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Black racial stereotypes in media and society
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When you envision your favorite childhood movie what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it the adorable characters, the overwhelming feelings of joy you get as you sing along to the well known songs, or the life long moral lessons that you may hold dear to your heart? Now instead, imagine the feelings you get when you find out that this favorite movie may have contained subliminal messages and racist undertones. Does it still have the innocence that it did when it became your favorite movie? Surprisingly, this was the case for my favorite animated motion picture, Walt Disney’s 1994 classic, The Lion King. In this movie, the overall message is supposed to be about the importance of the circle of life, family and love. In contrast to that, many may argue that it also exhibits many negative signs of racism and discrimination towards certain characters such as the hyenas, thus placing them outside of the realm of …show more content…
In the movie, they hyena Shenzi is a young black female, Banzai is assumed to be a Latino immigrant, while Ed depicts a mentally disabled person. The vocabulary and dialect of the hyenas Shenzi and Banzai were distinct of the Black and Hispanic minorities in America and can be described as “the jive accents of a decidedly urban black or Hispanic youth” (Ziwich, 2011). Also, the hyena Ed has some sort of mental impairment in which he is always seen drooling with his tongue out of his mouth as he laughs profusely. This association with Ed’s mental disability can be found to be very insulting and insensitive, which can be compared to the injustice treatments toward blacks, as they were not allowed to learn to read or write and then were ridiculed for being unintelligent. Thereby, the creators did not only imply that blacks were dark and evil but also mentally inferior in comparison to
In the essay, Disney’s “Politically Correct” Pocahontas written by Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, a considerable and well-known example of the media misleading the public, the Disney movie, Pocahontas is discussed.
Classic stories remain a classic because they convey a message which appeals to people of multiple generations despite changes in society. King Kong was released in print in 1932, a year prior to its release in Hollywood, as a part of the film’s advance marketing. The public of this generation easily accepted the story’s racist, colonialist, and sexist themes. Today, literary critics such as Cynthia Erb view the novel and film as representation of the early 30s and thus a resource to understand the cultural context of the times. In particular, King Kong provides a window through which a modern audience can understand and interpret racism of the 1930s.
Presently, Disney known for its mass media entertainment and amusement parks technically bring warm feelings to many children and some adults. Personally, Disney elicits magical fantasies that children enjoy and further encourages imagination and creativity. For decades Disney has exist as an unavoidable entity with its famous global sensation and reach. Furthermore, Disney is a multibillion dollar empire with an unlimited grasp on individuals and territories. An empire per se, since they own many media outlets, markets, shops, etc., you name it they got it. However, the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly presents an entirely new perspective on the presumed innocence projected in Disney films. This film exposes certain traits Disney employs and exclusively portrays through its media productions, specifically cartoons for directing and nurturing influence beginning with children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly points out camouflaged messages of class, race, and gender issues in Disney films that occur behind the scenes intended to sway viewers towards adopting Disney values.
When we typically think of racial tropes in popular culture, we often don’t look towards animated G-rated movies. The film The Princess and the Frog released by Walt Disney Animated Classics in 2009 created by John Musker, Ron Clements and Rob Edwards is a perfect contemporary example of a film that shows images of pre-constructed racial tropes. Though Disney has produced multiple films based on past fairy tales, The Princess and the Frog was the first animated Disney princess film that featured an African American woman in a leading role. Often times regarded as a turning point in Disney’s movie production career, the film’s representation of African Americans proves to be regressive of racist politics surrounding the 21st century. The design
All through time, the world has been racist and intolerant of people different from themselves. Countless millions have suffered due to the bigotry of people that couldn't understand change or differences among one another. There was a time when any soul that wasn't blue eyed and blonde haired in Germany, anyone with darker skin where immediately classed as inferior and not human. Even now, when you are not aware, racism is still a considerable problem. But sometimes it isn't one person being racist against another, but rather one person being racist against them self. The movie crash shows good examples of how racism against oneself, caused by fear and misunderstanding, is just as malevolent and evil as racism against another person. Fear is what makes people act racist. Farhad is one of many examples in the movie of a person who recognizes his own race and paralyzes himself through his own fear. Farhad believes that since he is Persian he is immediately being persecuted against and cheated. He flips out at the gun shop when the owner was insulting him which just furthers his fear of Americans. After the events on 9/11, which are referenced a lot in the movie, Farhad thinks that anyone who is Middle Eastern isn't welcome in America. Even after the gun shop owner was rude; his shop was destroyed by racist people who hated him. It is this same fear of being cheated because of his race that makes him very untrusting to people he doesn't know. He calls a lock smith to come fix his door because it won't lock. He immediately thinks that Daniel is trying to cheat him and steal money from him just because of his past endeavors.
I found “Someday My Prince Will Come” to be a very interesting and enlightening article, sometimes when watching Disney movies at face value, it is easy to miss just how heterosexually driven these movies are. Many of the Disney movi...
Disney’s intentions were more than to captivate young children. They were ultimately to retell the original story of Pocahontas and the settlers and to address social issues of lifestyle and acceptance depending on race and the way they are being treated, proving that marriage isn’t all that important and addressing familial gender roles in society based on having a mother figure. Since 1995, the story of Pocahontas serves to entertain the young minds of children, but none the less the messages for seen in the movie, are mentioned to stress the issues of a series of systems in which maintain the imbalance of power among society’s social organization.
