Disney Debunked

Janet Wasko doggedly pursues the "truth" about Disney, as an institution and about the man himself by naming the five myths she sees as the leading cause behind misunderstanding Disney.  The Myths that stuck out to me most were Myths 4 and 5, that Disney is wholesome and that Disney is beloved by all. I agree with Wasko that the "normal" Disney presents, a heterosexual, generally anti-feminist, cisgendered, and mentally unimpaired "normal," is not necessarily as wholesome or as beloved by all as it sounds. It is, however, more palatable than a more inclusive model for children's entertainment. What Disney provides is a sanitized replication of real life where everything goes the way the hero or heroin wants in the end, where love is all one really needs to be successful in life, and where the wrong-doers of the world almost always see the error in their ways. Kids can feel safe in knowing that, according to Disney, as long as they are "good," life will be fair to them and they will be successful and happy. Maybe what Disney provides, children need. Sometimes children's lives aren't as wholesome as they appear in Disney movies. Some kids have problems with bullying in school, unsupportive parents, or might come from a broken home and Disney movies can provide solace for them. The child can see a character in a movie, identify with that character, and then watch that character win-out in the end and live vicariously through that character, feeling that they've also won out. The danger of Disney is that the characters they provide for children to identify with aren't all-encompasing of all the identities that child could occupy. Disney in recent years has been making an effort to include princesses of different races to provide characters more children can identify with, but that's only begun in the last five years or so and are some of the least promoted characters.

Disney's unveiling racially diverse princesses is seen as a progressive move on their part and is generally well received by the parents of Disney loving children. However, if Disney ever came out with a transgender, gay, or mentally handicapped princess or any other type of character, you could be almost certain parents would protest the movie if not full-on riot because the content of the movies would be too mature for their children. I don't know that I would disagree with that sentiment either. I'm eighteen years old, I'm a supporter of LGBTQ youth, gender non-conforming youth, I'm a feminist, and I try to be sensitive to the struggles that the mentally handicapped go through, but even still it can be a lot for me to understand. Personal identity is currently going through a renaissance; people are finding the voices and support they need to finally explain how they identify as a person. It's a difficult concept to explain to adults, let alone children, that sometimes bodies don't fit feelings and sometimes romantic interests don't conform to what many people consider to be "normal." I don't know if children would be able to understand or if they should understand these complex matters, though.

In Peggy Orenstein's piece, "What's Wrong With Cindarella?" Orenstein discusses how up to a certain age, children don't gender identify, in fact girls will say they want to grow up to be Daddies. Maybe this would be the right age range to introduce the concept of gender non-conformity. Maybe it would be like learning a language: the earlier you start the more naturally understanding comes. Simultaneously, it could be difficult to show the challenges that face individuals who don't conform to the "normal" Disney provides in a Disney-eque way. These individuals are often bullied, beaten, and even killed and until recently had very little chance of "winning-out" in a world so repulsed by their identities. If these identities were introduced to children so early on, maybe they might see them as the new normal. Maybe it would cut down on if not end bullying for gender non-conforming youth. Maybe it would make openly gay, bisexual, or any other sexually manifested relationship appear more common to these children and when they become adults, it would make for a more accepting culture in general. The only hang up I have about presenting these identities to children is that the suffering these individuals undergo can be difficult to watch and understand, and the sexual nature of many of these identities and relationships can be a little mature for children. However, if the sexual relationships were approached with the same innocence Disney currently approaches relationships with (where the most climactic point in their relationship is the first kiss and that kissing and hand-holding essentially are a relationship) then I see no reason why there couldn't be a gay Disney prince or a transgender princess.

Even if it weren't the most thorough introduction, even just mentioning that identities currently not represented by such a ubiquitous children's entertainment source exist could help to normalize these identities. Disney might not have been able to grow into such a large, almost monopolizing empire if they had initially taken this approach. Now that Disney is not only a household name itself, but all its subsidiary companies are as well, Disney has the power to show this and future generations that "normal" isn't just confined to what we consider the current Disney normal to be. The foundation of Disney's normal may have been crafted from what was considered normal in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's but Disney is not faultless and has perpetuated the same gender roles, etc. ever since their inception practically. What I'm saying can basically be summed up as: Disney created this "normal," and Disney movies might just be the fastest way to expand this normal to fit the new normal. I would challenge Disney to do just that because until they do, to paraphrase Janet Wasko, Disney is providing a dangerous normal that only serves to perpetuate the most conservative, most widely acceptable version of normal, and the world no longer fits that mold.

Why did you choose this Writing 101, Decoding Disney?

I've always been a big Disney fan. Disney was a constant presence in my life ever since I was a seven-month old baby sprawled in front of the T.V. singing along to the theme of Winnie the Pooh. Or well, to the best of my ability. While I had the melody down-pact, the words continued to evade me for a few more years. Just across the river from my home in Union City, New Jersey, the Lion King, the Little Mermaid, and all the other Disney characters and princesses danced and sang on the Broadway stages (and every once and a while my sister and I were treated to a show). Disney even made an appearance in the couples' costumes my parents would dress my sister and I in for Halloween. She was Mulan princess, I, Mulan warrior. Once upon a time, on a trip to visit my grandma in Florida, I visited Disney World and I finally met all the princesses I idolized face-to-face. Thanks to my innate tenacity, I had my autograph book bursting with signatures and by the end of the trip it deserved to be framed and displayed at the entrance of the Disney Parks. As I grew up I continued to be an avid Disney fan, to date the only movie in my iTunes library is Up, and in my junior year I returned to the Holy Land that are the Disney Parks with my high school's track team for "spring training."

I thought my love for Disney would never fade, it was like a cousin to me: I used to see Disney movies all the time, but as I got older I only saw them once or twice a year. My senior year Frozen was the movie to see and I had to fulfill my duty as a Disney fan and see my annual movie. I invited over some of my girlfriends, we popped popcorn, and snuggled up to get ready for the movie. And I was really disappointed by Frozen. I was expecting glass-ceiling-breaking, out-of-this-world progressive, sister-love movie and I was disappointed when the only example of this "sister-love" was one instance of Anna saving Elsa. I attributed it to my growing up; maybe I was just getting too old for Disney movies anymore. I had become too mature, too adult to enjoy the callow humor and script of a Disney movie. Jaded, I stopped watching Disney movies for the rest of my senior year and into my senior summer. I began applying to programs at Duke, preparing myself to go away to college, and I couldn't have been more excited to embrace my adult hood and be independent. I arrived at my reorientation program extra-confident and spent the week getting to know my fellow seven crew members intimately. I was ready for college. College would be easy. This is what I believe until my first semester came into full swing and I had to balance classes, socializing, personal time, nutrition, and everything else that comes with that fabled independence. All I wanted to do was sit in my room with my dad's mac and cheese with peas, and curl up watching Toy Story or anything else Netflix had to offer me. Maybe I gravitated toward Disney because it had been so familiar. Disney was like an old friend I'd lost touch with. For the two hours I sat in bed with my laptop, I could forget all the "adulting" I had to do and be a little kid. To me, Disney means childhood and what could possibly be more comforting to me in my freshman year of college, the first time I've ever lived away from home for more than three weeks, the first time I've had to feed, launder, schedule, and entertain myself without any parental guidance, than to immerse myself in the nostalgia and the home that I recognize as Disney? So I chose to enroll in Decoding Disney as my Writing 101.