Question: In the new Disney film The Princess and the Frog, will the portrayal of the first African American Princess reinforce or undermine stereotypes of the African Amercian culture?
Summary: In many of the Disney films, the isses of race have been unveiled out of the curiosity marked in people who watch theses films. For many people these messages are sublime, but in the end reveal a harsh truth. For example, after watching Mickey Mouse Monopoly, many questions were raised as to why such animated characters would perpetuate such stereotypes. In one film, Aladdin, the people of Agraba are seen as cruel individuals who cut off your hand if you steal after the first offense. Then there is a very famous song, that says the cut off your head if they dont like your face, shows the unrealistic intensity of this country. Another example is Lion King with the voices of the Hyenas being black people. They show them as stupid Hyenas who don't do anything right. This is a great problem since many people find this offensive to their culture. With this new film coming to theatres very soon, the previews raise interesting questions. Princess Tiana is from New Orleans, the frog is from Spain who was cursed from a vudu doctor... What do you think?
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I think the fact that finally having a princess being potrayed as an African African will be reiforce, because they finally have a figure to represent their ethnicicity but, at the same they will probably be thing why did it take so long to create an African Americn Princess? Good Question though, I can't wait to see how this plays out!!!
ReplyDeleteAlbert Ramos (Group 7)
The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast…what do all these main characters have in common? They are all white. When I found out that Disney will be releasing a movie with the main character being an African American princess, I thought to myself…well, it’s about time! As one can see from watching Disney films, minorities haven’t always been represented well and are usually given such stereotypical characters to play. For example, the Chihuahua, the Siamese cats and the crows all of which have distinct accents that for many minorities find extremely offensive. Disney films are shown to millions of children and for those minorities who do watch, how do you think it makes them feel when their ethnicity is given such minor roles, many of which they may not even feel proud of? My guess is probably not good at all. Having an African American as a main character and for that matter a PRINCESS is awesome and I think the more diversity they start having as main characters is a move in the right direction.
ReplyDelete~Katy Davis~
[Steven Miller. Cal State Fullerton. Anthro 316. Professor Alexanian. M/W 8:30]
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that Disney has now created a movie with an African American princess; she will hopefully become an inspirational figure to many girls. I however do believe that this figure will reinforce stereotypes of African Americans towards some people, but not all. I believe there are many people who restrict themselves to just seeing the negative/stereotypical view for everyhting; that they must disagree with everything outside of "their norm". I am sure that Disney knows that they will receive negative criticism about their film (especially about the voodoo religion and how it is depicted through their film and how it is really practiced), but they are well prepared for this criticism.
To touch more on the topic of voodoo, or voodou. It may or may not be depicted as evil in this new movie (haven't seen it yet, so I don't know) but, many movies twist the validity/facts of a subject to work it with their story. I am completely fine with that, as long as it is entertaining. This is a Diney movie, not a documentary. So I believe that people should not complain that a movie is not historically valid, they are made for entertainment and profit. However, many movies do contain valid historical content, and I give them a pad on the pack for that.
So in conclusion, there will always be disagreement, it is just the way we are. If we all had the same bleiefs/morals/customs... well, that would be kinda boring.
Good luck with your project.
[Steven Miller. Cal State Fullerton. Anthro 316. Professor Alexanian. M/W 8:30]
Disney films have a reputation of sending the wrong messages to their viewers such as in Oliver and Company the Chihuahua being Latino & the white dog being a white man. Jungle book has monkeys as black people actors. Why does disney do this? Maybe cause they play the part better, dont know. [David]
ReplyDeleteIt depend on how the characters of the movie are portrayed, but its about time that another ethnic becomes the main character of the Disney film. Whether ethnic differences in the movie affect the children, it will depend on how well the children understand the term ethnic, how their parents and themselves interact with different ethnic, and how ethnicity are presented to them. For adult, the movie may rise a strong reaction, negative or positive. But it will also depend on how the characters are presented, how accurate it is to life, and the actual understanding of the audience about that ethnic and its culture.
ReplyDelete- Charlene Tran
I think it will be very interesting to see how the film will balance seeking to eliminate African American/ Black stereotypes, while preserving the culture of African American/ Black. I fear that in the process of seeking to avoid stereotypes they will create a character that is out of touch will the African American/ Black community. I hope that Disney will embrace the African American Culture as a whole, the good and the bad in creating this new charecter.
ReplyDelete-Jeff Chang
I stumbled upon these 2 interesting links on Disney movies
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cracked.com/article_16905_7-classic-disney-movies-that-taught-us-terrible-lessons.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_9-most-racist-disney-characters.html
I agree with Charlene that the cultural difference or how the children are taught will certainly effect how they view Disney movies.
People are taking interests in The Princess and the Frog because they see featuring an African American Princess as a big step for Disney movies. It is a reflection of our culture that to this day the ethnicity difference is most likely never go away, but even Disney has finally got around to positive image.
-Lillian S. / Irvine campus