My Disdain For Disney
Like all small children, my world revolved around Disney. I reveled in the wild magical adventures and lovely musicals that entertained me and so many others. However, the movies had more impact on myself than I would like to admit. I remember the first time I saw Sleeping Beauty and was enamored by the Prince and Princess. They were tall, slender, fair, with pouty lips, high cheek bones, long sharp jawlines, perfect chins and long flowing hair. With more movies I noticed how all of the heroes looked like them. From Tarzan to Hercules, every Disney hero was tall, athletic or slim, and had the same facial features. They were intelligent and kind as well, almost perfect in every way. I often wondered if and when I would ever look and act like them. Much of what children know they learn from the television shows and other media outlets they see. Unlike adults who are able to comprehend messages, children’s minds are not as developed to do so. In addition to this the ages of 4-12 are some of the most important years for human being’s development of cognitive thought and understanding of the world. If children constantly see one depiction of a person, they will believe that is how they should be. The Walt Disney Company use children as an audience and therefor have a responsibility to convey messages that are healthy and accurate to those children. Unfortunately, from the current state of the company’s entertainment, they are not doing as such.
Founded in 1923 by Walt Disney, the Walt Disney company focused primarily on animation and children’s entertainment. Eventually they gained a monopoly on not only children’s media, but all American media as well. Although the movie studios garner the most revenue for the company, their television channel has a great level of influence. Founded in 1983, the Disney Channel is one of only three cable channels who’s target audience is children. Their shows often revolve around children or adolescents in comedic and unlikely events. Although the shows are meant to be childish, the characters can appear to be more mature than they should such as in the show Ausitn and Ally[os1] .
The main characters appear to be flawless. Ally is of mid height, slender, has perfectly long flowing hair, wears shiny, small, bright colored clothing with perfect make-up. Austin is tall, athletic, tan, has mid length straight blond hair and wears bold dark colored clothing. Within the show, they are both extremely talented, charismatic, popular, and have many romantic storylines. They are shown as what children should be and they want to be. The supporting character’s Trish and Dez are portrayed in different ways. Trish is short, heavier built, has curly black hair, is Latina and wears bigger multi-patterned clothing. Dez is tall, pale, skinny, has short red hair and wears loud mitch-matched clothing. These two characters are goofy, unintelligent, lazy, and clumsy. They are shown as what children shouldn’t be and don’t want to be. This idea creates a hierarchy, telling children that some of them are better than others. It also places children in to two distinct groups, telling them they must be one or other and cannot have traits of both. Children are not as one dimensional as that. They can encompass a multitude of contrasting behaviors, all of which are perfectly normal. To tell them they cannot exist in this way is detrimental to their self-esteem.
In addition to the affects these shows have on the audience, it must also be taken into account the state of child actors. Often times child stars develop mental and physical health issues due to the combination of high stress and the perception of what they should be. In an interview with Marie Claire Miley Cyrus, who starred on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, mentioned how detrimental working on the show was for her.
"From the time I was 11, it was, 'You're a pop star! That means you have to be blonde, and you have to have long hair, and you have to put on some glittery tight thing.' I was told for so long what a girl is supposed to be from being on that show. I was made to look like someone that I wasn't, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long, and then when I wasn't on that show, it was like, Who the fuck am I?"
Demi Lovato, who starred in Disney Channel’s Sunny With A Chance, had to attend a rehab Clinique for bulimia and suicidal tendencies in 2011 while she was filming the show. In 2014, Lovato took to Twitter to criticize the Disney company saying “I find it really funny how a company can lose one of their actress' from the pressures of an EATING DISORDER and yet still make [a] joke about that very disease. And is it just me or are the actress' getting THINNER AND THINNER … " The remarks were brought about by a joke referring to a character as “not eating” on the Disney Channel show Shake It Out. As Catrina Brown, states in The Control Parodox “Women are promised success, happiness and control through attaining the ideal thin
body.” The fact that girls, and some boys, as young as 11 are learning this idea is despicable. As a society, we often forget that these actors are children who can be fragile and easily influenced. To be in an environment that demands perfection at such a young age is horrifying. Their safety and well-being should be a top priority, exceeding the importance of appearance.
Although Disney channel’s live action shows portray children in problematic ways at least those depictions are close to reality. The character’s within Disney’s animated films on the other hand don’t even appear human. Take for example the 2013 film Frozen which depicts the adventures of two sisters named Elsa and Ana. One of the biggest criticisms of Elsa and Anna was that they had unrealistic body images.
