Moana Film Review

It has been obvious that Disney has progressively tried to shape their image of the Disney princess brand to reflected and appeal to the liking of its audience. Before they grew a multibillion dollar industry, they relied on socially intrinsic, but dangerously restrictive gender ideals to develop a conservative set of "perfect princess" standards and a traditional gender stereotyping princess culture. Once feminist critiques began to point out the discrepancies  between what Disney portrayed as the ideal woman compared to was society should view as the ideal woman, we see a gradual shift in the characterization of princess roles in Disney's newer films.

While it is impossible for a cooperation giant like Disney to please everyone, the gradual changes they have continued to make throughout each new princess wave has been, overall, very successful. At first, princesses were passive damsels in distress whose only hobbies centered around housework and singing. However, eighty years later, we arrive at a princess who is not only dynamic, but a hero in her own right, curious, brave, independent, and smart.

I would like to commend Disney on their striking execution of the characterization of Moana, and believe that this next wave of princesses to come has started Disney down a path of a less gender stereotyping and one that will continue to focus to promote female empowerment that has real substance.

Moana's "wishing song" is one that induces curiosity -- she stares out into the water and wonders about the great beyond. She wants to know 'how far [she'll] go" and is intrigued by the unknown. She is creative and envisions that there must be a solution to her people's problems somewhere past the membrane of their safe island, and is brave enough to deviate from her father's wishes in hopes of saving her island.

This action symbolizes a high moral development that should be infused in the minds of youth. Moana's actions illustrate an act as a form of civil disobedience, however, this deviant decision is clearly and thoroughly explained. You see her wrestle with wanting to be obedient to her family and respecting their rules, but you see the film justify her final decision to go against her father's wishes, especially through the grandmother, in a way that was extremely powerful.

Is was clear that she was going on her journey to save the island, and this act of deviance makes a maturely developed moral decision understandable to children. It subconsciously promotes the idea that even if society's rules say one thing, an individual's moral code might find flaws in the system, and it is important to empower yourself to do what you think is right, not what society deems is right. It stresses the need to think critically about the messages and values you want to soak in from society, and to challenge messages that you disagree with.

I find that a rather powerful message given the discussion of the portrayal of gender roles and woman empowerment (or lack thereof) in Disney films and the need to teach kids media literacy.

 

Mulan Film Review

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to watch Mulan as a young girl. For some reason, I don't have any recollection of the plot of the film from a childhood perspective, but absolutely love the female war hero characterization and empowering plot line. Mulan has zest, bravery, individuality, cunning, and smarts, she is a girl that I would want my future daughter looking up to. Unlike the princesses leading up to Mulan, she is dares to test the confounds of conservative gender roles and does so fearlessly. She is not glorified for her looks or feminine nature, she is shown to be heroic in the true sense of the word -- she saves the city with her intellect and agility and doesn't let the overt societal sexism hold her back.

Though I do not recall obsessing over this movie when I was young, I have always loved the music. Reflection, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful songs Disney has ever produced and trumps all other princess wishing songs to date, however after watching this film with a more critical eye, I found a lot of problems with the messages some of the other songs were sending to young boys.

I would like to switch gears and claim that I believe Mulan, with a few exceptions, painted a great narrative empowering women, however it did so at the downfall of narrowly stereotyping masculinity. Some songs like "Bring Honor To Us All" and "A Girl Worth Fighting For"have some obvious concerns regarding female stereotyping, but I argue that they also depict men in a negative fashion. "A Girl Worth Fighting For" depicts men lusting over a lady and dream of their ideal partner.  Yes I can make a case that they all envision woman who fit the conservative ideals, but I want to focus on lyrics such as this, "My girl will marvel at
my strength, adore my battle scars." This song's underlying message is that, to be complete, a man must win the love of a woman to gain a sense of worth and masculine pride. Without the acknowledgement of a woman that they are strong and powerful, they are not manly.

