Lilo and Stitch: Film Review One theme we have talked about throughout the course of the class is the physical appearance of characters and how they were draw. While watching Lilo and Stitch this idea came to mind, especially in comparison with how characters from other multicultural films are drawn. In this film the characters are drawn with slanted eyes, flattened noses, and large lips. The facial features among other ethnically diverse Disney characters like Mulan and Tiana seem to be some of the only differences, usually women’s body shapes remain consistent across films. However, Nani and the other Hawaiian women are drawn with to appear much curvier, thicker, and even more muscular than other Disney women. It first was apparently in …show more content…
Part of this commonality is the commodification of these other cultures. In Pocahontas, Mulan, and even The (Bell-Ringer) of Notre Dame the commodification is done through the previously mentioned animation of the women that Kilpatrick aptly describes as, “the improbable physics of (Pocahontas’) body” (153) that also can be applied to just about all of Disney’s multicultural female characters, most notably Jasmine, Tiana, and Esmerelda. In the case of Lilo and Stitch it is way the animators have constructed the islands in Hawaii. Cheng states this example as, “packaging the ‘aloha spirit’ as a multicultural self-image of Hawaii designed to ensure an authentic Pacific experience” (126). Although Disney commodifies these aspects of their films differently, they are both equally problematic. Creating images of exotic and impossibly beautiful women causes unrealistic and misrepresented standards, while neatly packaging one of the Hawaiian islands as a tourist’s dream reduces the culture’s value and, as Cheng explains through the rest of the article, serves to further pursue the films agenda of neutralizing Hawaii’s ethnically threatening presence in mainstream
Tangled was an entertaining eye opening illustration that included action, romance, comedy, that would be enough to keep the whole family entertained. Time and time again, Disney films are being criticized by the public because of the lack of ethnic diversity; this lack of ethnic diversity can be illustrated through the film titled Tangled. In 1995, Disney gave us Pocahontas and in the year of 1998 Disney had released Mulan. This showed the public that, Disney was in fact capable of creating films in which the lead protagonist was not white, however it wasn’t till more recently that racial diversity truly had taken stand when The Princess and the Frog (2009) was released. While, I applaud the efforts of Disney in attempting
Sixteen years after premiering as Disney’s thirty-third animated film, Pocahontas still incites excitement and wonder within those who wish for nothing more than to be a Disney princess. As Disney’s most notable attempt at political correctness, Pocahontas was created to entertain while attempting to maintain authenticity in regards to historical accuracy and in its fairness of depicting Native American culture. Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, the author of “Disney’s ‘Politically Correct’ Pocahontas”, feels the movie not only failed at being historically accurate but that it fell far short of being politically correct. The article, which appeared in the Fall, 1995 issue of Cineaste, contends the Disney production was duty bound in preserving the integrity of the Pocahontas legend and being both multiculturally and socially inoffensive. However, if being politically correct and constantly factual within any version of media made for entertainment were the standard, we would be left with documentaries and non-fiction. Artistic license allows for a literal account of events to become an engaging, accessible production.
The “lotus blossom” stereotype is an Asian American female stereotype that portrays them as feminine, submissive, and desirable romantic interests for the white male protagonist (Tajima 309). Although the stereotype is the production of films fetishizing the “traditional Orient” culture, the stere...
The movie also showed the successes of Anna May Wong’s sinister dragon lady, Suzie Wong and the ’50s geisha girls and the Asian-American anchorwoman of today. One of the anchorwomen who was interviewed spoke about the stereotypes of exoticism and docility that have affected the perception of Asian-American women. She spoke about how her boss didn’t like when she stood up for herself and made radical decisions to cut her hair.
