Disney World is portrayed as a magical kingdom for families to come and share memorable moments and spend thousands of dollars doing so. But, to me, Walt Disney is the root of evil. Maybe that's a little over-exaggerated, but I refuse to be a part of the growing community of Disney and boycott all thing's Disney related.
According to the Columbia Journalism Review, The Walt Disney Company not only slaps their name on everything, but also owns a number of multi-billion dollar production companies such as Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films to ESPN!
I see Disney not only as racist and sexist, but also homophobic. Before you say, "Well, at Disney World, they have Gay Week!" I say, if we were all seen as equal, why the hell would we have a specific day for gays and lesbians to be themselves? And Walt Disney has not even addressed the rights of transgendered individuals.
Some individual's will also fight me about how Disney is not racist claiming that the introduction of the leading African American princess, Tiana, in Princess and the Frog, shows strength in the black community. But, to me and other people, this is just a slap in the face to African Americans. The portrayal of Princess Tiana is more unnatural and that of a white woman. Tiana has light colored skin and permed hair. Even down to the frogs in this animated film, are portrayed as almost ghetto-centric. And like most evil Disney characters, the evil voodoo man is dark skinned. Fun fact: Think about it, every person/thing in a Disney movie that is portrayed as evil/bad, is colored, even if it's purple, never light skinned.
It's sad because Disney possesses the great ability to reach individuals and help teach future generations about respect and tolerance, but they continue to shove heteronormalcy (normalization of heterosexual relationships) down children's throats, among other things...
Therefore, Disney is the root of all evil.
According to the Columbia Journalism Review, The Walt Disney Company not only slaps their name on everything, but also owns a number of multi-billion dollar production companies such as Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films to ESPN!
I see Disney not only as racist and sexist, but also homophobic. Before you say, "Well, at Disney World, they have Gay Week!" I say, if we were all seen as equal, why the hell would we have a specific day for gays and lesbians to be themselves? And Walt Disney has not even addressed the rights of transgendered individuals.
Some individual's will also fight me about how Disney is not racist claiming that the introduction of the leading African American princess, Tiana, in Princess and the Frog, shows strength in the black community. But, to me and other people, this is just a slap in the face to African Americans. The portrayal of Princess Tiana is more unnatural and that of a white woman. Tiana has light colored skin and permed hair. Even down to the frogs in this animated film, are portrayed as almost ghetto-centric. And like most evil Disney characters, the evil voodoo man is dark skinned. Fun fact: Think about it, every person/thing in a Disney movie that is portrayed as evil/bad, is colored, even if it's purple, never light skinned.
It's sad because Disney possesses the great ability to reach individuals and help teach future generations about respect and tolerance, but they continue to shove heteronormalcy (normalization of heterosexual relationships) down children's throats, among other things...
Therefore, Disney is the root of all evil.
I completely agree that Disney films just serve to reinforce our culture's heterosexist gender norms. Last night, for instance, I was watching "The Little Mermaid" after not having seen it for at least ten years. I was struck by the fact that, after Ariel falls in love with Prince Eric, the only way she's able to secure his affection is by literally giving up her voice. This sort of representation is detrimental because it only perpetuates the belief that women should give up their power to the men in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a Disney-hater, for their sanitized, whitewashed version of the world. It is a fantasy world for nonthinkers, and going down there gives me the creeps...all those Disney animatrons, and everyone knows Uncle Walt was a Nazi sympathizer. Thanks for this blog post!
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