Princes

Today I stumbled across this image on the internet. It connected with a lot of things people were talking about in their presentations last week about what women are looking for in a man. I never thought about it the other way that Disney is not only teaching girls these are the attributes to look for in a man, but also they are teaching boys these are the things you must be in order to get a princess. I found this very interesting as we have rarely talked about it or thought about it from this viewpoint. Not only does it present an interesting viewpoint but the question at the bottom through me for a loop. The only people I can name are Aladdin, Prince Eric, and Prince Charming. I never realized I did not know the names of the other princes, this emphasizes the point we have been discussing that the princes are just there to move the story along. This seems more and more true given we don't remember anything about then, simplest of all being their names.

Peach: Damsel In Distress?

This weekend I was watching my boyfriend and his friends play the video game Mario. It occurred to me while watching the game that the story we see throughout all the classic fairy tales has made it's way into the video game plots of today. Peach is a beautiful princess who has been captured by evil characters and hidden away. She is a classic damsel in distress, a woman in need of a strong man to rescue her. In comes Mario not your classic prince charming, actually an Italian plumber, but none the less he is her knight in shining armor, her savior. This video game marketed towards boys teaches the message we have referred to again and again throughout the semester. Women need men to come rescue them and save them from the problems of their lives. Peach does not try to escape on her own she waits for Mario her savior to come rescue her from danger. Boys are then playing the male role of saving females and this message is being taught as their job, their responsibility from a young age. Video games like this crop up all over reinforcing the classic knight and damsel in distress concept. Why do we still love and play these games regardless of the obvious stereotypes and warped message?

Disney For Boys

I thought the point that Felix brought up in his presentation and I some what touched on in mine about the Disney movies for boys was really interesting. He brought up that there are not very many Disney movies for boys that include actual characters and that most of the Disney films geared towards boys are movies about inanimate objects coming to life and talking ie. cars, monsters inc, etc. I think it is weird that there aren't many Disney movies for boys that actually include real people or characters that look like real people. Why are films for boys so different from films for girls? Does Disney think boys don't connect with real characters and only with weird things like cars and furry monsters? It seems like a general concept about what little boys connect with and I am not sure I understand the logic behind it.

Wedding Dresses??

Today I was looking around for something to blog about and stumbled upon a shocking and horrific discovery....Disney has a line of wedding dresses! I know, I know, I could hardly believe it myself. Not only does Disney constantly teach young girls to be happy they must grow up find a prince and get married but now they are carrying this same delusion through to the wedding itself. Now every Disney obsessed female can look like the beautiful ANIMATED characters they have looked up to and dreamed about since young girlhood. I think this is very dangerous and creates women who live in a world built solely on the fantasy of an animated cartoon woman's life. These woman are actually trying to be the character down to a tee rather than being themselves and living their own lives. I was very disturbed and upset by this idea and am very curious about what kind of woman would play into this Disney capitalist machine like this?

Disney Sexism Outside The Cartoon

While researching my project I set my pandore (and online radio station) to play Disney songs. I though listening to the Disney songs would help with inspiration and get me in the mood. Once I started to listen to the lyrics I realized Disney's sexism does not just show up in the animated films but also in the other films such as the song You Are Sixteen Going on Seventeen from The Sound of Music:

[Rolf:]
You wait, little girl, on an empty stage
For fate to turn the light on
Your life, little girl, is an empty page
That men will want to write on

[Liesl:]
To write on

[Rolf:]
You are sixteen going on seventeen
Baby, it's time to think
Better beware, be canny and careful
Baby, you're on the brink

You are sixteen going on seventeen
Fellows will fall in line
Eager young lads and rogues and cads
Will offer you food and wine

Totally unprepared are you
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared are you
Of things beyond your ken

You need someone older an wiser
Telling you what to do
I am seventeen going on eighteen
I'll take care of you

[Liesl:]
I am sixteen going on seventeen
I know that I'm naive
Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet
And willingly I believe

I am sixteen going on seventeen
Innocent as a rose
Bachelor dandies, drinkers of brandies
What do I know of those

Totally unprepared am I
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared am I
Of things beyond my ken

I need someone older and wiser
Telling me what to do
You are seventeen going on eighteen
I'll depend on you



I found these lyrics egregiouslly sexist and massively contributing to the large bank of Disney sexism in lyrics and storylines.

Disney Can't Be Seperated

As we go into studying Disney and as I read my research for my project I stumbled across an interesting statement that I think also relates to our discussion on Thursday.

"Fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes has argued that, currently, children's understanding and image associations of the fairy tale Cinderella are so closely linked with the animated film Cinderella that they are inseparable."

We were discussing on Thursday imagining the characters of the story when reading it as a child and someone brought up that we don't imagine them because we automatically see the Disney versions. I think this gets truer and truer with every generation. Compared to reading the fairy tale many many more children have seen Disney's version. The decline in reading and increase in tv and film has made Disney's Cinderalla the only possible one for children. Maybe we didn't always see Disneys blonde haired, blue eyed Cinderella when we heard the story but children now certainly do and this will continue on and on. Disney has infiltrated our culture and placed images where imagination should be and stereotypes where thoughtful questioning on life should go.

Fables Comic

Today in class we discussed our feelings on the comic book we read; Fables. I felt like everyone was talking about how much they didn't like the comic and how bad it was compared to the imagination inspiring tales. But I loved the comic and thought it was way more interesting than any of the tales. I almost feel like since it was not the boring essay media they are used to everyone automatically decided to hate the comic. They all complained that it was very in your face and visual, but that is the style of a comic book and in this case I thought that the comic really brought the characters to life. There is no life in a vague description of snow white but in a comic book she has emotions and a physical body that a tale cannot offer her and we as readers honestly probably never give her. We as readers do not imagine the complexity of her personality and I think that was one of the major strengths of the comic book. I don't understand why people dislike comics so much I think they are a great visual way to present ideas and tell stories. I love the style of the illustrations and the writing and think they are captivating.

Fables

I absolutely loved the comic book Fables: Legends In Exile. I thought it was such an interesting combination of the real world combined with the fairy tales. All the characters really began to come to life and some were introduced that I didn't really know about and had to look up on the internet in order to get a backstory on them. I thought the way the characters were portrayed was very smart and ingenious. I loved the way that some of the villains have turned new leaves and are good people worthy of the readers admiration and respect. Whereas beloved characters like prince charming are now disgusting and unideal role models. I think the look into the mind and hearts of the characters rather than just their surface depictions is a really interesting idea. It really throws you for a loop to have everything you know about the tales tuned backwards but I though it was a good backwards. I found this reading to be my favorite of the year by far. I have already looked into where to get the next stories in the series and plan on asking for them for christmas.