The past films of Disney’s have a great sense of orientalism that pervades, that I actually didn’t start thinking about until one of the first days of our Postcolonial Literature class. One example of this is in Aladdin, where the Middle-Eastern and Arabic culture is very romanticized and the film uses very stereotypical portrayals of the Arabian society to forward the plot and to characterize the people. Because it is a film created by a Western company about a “faraway land,” as the movie describes it, the exocticizing of the Arabian culture and the lack of nuance does not make the portrayal of it “including everyone” or “for everyone.” It’s primarily for how a Western audience wants to look at the exocticized Middle Eastern culture in the movie (Olsen). Similarly, in Mulan, the lines between the descriptions of the differences between Chinese and Japanese culture are not clear, as the depiction of Mulan from the beginning as a geisha because of her dress and white face makeup is not consistent with the allusions to the Chinese folklore story that is being told through the fighting in the battles and for the Chinese
From a young age, princess culture has impacted the lives of numerous people. Some individuals may have spent their childhood parading around in the attire of their favorite Disney princess while they put on their best rendition of the character they admired most. Ohers may have only seen a few Disney princess movies here and there and went seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon. With Disney’s debut of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, princess movies would provide the defining factor of the Disney entertainment empire for years to come. From this, fairy tales embarked into a territory that would touch the lives of many individuals
Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and many other Disney movies all have one thing in common, they feature a female lead who needs a male figure to save them. However, things started to change after the release of Mulan in 1988. Movies that were only representing female leads as weak and always needed to rely on someone, started to feature females who showed off their more masculine side. Mulan was one of the first animated films that had started to dive into that, not to mention it was based on a true story, making it even more powerful. In the article “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Pixar/Disney”, authors Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden explore Pixar movies show male characters who were not afraid to show their emotions
Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future. According to Disney films, it is important for women to achieve the stereotypical characteristics of a woman, such as maintaining their beauty to capture a man, and being weak and less educated than male characters. The women in Disney movies are always beautiful, which helps them to find a man.
Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite their mask of progression, Disney princesses still have the potential to corrupt the minds of young children through sexism and racism.
The Disney movies of Pocahontas tell a plot of a Native ¬American tribe and English colonists that fight for the land the Native Americans live on though war ultimately creating moderate peace. While keeping to their own sect, the imbalance of power between the two social groups is prevalent throughout much of the story. Walt Disney’s Pocahontas is more than a classic children’s movie. It is a thoughtful, well contrived narration that portrays a message that in order to fit in, you must be a certain race and born into a specific culture. Disney’s Pocahontas suggesting that the color of our skin shouldn’t matter when being accepted into social groups as well as the idea that arranged marriage should be rejected. Thus, treating people right could ultimately have a positive outcome and lastly, the film also suggests that family roles change without a mother figure.
I enjoyed watching Disney films while growing up, and Pocahontas was one that I watched often. In the movie, Pocahontas was portrayed as being an “Indian Princess” that was one with nature as well as submissive. One of my favorite Disney movies was Peter Pan. Both films obviously contain many Native American stereotypes, such as that Native Americans are an unprogressive people and savages. In Peter Pan, the characters wore sacred headdresses, sat in a circle and smoked tobacco while chanting to a stereotypical Indian drum beat. “What Makes the Red Man Red?”, a song in Peter Pan, contains incredibly offensive terms such as “injun” and “squaw” in the lyrics. In Pocahontas, the terms “savage”, “devil”, and “primitive” are used to describe Native
Proactivity allows a female to harness her power with aspirations of removing female stereotypes and rising up for equality between genders. The gender difference perspective examines how women's location in social situations differ from that of men. The Paper Bag Princess written by Robert Munsch, explores Elizabeth's transgression with social gender roles displaying feminist values. The pro feminist text challenges social norms by illustrating a non-stereotypical view of Elizabeth and her female empowerment by breaking traditional folktale gender roles.
I have chosen to interpret the movie, Lilo and Stitch. The movie wavers around the tale of a young girl named “Lilo”. Lilo has a close encounter with an extraterrestrial most wanted prisoner. The audience is soon brought to the realization that Lilo is a lonely Hawaiian girl who has lost her parents and is now being cared for by her older sister. Her sister wants Lilo to feel more “at home” so she decides to let her adopt a dog. The dog she chooses is the little blue alien she soon names “Stitch”. Through her faith, love, and energetic belief in ohana, which is the Hawaiian concept of family, Lilo helps surface Stitch’s heart and gives him the
Even though the production of Disney’s film The Frog Princess is a huge step forward to show the equality of all culturals and ethnicities, it just shows that racial components which were once overlooked by most parents and children are now a wide spread controversy. Giroux thoroughly explains the effect Disney films has on the youth, “Rather, it points to the need to address in meaningful and rigorous ways the role of fantasy, desire, and innocence in securing particular ideological interests, legitimating specific social relations, and providing the content of public memory” (Giroux 132).
Disney’s 1998 film, Mulan, attempts to tell the heroic tale of a Chinese woman fighting for her family and country while defying gender roles, but looking into details such as song lyrics enforcing both male and female gender stereotypes, and bland visualization of characters, one can see that this film in fact enforces gender role inequality.