The most explicit song in which I saw glaring red flags regarding stereotyping gender roles of males is in "I'll Make a Man Out of You" in which the phrase "be a man" is repeated over and over throughout there chorus. This phrase, just in society alone, has taken on a such negative connotation that promotes hiding one's feelings, as to not show weakness, and presenting an outward physical strength. It directly illustrates that a person's masculinity is defined as toughness linked to the violence and fury of a "raging fire" and that their true feelings must be hidden and "mysterious as the dark side of the moon." Is this really what manhood is about? It is definitely not the message I want infiltrating the mind of young boys. If males grow up idealizing this message and masculine identity they are headed down a path of poor mental health and susceptibility to feeling lesser for superficial, outdated, and unimportant values.

The Curse of Masculinity -- So what?

The Curse of Masculinity thoroughly explores the shifting identity of masculinity and how Disney's Beauty and the Beast embodies this transition of the strong man of the 80s to the family oriented man of the 90s. Jefford analyzes how the beast is first is characterized as "hard-edged" but then, with the power of a nurturing female to spark change, can be transformed into a being that is kind and considerate. He then makes an incredibly interesting point that as males try and live up to outdated norms of manhood, they receive backlash  -- almost as if masculinity in itself is its "own evil curse." This argument then leads to the overall conclusion that neither males or females can be free of the confounds of gender roles until the "curse" of masculinity is revoked from a man's social pressures.

Jefford's thinking, in my opinion, was incredibly insightful and I both enjoyed and agreed with most of his piece. However, when it comes to the formatting of his paper, I think he fell short. This may be because I am mostly interested in the topic of Disney, but I found the introduction to discussion on Beast and the Beast far too lengthy, confusing, and  disorganized. It seemed as if he was trying to do too many things at once, and it lead him to link claims that were vague or had little substance. I didn't start truly getting wrapped up and focused in on his argument until Beauty and the Beast was introduced into the writing.

I also struggled to find a thesis and identify where the introduction ended and where the heart of his argument began. Because there was no clear thesis, I also found no roadmap for his piece and no hint of a "so what". His work introduced some very compelling points, however were not given any significance beyond the world of academia and into real life. There was no call to action or hint at how the messages in these movies have extended to effect men in real life. 

I think Jefford lost sight of the principal idea that writing is a conversation.

Beauty and the Beast Film Review

Disney’s revamped motion picture of Beauty and the Best is not only stunning, but casts one of the leading feminists of today, Emma Watson. Of course, me being a hardcore fan of both Disney and Emma Watson and her political work,  I was very interested to see how Disney was going to spin their classic tale of the beautiful Belle (literally — Belle means beauty) and the overbearing beast’s love story. Though the classic Disney princess tale is much more progressive from a feministic standpoint than that of others of its time, there is still much to criticize. 

Even in the original film, Belle was much more dynamic than that of the other Disney princesses. For example, she loved to read, her intellect was highlighted, she showed disgust in the hyper-masculinity of Gaston, and she was courageous to save her father. She, overall, had a personality beyond a damsel in distress, and her personality only grows in the 2017 film. In the recent film, Belle not only loves to read but is seen trying to educate other young girls to do the same in the village. She also keenly invents a contraption to wash clothing. The new movie especially tries to shy away from the “love at first sight” narrative, and instead shows a strong headed Belle that vows she will escape when first taken as prisoner and one who composes a rope-like contraption to slide down from the palace window. Belle and the Beast’s relationship, therefore is slowly growing  and dynamic, and we see the two of them learn to understand one another better, enjoy one another’s company over shared interests like reading, and lastly start to bond on a more romantic level. 

However, while Disney has made subtly changes to progress this princess narrative in a less conservative, gender typical direction, we cannot overlook the fact that the main premise of the movie still remains the same — a young, beautiful girl falls in love with her capture. Sure, I believe in the cliches like “people make mistakes” and “forgive and forget,” however when someone goes to the extent of imprisoning first your father and then you, they have crossed a line that, in my opinion, cannot be forgiven. But, not only does Belle forgive, she grows to infatuate for the beast. Is sounds a bit ridiculous to even have to pose the question, “Should I give this guy another chance?” given her circumstance and yet, in the world of Disney, I guess it’s not. Now that is the epitimay of a fairytale — that someone who locks you and a loved one up is capable of change to an extent you can fall in love with your captor. In the real world, this kind of behavior is unacceptable and should not be romanticized. 

