Disney...friend or foe?
Last week during class we discussed Chapter 35 of our Media Literacy textbook. I was extremely interested in this Chapter’s topics and actually chose to do my PowerPoint project on it.
As much as I am a very big fan of Disney, and have watched Disney movies since I was a little girl, after reading Chapter 35 and researching the topic further, I could not help but think about the stereotypical images that are portrayed in a lot of these movies and the impact it has on children. Although Disney movies continue to evolve as years go on, most main character women in these movies remain white, middle/upper class princesses (Eg: Cinderella, Snow White, Little Mermaid, etc). With this said, children from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds may grow up thinking they are atypical and different. The Aladdin movie illustrates an Arab princess named Jasmine, but it is interesting to note that Jasmine is portrayed in the movie with paler skin and has no accent compared to the “bad guy” Arabs who wear turbans, have strong accents, and are given very large noses. Furthermore, while looking through the Disney movies and observing different stereotypes, I was shocked to see some of the lyrics. In Aladdin, the movie begins with a song that illustrates an extremely negative portrayal of Arabs and the Arab culture. Some of the lyrics are the following: “Oh I come from a land, from a far away place, where the caravan camels roam, where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face, its barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” Although I have never paid attention to these lyrics before, it made me realize that although Disney seems so innocent and fairytale-like for children; stereotypes are represented in these movies as well. For these reasons, it is important for parents and teachers to understand media, and to help children learn the meaning behind these types of messages as it relates to race, class and gender.
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