According to Giroux (1996), animated movies are a part of children’s culture. Children’s culture consists of entertainment, artifacts, myths, etc. that are based around the notion of what it means to be a child. Animated movies, particularly Disney films, encourages the child’s imagination and fantasy to be enhanced, creates a drive within them to go on adventures and helps them develop an aura of innocence. Animated films are “teaching machines” (Giroux, 1996, p. 66). Disney films teach children about specific roles, values and ideals and also take them through the world of enchantment. It helps them to understand who they are and what it means to be a part of the society and an adult environment (Giroux, 1996). Disney characters are a reflection
Rosina Lippi-Green's article "Teaching Children How to Discriminate - What We Learn From The Big Bad Wolf" (1997) examines the discrimination and stereotypes toward different race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality and region that Disney presents in their animated films. Lippi-Green also points out the use or misuse of foreign accents in films, television and the entertainment industry as a whole. Such animated films are viewed mainly by children. Lippi-Green makes a central argument in which she says that children are taught to discriminate through the portrayal of the different accented characters in Disney films.
Racism according to the Oxford Dictionary is defined to be, “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” Racism has always been a part of American history, and has influenced many of today’s films. Most Disney animated films have portrayed stereotype gender roles and racial bias. Disney has always portrayed black people through a certain lens, especially in many of its early cartoons. The first time, black characters or voices appeared in Disney cartoons, there was always something negative about that specific character. This idea that may have been rooted in the past, but it still continues
of influence in both the characters and gender roles of people in our society. The films have brought about the shaping of morals, behaviors and characters of not only children, but also adults in todays society, through engaging them in a constant series of unthinking consumption. In addition, most of the films in Disney bring out many different gender roles and people who grew up watching them have been influenced greatly by the content in the films (Blum 13). This paper will involve the various roles played by the characters in the films and how their roles have influenced the society at large.
The “Circle of Life” is something that plays a prominent role in Disney's The Lion King. Focusing on the life as it pertains to an ecosystem, the lessons it teaches are universal. Everything in life is interconnected, and the obstacles that people face always impact other people. History has proven to be a great example of this, especially when it comes to fights for equality. Showing the progression of the lives of many different civilizations in relation to each other, can allow for anyone in the present to learn an incredible amount as to why people are the way they are. Unfortunately, interest in history has waned over the years. Therefore, very few people take advantage of the advantages of history. This ignorance is extremely ironic because the behaviors of teens and young adults, especially women on the east and west coasts, are immensely like that of those in the 1920s. Meanwhile, the mid-west reflects that of the 1950s. To think that two different eras are portrayed so accurately in today's society, simultaneously and with such ignorance to the fact, is nothing short of amazing. While one emulation is a chance to progress forward, the other may cause more problems than it would solve. This is especially true when one notes the liberties a woman had in the 1950s in comparison with the 1920s. One would think that the 1950s housewife had more freedom; however, the rebellious spirit of the 1920s flapper allowed them to be more active people. It goes to show that the longevity of the impacts of the feminist movements throughout history are based on not only on education of the subject but also the location in which they occurred. This cycle of going back and forth in the fight for womens' rights is something that ...
For decades Disney has been the source of happy endings, fairytales, and family friendly stories for children of all ages. These stories range from realistic and familiar, to the eye-catching magical fairytale. The key to each of these stories are the happy endings brought about by each of the characters unique personalities and dreams. Disney’s films are attempted to provide children with the basic understanding of wrong versus right, but instead influences our society’s beliefs and awareness. Although Disney’s efforts to provide the basic morals to our children are misleading and affect our society strongly, they also contain the use of racism in a form which shows the major differences between characters. The once admired and well-known characters are seemed to be recognized by their species, ethnicity and even their social class. Disney films have taken out of context and have persuaded their viewers understanding of racial stereotyping, which is thoroughly explained in Henry Giroux and Grace Pollock’s novel, The Mouse that Roared. They bring awareness to the underlying racial stereotyping in Disney films, which deeply affect our societies understanding today. Giroux and Pollock bring into perception these admired and regularly watched films through precise examples and racist rendering of the specific characters species and ethnicities which strongly influence our society and lead children to intake these negative influences.
In my opinion there aren’t many storytellers who can rival the ability of Walt Disney, the man in the picture. His name alone brings about images in the minds of children and adults of his popular stories and characters. As children, his stories allowed us to immerse ourselves into a world of mystery, adventure and imagination, and as we grow older we can appreciate the life lessons that we learned from those stories as children. Some of the life lessons embedded within the motion pictures can be recognized by quotes taken from characters within the movies such as one from the emperor in Mulan, “The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all”, or the one expressed by Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh,” A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference”, and lastly one from Mickey Mouse, “To laugh at yourself is to love yourself.” Walt Disney’s stories have stood the test of time and will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. The techniques we use to interpret and analyze Disney films can be similarly applied to our text. We can immerse ourselves within the fantasy of it all and allow the stories to affect us emotionally while at the same time acknowledge take away lessons and viewpoints. Lessons and viewpoints such as the way women are portrayed in the text or the main goal and message behind Shahrazad’s successful
Gender discrimination is one of the major conflicts in Disney movies. Aladdin is one of the greatest examples of gender discrimination as Jasmine being the only female in the entire movie and uses her sexuality. The character of princess Jasmine in Disney movie Aladdin represents a character of a woman sexually, trapped; however, in between the film, she is also shown as a very demanding, bossy, smart, and used to getting her way. As those good stereotypes are shown in Jasmine, but to get her way she still uses sexuality to get her way.