Overall though, I would like to applaud Disney for its steps in a more feministic direction. They did tweak the story to create a more empowered princess protagonist, and I believe that is the most they could do to still maintain the integrity and heart of the film. Understandably, they cannot change the overarching plot of the story, which is where I can see the most red flags regarding gender roles, so I hesitantly deem this remake well executed. While it does send an incredibly poor message regarding healthy relationships, it also sends an extremely heartwarming and sincere message that inner beauty is the beauty that counts, and it is important to look past the surface of others to find it. 

Disney Song of the Week!

Over break I have found myself in a home with the next, up-and-coming broadway star. Yes, my boyfriend's nine year old sister has just landed a role in her elementary school's five-star-spectacular-to-be Aladdin! She is excited to debut her dance solo in the epic number Price Ali, so I thought it was suiting for this week's song to be dedicated to one of the cutest, most talented nine year olds out there.

"Prince Ali! Fabulous He!

Ali Ababwa"

Villain Makeovers

This is borderline glorifying villains and ignoring the obvious link Disney shows between physical beauty and good versus evil, while it's also calling attention to the glaring gap in popularity between villains and protagonists. Though I believe this video fell short when it didn't take the opportunity to  address the overarching stereotypes between appearance and morality, I do applaud it for defying the status quo and highlighting some of the positives found in Disney's villainy. Plus, I cannot resist the  mad skills of these makeup artists and enticing costuming. 

On a more positive note though, this video preaches the message that you can find beauty in anything, and that we should commend and embrace the good.

Readings Summaries - Laying the Groundwork

Two big names in the Disney debate are Henry A. Giroux and Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario, and I thought it would be good to summarize some of their work as another starting point when tackling my final paper. These pieces, The Disneyfication of Children’s Culture and The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, the Function of the Disney Princess, lays out the initial framework of information the reader will need to knowledgeably delve into the topic.

Disneyfication of Children's Culture and the Princess

            In this piece, Giroux does an excellent job both posing and answering the question "why study Disney?" and emphasizes the need of media literacy in both adults (parents, educators, and cultural workers) and youth. He addresses the discussion of children's culture and how the branch of entertainment extends to a myriad of other spheres that craft a child's understanding of societal norms. He coins the term "teaching machine" as an idea that Disney can function on various different platforms in which conservative views are highlighted, and then explains that Disney has the power to subtly instill those values in its audience through "Disneyfication." The text also specifically touches on the gender stereotypes portrayed in Disney's princess films and recurring messages Disney delivers. These include the concept that in order for females to feel empowered, they must find a noble, handsome man and that physical appearance dictates good versus evil when looking at the stark contrast in physical appearance in villains compared to protagonists. It lastly dissects the iconic brand of innocence Disney has self composed and makes it clear that, though Disney is typically viewed as a trademark of innocence in the American eye, it predominately functions as a cooperate giant and cultural institution. Giroux calls us consumers to action to compare both dominate and oppositional reading of their films' messages and be conscientious about the messages we let our children absorb. 

The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, the Function of the Disney Princess

Do Rozario analyzes the themes found in Disney princess films split by era. She first discusses the commonalities found in the first wave princess
storylines and then progresses to explain how the second wave princess film’s messages and similarities change. Key themes she found in the first
wave motion pictures include: the promotion of woman doing housework and its representation as it being “fun,” the damsel in distress and
passive nature of the princess, an explicit desire and all consuming dream for a man, an obedient attitude towards elders, and the promotion of the
concept of love at first sight. As time progresses and Walt’s princesses become Team Disney’s princesses some primary messages change. In the
second wave princess films, the father daughter relationship in emphasized and the princess becomes rebellious against her father’s conservative
rules. She falls in love, still within an incredibly short time span, with a man that is not endorsed my her father. The target audience also expands
from from family oriented to teenagers as well.