October Blog Post

Kayla Possehl

October 31^st 2017

Comm 160

Christina Ivey

October Blog Post

I decided to write this blog post about the documentary we watched a few weeks ago in class about the influence Disney specifically movies have had on children or if affected them later in life. Personally I found this to be very relatable as well as create conversation within the class relating to media’s influence on individuals as well as cultures role. The influences I had growing up in Northern California compared to another individual from Boise for example is very going to be very different. From a young age I loved everything and anything Disney. With this being something so prominent in my childhood I never thought twice about how some of these Disney movies may have influenced the way I thought or things I went through later on. The documentary had me asking myself could this have been a factor in how I developed an eating disorder at the age of eleven thinking I needed to be stick thin like the princesses in these films. It is incredibly remarkable how influenced we are during adolences especially when looking at why individuals develop mental illnesses.

I actually had the opportunity through the Disney College Program to work at the Disneyland Resort. It was a lot of hard work but overall a dream come true. Why I bring this up is because being a cast member at the resort there are a lot of rules and regulations the company has to uphold their remarkable reputation. The way an individual represents themselves at somewhere like Disneyland is crucial to the success of the park. With that being said the company does not discriminate and is accepting of all individuals. Although in many of the Disney movies brought up in the documentary don’t display this I think it is important to look at all aspects of the company. Another factor has to do with the fact that many of the movies they talked about came out before 2000. Since then there has many Disney movies with characters from different cultures as well as showing that the princess doesn’t always need a man or in this instance a prince to save them. Something I also had to think about as a viewer is that I am bias to being a Disney lover and having an opposite opinion from what the documentary was trying to prove to their audience members. As I discussed earlier I felt that some of their views brought up did make me think about how these films or other Disney television shows may have had more of an influence on me then I may have thought at the time.

Overall based off of our class discussion there we many differing opinions on this documentary. I think this is the great thing about a class that discusses the role culture plays a role in communication and how we as individuals are affected or influenced. Also being at a university where we have students from all different backgrounds and cultures shows that is a huge factor in the way we respond to experiences and communicate with others. I feel that from watching this documentary it helped me use a different perspective not only with the Disney example brought to attention but in other situations as well.