Disney Dive

 

I know there are a lot of Disney households in the United States. There are families that visit Disneyland or Disney World every year. It is one of their family traditions. I did not live in a Disney household growing up. In fact, I didn't take my first trip to Disney World In Orlando, Florida until I was married. I will be honest and admit I enjoyed it. I liked the rides. I enjoyed the happy go lucky atmosphere and cleanliness that permeated the park (serious question here, how do they keep the parks so clean all the time when so many people are there every day?). I especially enjoyed the good food at the restaurants, anything you want you can find. As much as I enjoyed my trip, I have never returned. It isn't anything personal I have against Disney. I don't have any big moral beliefs that tell me Disney is bad. I don't think Disney is putting more bad into the world than good. I just believe that I don't need to return repeatedly throughout my life. I do, however, enjoy many of the movies made by the Disney franchise. Liking them doesn't mean I haven't picked up on some of the subtle, and not so subtle tones that Disney has embedded in their movies though. 

In the article Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us in the book Rethinking Popular Culture and Media Linda Christensen challenges all of us to look more closely at the materials we are viewing, the materials we are allowing our children to view. Not necessarily because she wants us to believe they are bad. More so because she wants us to be critical thinkers of the materials that we are accepting as part of our norm. She doesn't want us to decide that Disney is bad and to never watch another Disney movie ever again. Instead she wants us to watch these movies while listening to the inner thoughts we are having about what we are seeing on the screen. She wants us to question how the characters are portrayed. Christensen would like us to notice the messages we are receiving regarding good and bad, wealthy and poor, as well as what it means in the movies to be characters of specific sexes, races, and so much more. When we do this we can send messages back to Disney letting them know we see these messages and we dispute them. We can call attention to Disney's need to make quality programming that lifts up all cultures, races and beliefs, instead of messages that continue to tear them down.

Some Disney movies make it easier to find the messages being sent. In Cinderella we learn that stepmothers are bad, step sisters are mean and in order for us to do well in our life we must find our prince. Ariel in the Little Mermaid taught us to go against our parents and give up our most valued possession to get a prince. Mulan, though a strong female character, showed children that being a girl wasn't good enough. That she needed to pretend to be male to have a chance at helping her people. 

While watching Moana, at one point I said out loud to my son, "Disney is starting to get it." They are starting to show that males and females are equally strong. They are beginning to let children see that life is about things that are bigger than they are. That doing things for the greater good is a blessing that has lasting effects on everyone we interact with. And thank God they finally made a movie where young girls were not told it is their purpose in life to find a prince (I am looking HARD at you Frozen).

Moana gave us a girl that wanted her people and her land to thrive. She was concerned about the precarious situation her people were experiencing. In Moana we met the daughter of the chief, not quite a princess, but definitely a correlation was made. She has strong family connections to her mother, father, and most notably, her grandmother. 

Moana's grandmother told her that one day a chosen one would come and they would be able to restore the balance back into the Earth that would allow the people to have their needs met without the land dying. Moana is chosen as this person at a young age, then grows to act on it many years later. 

In Moana we see a girl defy her father (like Ariel) and set out to find Maui, a Demi-God, and force him to go up against Te Ka, as he had originally been the one to upset the balance with his typical Disney inflated ego and boasting. All of this culminates with Moana approaching Te Ka and making a connection, which then transforms Te ka into Te Fiti, thus restoring the balance. Moana and her people once again become the travelers their ancestors were as they no longer are fearful of passing a specific point in the ocean. (If you would like to read more of  my impressions from the movie you can find them here.)

Moana gave us a strong female lead that takes matters into her own hands, doesn't stop when things get hard, and relies on herself more than anyone. Disney is starting to get it. Maybe, I think, because people are starting to demand it. We are questioning the entertainment that is being presented to us. We are no longer accepting that since it is made by Disney it is automatically considered to be wholesome entertainment. People have finally started to look more closely at what is presented, and question it when we don't like what we see. And Disney should listen. According to Forbes Magazine Disney makes almost as much money off of merchandise sales as they do movie revenue. Without consumers watching the movies and dressing their kids up as the characters, Disney loses A LOT of money. Pretty sure they do not want that.

As much as I can admit that Moana is a good movie, I will also say we are a Toy Story household. My now 9 year old son received a Buzz Lightyear plastic doll when he was 3, and fell in love. Watching Toy Story quickly followed. Toy Story was originally released in theatres in 1995. In 1995 I was an undergrad in college. I don't remember ever knowing that Toy Story existed, yet, through the magic of Disney, twenty years after it's release, my toddler knew it and he latched on to Buzz and Woody like they were his best friends. Buzzy (as he called him) and Woody went everywhere with him: the supermarket, car rides, auntie's house and bed. When he watched the movies we would talk about friends. How friends help each other, how friends support each other, and even how friends can disagree with each other. We didn't talk about the fact that there were many more male characters in the movie than female. We didn't talk about how (until Toy Story 4) the heroes were male and the female characters were love interests and supporting roles. We didn't talk about it, but it didn't go unnoticed. 

Although these Disney movies have their embedded prejudices in them, ultimately it is up to the consumer, and most often this is parents, to help their children learn about the disparities that are presented in these movies. We can help children see the pieces of the various Disney movies we would like to have changed. We can teach them how to recognize and argue against the wrongs of these movies. We can also help them see the positive pieces of these movies, like Moana's determination to do what is right for all of her people even when she is scared, or Buzz and Woody's friendship that spanned 24 years of Disney magic.

As a side note I would like to say that the movie Moana has some of my favorite Disney music in it, so I will leave you with Auli'i Cravalho- How Far I'll Go.