"The Dreams That You Wish Will Come True?"

I really don’t think it’s a secret anymore that Disney isn’t what it used to be. This multi-billion dollar empire has taken over the globe and is expanding every day. It has become a multifaceted “entertainment” industry which is no longer channeling its power exclusively toward making youngsters believe that dreams really do come true. It’s now got a pretty tight grip on media in general, owning several major networks, production companies, television stations, not to mention the resorts and theme parks (next time you’re in Tokyo be sure to stop by Tokyo Disney!), let’s not forget the Disney stores and the awesome merchandise you can score there (I’ll give you three guesses at where 99.9% of Disney merch is manufactured) all while churning out its own TV shows and movies. The list could go on and on for a long time. Disney is a filthy, business swallowing, money making machine and they are good at what they do. But enough about what goes on behind the scenes. All the facts evaporate when those faces appear on screen and musical numbers start.

Even if one could get past all of the greed, the commercialism, consumerism that is typical of a multi-media conglomerate, what about what the movies themselves promote? In the article written by Henry Giroux entitled, “Are Disney Movies Good For Your Kids?”, Giroux writes, “Even more disturbing is the widespread belief that Disney’s trademarked innocence renders it unaccountable for the diverse ways in which is shapes the sense of reality it provides for children as they take up particular and often sanitized notions of identity, culture, and history in the seemingly apolitical cultural universe of the Magic Kingdom.” You could pick out almost any animated Disney movie and find very similar plot lines and strangely enough, this repetitive plot never really seems to deviate from the assigned gender roles that have emerged as the norm in Disney films. In the movie Snow White, our female lead is saved first by the hunter who warns her against harm. Fleeing from her “wicked stepmother” Snow White befriends the seven dwarves and sticks around to cook and clean for them, taking on the obvious role of home-maker/ house-wife in exchange for staying there. So while the dwarves leave to work in the mines each day, Snow White stays at home, baking and cleaning etc. Hmmm. Every portrayal of Snow White in this movie reeks of stereotypical female classification. Even the sound of Snow White’s voice when she speaks. It’s exceedingly high pitched, she sounds very timid yet sweet and her vocabulary is brimming with exclamations of “oh!” and “oh my!” You know what I mean. The lyrics to the theme song in Snow White are as follows, “Someday my prince will come, someday we'll meet again, and away to his castle we'll go to be happy forever I know… And wedding bells will ring, some day when my dreams come true.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0niwn2pOEno


I ask you, what does this say to young, impressionable girls??? You’re incomplete until you find Prince Charming? You’re going to be unhappy until he sweeps you off your feet and takes you away to his castle? Who knows. Don’t get me wrong, I was raised watching the old school Disney movies, back when they were good, and they will always have a special place in my heart. But reading this article has really made me examine what kind of positive influence (if any) these movies are having on the youth of today.