Ben Doran

Comm 160

10/27/16

October Blog Post

            One discussion that we had in class this month stuck out to me more than any other. Our discussion involving Disney after we watched “Mickey Mouse Monopoly” provided a lot of new insight to me about how impressionable people are, even when we don’t realize it. Growing up with four older sisters ensures that I have watched my fair share of Disney movies (even the princess ones). But I never noticed anything off about them.  

            The documentary outlined the flaws of Walt Disney, claiming that he was both sexist, and a racist. However if that isn’t enough to already make you feel bad about loving the movies as a kid, it continued to explain how his questionable ideas were also framed out in his films. Children have the most impressionable brains, so it is dangerous that so many kids were exposed to ideas like this even if they are abstract. Showing beautiful and helpless young princesses getting rescued by prince charming with a happy ever after can certainly leave children with a highly false sense of how relationships work. It is also discussed that Disney sexualizes they’re lead female characters.

            We are all to blame for the wild successes and mass production of Disney.  It’s cute innocence might be deeper than we thought, but this also does not mean we should completely cut it off. Even if there are some innuendos that may not be appropriate, I do not think we should stop watching something like this all together. The movies outline a very specific ways that girls should act and boys should act, and they do not stray very far out of the box. However, Disney is only one company. Although they might be massive, they are not the only ones providing entertainment and ideas to our young people. The power is also in the parent. If you don’t want your kid being exposed to these clichés, then simply don’t expose them directly to Disney movies. The company of Disney is not at complete fault here. It is also on us to control what our children are consuming in terms of media, and to limit as much as possible what we don’t want them to see. However, I don’t think the occasional princess movie with skewed ideas is enough to blame our social issues on.