In Conclusion...

I can’t believe this class is almost over. It seems like just yesterday (so cliché—I know), I was jumping for joy that I got into this class amid the craziness of registration. I came into this class thinking that I would be watching a bunch of Disney movies and analyzing them in high-school-literature-class-fashion. I got half of that right. We did watch a lot of Disney movies for sure—a lot of which I kind of knew the stories of but had never actually watched before—but the analysis was so much more in depth and more relevant than I expected.

This class was basically a modern women’s studies class. I learned so much about gender and gender-portrayal in Disney princess films that I feel like I’ve emerged from this class a higher level of feminist and Disney critic than I was when I came in. Before this class, I liked Disney because I thought its songs were fantastic (I still shamelessly sing them at the top of my lungs) and the stories were cute, but now I’m suspicious of the fact that almost every movie weaves romance into its plotline—independent young women don’t need no man! Or princesses for that matter.

Through this class, I’ve learned about Disney’s history and the evolution of its princesses. I became more aware of how Disney is affected by and actively incorporates current events into the production of its films. I distinctly remember the article I used for my second essay. I feel like that article taught me the most about Disney’s history because of its analysis of when Disney produced, or rather did not produce, princess films. The article taught me that the films’ purpose was to perpetuate traditional gender roles or whatever is socially acceptable. In the 1900s, princesses such as Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Aurora (1959) perpetuated traditional domestic female roles because they were produced in eras when women were encouraged to stay at home. However, the fact that there were no Disney princess films in the 1940s, when women were empowered, points to the fact that Disney’s major role is to perpetuate old standards. Reading this article and other analyses in class made me more skeptical of Disney’s intentions.

I also became more aware of gender and cultural/racial disparities present in Disney films. Through rewatching Disney princess movies with a concentration on gender, I noticed sexist comments and actions that I had never noticed before, such as the scene in Cinderella when the king insists that there must be a good mother out of the many women at the ball. This might explain why I felt inexplicably uneasy during parts of princess movies—because my inner feminist was uncomfortable with the traditional gender roles represented in the old and some newer movies—e.g. when Ariel and Pocahontas say “daddy I love him!” When I was reading articles for my third essay, I came across lots of background racism, like the realization that even though Disney claimed to create a diverse film by changing the physical race of the characters, it still injected American values into the culture, thereby devaluing its diversity.

However, no matter how egregious Disney’s mistakes are, it is still good that we are learning about them because now we can educate others about gender and racial disparities in popular media, or at least see the world with different eyes. Then we can help effect change in society, and maybe Disney will change again. As for me, I know for sure when I get around to seeing Moana, I will be viewing it from a different perspective—albeit a more critical one—and I hope with every new princess film, Disney improves its representation of women and different cultures.
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