’t be much she could do about it either. Sure, the fishermen would probably bring her onto the boat, cut the rope loose and stare at her for a little while, but she could be injured in the process. Even worse, the fishermen could refuse to let her go and keep her as proof that mermaids are indeed real. Regardless, she would never get back to her family. So even though we all criticize Triton for trying to keep Ariel away from us, he’s really just being a good father (aside from the fact that he ignores his other daughters. But for this issue, we won’t hold that against him.)

  1. We fail to realize that Ariel feels the need to change who she is for love because we are caught up in her shallow romance with Prince Eric.

We may think of Ariel’s mannerisms and thoughts (and not her long, fish tail) as defining who she is, and I personally agree. But Ariel clearly doesn’t. She doesn’t appreciate her mermaid roots and instead decides that being human is the ultimate prize.  We certainly don’t see her only as a mermaid; she’s just a lovable, naïve, teenage girl, relatable to any child. And Eric sure as heck wouldn’t care that she’s a mermaid either. He was in love with the woman who saved his life, and mermaid or human, this act showed that she was compassionate and kindhearted, which is all Eric seemed to need in a girl. If he’d wanted wit, communication skills, or intelligence, he wouldn’t have fallen for Ariel without her voice (she brushed her hair with a fork and he still fell in love with her). But even in the end, when she sees that Eric loves her despite her tail, she changes back into a human. She is still afraid that Eric would not make sacrifices for her if she remained a mermaid. In her attempt to “get the guy,” Ariel has abandoned her heritage. Because all people seem to be mesmerized by a simple love story, fans of The Little Mermaid often fail to catch this detail. They let out a sigh of desperation when Flotsom and Jetsom flip over the boat and prevent true love’s kiss, but they do not furrow their brows in frustration as Ariel gives up her connection to her loving father and her loyal friends entirely for a man she just met.

I hope I gave you some good food for thought. I’m sure there’s more stuff that I could have pointed out about the Little Mermaid, but then what could you guys possibly comment about? So if you think there’s something really obvious that I missed, or even something more subtle, please tell me about it below. If you think that I’m as terrible as Ursula, tell me (although I really hope you don’t). And if you like what I’ve done so far, let me know. I’d love to hear your suggestions on what movies to write about in the future or anything else. Other than that, have a magical day!

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