.png)
I had no idea Disney could be blamed for so much in society, and it seems unfair for me to limit my bitter diatribes to just the effect Disney may be having on the traditional family unit.
So, I'll change my Enthymeme thusly: What are the consequences of Disney on American society? Disney is a bad influence on American society's self-esteem. Reason? Disney sells unfair expectations of women, men, and pretty much anything else you care to mention as gospel truth. Whatever sets impossible standards is a bad influence on self-esteem.
.png)
I know I sound like I hate Disney, but that's not true at all. I was raised on it, and watch it to this day. Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. I guess my main problem is that kids are impressionable young souls, and Disney might not be the best thing for them to hear day after day. Girls are all raised on pictures of princesses. Guys are all swamped with images of slaying monsters. Normal people are no fun. Has anyone ever noticed how you have to be either amazingly beautiful or extremely ugly to be a main character in a Disney movie?
The essence of Disney, the verb of Disney-ing, is sprinkling fairy dust on something normal and making it
un-normal. That's really what all of Disney has in common. And the problem is that normally, life is normal. And kids are not being raised to believe that. They're being raised with expectations of a fairytale life. Not that I think Disney means to do anything like that. They are just trying to make money (as someone on Twitter reminded me). Still, there have to be better ways to sell movies.
This comment is coming way after you wrote this post, sorry about that, hahah - I disagree that Disney has had *so much* of a negative impact on society. Yes, they did spin that traditional fairy tale story, but I feel like other mediums, such as advertising, have had a lot more to do with body-image problems for men and women. But that's just an opinion.
ReplyDeleteDisney animated films don't exist to show the world as it really is - this is a fantasy genre. Yes, there are happily-ever-afters, brave men and beautiful women. But there are characters that break stereotypes as well, and the movies usually have some kind of moral going throughout the entire thing (in Princess and the Frog, the story focused a lot on the value of hard work, for example). Yes, kids are impressionable, but at some point they are able to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Anyway, I'm intrigued to see what evidence you've found to support your argument...this is an interesting topic.