Essay On Sociological Reality Of Racism In Disney's Dumbo

Sociological Reality of Racism in Disney’s Dumbo

One of the most far-reaching concepts in Sociology is how personal biography intersects with history to inform the social reality. Depending on the biological features of a person – skin color and other genetic characteristics that cannot be changed – and the perception of these genetic features in a sociological sense by the society in a particular era, is affected by culture, politics, and regional attitudes, among others. Thus, as the times change, the general social attitudes about racism change as well. This concept of relative social reality can be analyzed through the racism that pervades the Walt Disney animated film, Dumbo. This paper will examine the social expectations during that era, and attempt to understand the reasons for why Disney may have included such racial stereotypes in his film.

Each reference to racism in Dumbo has a sociological reason for the formation of such attitudes and pervasion of such views into mainstream society during the particular era at hand. The animation contains various racist references, such as the following: (1) when the circus is being constructed in the beginning of the film, the African Americans workers have black faces without features, even if all of the whites and animal characters have definite facial features; (2) there are blackbirds and their

Analyzing racism in Dumbo in light of sociological concepts shows that Disney’s racism was not meant maliciously, but that it was a reflection of American perspectives about African Americans at the time. Constantly changing responses composing the national perspective, in my opinion, make sociology an interesting and beautiful area of study reflecting the human