Both characters were extremely thin to the point that their heads were larger than their waste. Their eyes and cheeks were large and full, while in contrast their lips and nose are very small. The intention for this was most likely to convey innocence and childlike qualities in the women, even though Ana is 18 and Elsa is 22. Lastly the women are always depicted as having perfect well put together hair and make-up, even when they are in life threatening situations. Whether it’s being imprisoned or running for their lives, the two heroines are still gorgeous. These character designs are common as critics pointed out the similarities in design of Rapaunzel from Tangled, and Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6. One could argue that this was simply a product of animation style, as cartoon characters are often disproportionate. However, all of the men within Frozen had realistic bodies and faces. In addition to that, there was much diversity in the body types and sizes of the male characters. Hans, the love interest, is tall and slender yet very fit. He has sharp defining features that do seem realistic. Kristoff, the side-kick, is heavier set, more-so bulky, but with messy hair and a baby face. Then there is the Duke of Wesselton, the villain, who is short, skinny and has a hunched back. As Chris Godsey mentions in Cro-Magnon Karma “While feelings of inadequacy are gaining prevalence among guys, we're still relatively immune compared to women.” This is a perfect example as to why given that although there is a male beauty standard it is no where near as strict and unattainable as the female one. India Menzel, the voice actress for Elsa, referred to Frozen as "a bit of a feminist movie for Disney.” However, I would disagree with her. Nothing that promotes an unrealistic ideal for young girls, especially body image wise, can be considered feminist. The movie was just a repeat in Disney’s long tradition of telling women that their very existence depends on their beauty.
One could argue that by the time of adolescence, most of Disney’s audience will move on to other media, and the company will have lost significant control over them. However, children are not the Walt Disney company’s only audience, and the corporation has many other media outlets that are targeted towards adolescents and adults. The rhetoric of these other shows and movies is very similar to the ones I stated in the previous paragraphs. One of their most popular shows is Pretty Little Liars which airs on Freeform.
The show depicts four high school girls as they are stalked, harassed, and blackmailed by an unseen assailant. The show was extremely successful, going on for 6 seasons with premiere and finale episodes averaging close to 3 million viewers. Like the children shows of Austin and Ally and Hannah Montana the female protagonists and male love interests appear to be flawless, however in this case it is taken to extreme heights. The women wear smaller, tighter and more fashionable clothes. Their hair is longer and more styled. In any scene, even when they are in bed or the shower, they are wearing make-up. When it comes to the males on the show emphasis is placed on their bodies, with close shots to either their abs or chest. The rhetoric that one must be flawless, which the audience had learned in childhood, is being reinforced in their adulthood. What is more dangerous is that being older, the subject of romance and sex is brought into context. Sex should be depicted in media, as it is a natural process that most people desire. However, sex is not portrayed in a realistic or healthy way. Within the show sex is depicted as being the ultimate declaration of one’s undying love. When the girls are shown engaging in sex, it is because they fully trust and want the one partner. This idea is dangerous as it places value on virginal status and shame on women who engage in promiscuous activity. As the shows target audience is female, the writer’s depictions reflects what they believe sex should be like for women. Sex is not a binding contract to another person. Sex is simply a natural activity for the sake of pleasure and procreation. Our society must throw away the idea that a woman’s worth is linked to her sexuality. As Sean Killbourne stated in Killing Us Softly 4 “So it’s not just we see these images once, or twice, or even a hundred times. They stay with us and we process them most subconsciously.” Disney has the same rhetoric throughout most of their stories, reinforcing the idea that human beings, especially women, must be perfect.
As unethical as Disney can be, the corporation is not the root of all evil. There are many companies who practice the exact same routines, as the ones that I have stated before. This goes beyond movies and television, and extends to fashion, news, food and almost every aspect of our culture. Disney is a reflection of the larger issue within American society, which is our extreme obsession with perfection. From the moment we are born to the time we die we are constantly bombarded with images telling us what is the best and why we should achieve it. Our worth is determined only by how much other’s want to be like us. We are only able to escape this mindset through the realization that by simply existing we are worthy of love and respect. I came to this realization through studying how media affect us and shapes our minds. I only hope for the other children in such similar circumstance, they can be so fortunate as to come to this conclusion as well.
Works Cited:
Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women. Dir. Jean Killbourne. Cambridge Documentary Films, 2011.
Godsey, Chris. "Cro-Magnon Karma: One Dude and His Body Image Issues." Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image. By Ophira Edut. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2003.
Glock, Allison. "Miley Cyrus Is Just Trying to Save the World." Marie Claire 1 Sept. 2015.
Brown, Catrina. “The Control Paradox: Understanding and Working with Anorexia and Bulimia” 1990. M.A., M.S.W.
Frozen. Dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Walt Disney Company, 2013.
Thompson, Anne L. "Frozen's Idina Menzel Is a Feminist, Too." Msnbc.com. NBC News Digital, 18 Dec. 2014. Web.
King, Marleene. Pretty Little Liars. Freeform. Burbank, California, 28 June 2010. Television.
Kopelow, Kevin, and Heath Seifert. Austin and Ally. Disney Channel. Burbank, California, 2 Dec. 2011. Television.