When you first meet someone, what are the first things that you notice? Sex? Race? Or maybe the brands of clothing that indicate social status? Human beings as a society judge and categorize others, labeling those who stray from social norm as weird or strange. Who are we to make these judgments and where did these ideas of right and wrong come from? The Walt Disney Company plays an important role in depicting who and what people should and shouldn’t be. Every aspect of Disney, including movies, TV shows, and products, are supported by most of the world for entertainment and seemingly honest messages of innocence and magic. Beneath the image of innocence, Disney is also a media empire, a global conglomerate consisting of magazines, media production companies, television and radio networks, studios, cable TV systems, theme parks, and Internet sites – all of them motivated by the goal to maximize profits in an increasingly competitive business. Because this documentary is about Disney, its main audience is parents and people who are planning to have kids, but not only does it point out the issues with Disney to parents, but also to the Disney Corporation itself. Mickey Mouse Monopoly, a documentary released in 2002, examines Disney’s power to influence society and culture as it explores Disney’s depictions of race and gender in Disney movies, drawing on interviews with various individuals. Mickey Mouse Monopoly appeals to ethos and pathos to draw attention to Disney’s stronghold on public opinion, how Disney sensors negative publicity, and how Disney aids in the gender socialization of our youth and paints a vivid picture of our society’s concepts of race, class, and sexual orientation.
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... and form their own unbiased opinions, accepting or rejecting the documentary. Henry Giroux is a major part of this documentary as he is a media expert and author. Because he experienced Disney’s control and shares his experiences to expose how Disney influences public opinion and censors negative publicity, he strengthens the film’s credibility. The documentary also appeals to the emotions in the audience as it touches on feminism and masculinism and how Disney influences the socialization of children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly brings these issues to light and informs people that things need to change. This film makes it easy to get the information out there, and through knowledge, change is possible.
Works Cited
Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power. Dir. Miguel Picker.
Perf. Monique Fordham. Media Education Foundation, 2002. DVD.
Dines, Gail, and Jean McMahon Humez. Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995. Print.
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.
For several years now, Disney seems to be determined not to offend anyone in order to keep its audience; indeed we are confronted with animation films full of compromises; they are not as degrading for women as Snow-White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), but they are nonetheless still filled with clichés. Films such as The Princess and The Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Wreck-it Ralph (2012), have in common the sense of being progressive and however we can notice the resurgence of harmful gendered stereotypes on the subjects of the social scale, women’s role in society, or the status quo. Frozen comes in and turns out to be no exception. Though it includes several encouraging and gratifying elements, it contributes insidiously to spread numerous
The media has been a part of the daily life of the American people for the longest time, because of this fact, the media influences the decisions and views of how people should live. One big part of the media that tends to start to develop a sense of how the day-to-day American should live is Disney. Since kids are the main source of Disney’s billion dollar industry children have become an important dimension of the social theory (Giroux 1999: 65). “Within this context, television emerges as a consumer-oriented medium that reflects advertisers’ desire to reach a young, upscale, and primarily White audience” (Goodale1999; Henderson and Baldasty 2003: 100). As a result other races and ethnic groups other than white Americans are often put aside when it comes to the social media view of how Americans should live.
Walt Disney was born December 5, 1901 Hermosa, Chicago,Illinois by parents Elias Disney and Flora Call Disney. Living with four other siblings, Walt Disney grew up knowing selflessness and the power of togetherness that he used latter on in his many lines of work. Known for being a entrepreneur, cartoonist, animator, voice actor, and film producer, Walt Disney has been successful in bring joy and happiness to everyone of all ages.Disney has made large stepping stones for the animated industry along with creating beautiful long lasting entertainment for all and teaching us that with hard work and dedication we can do anything we dream of.From his humble beginnings in an old garage to building his own empire, Walt Disney has proven to be one of the most influential people even today with his many accomplishments.Some of these many accomplishments include creating something that everyone of every age can enjoy, improving the quality of animation along with creating the first full length animated movie, and opening the doors for the next generation of Disney Co. workers.
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...
A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. 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.
Walt Disney, creator of all things “happily ever after”, renowned for his work in movies and tv, is not only a famous animator and film producer, he is also a pioneer in American history by changing the lives of many through his encouraging work in movies. Walt Disney is important to the study of American history because he created movies and tv shows that taught happiness and heartbreak to children. He taught them that being small cannot hold you back from being mighty and doing the right thing. He revealed different cultures to children, and broadened their views on the world around them. In doing this, he widened global communication and the understanding of varieties of cultures and ethnicities (4).
Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.
(1) Michel G. Rukstad, David Collis; The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King; Harvard Business School; 9-701-035; Rev. January 5, 2009
Critics have warned the public audience about Disney programming’s affect on the “invasion and control of children’s imagination” (Ross 5). These movies express the typical gender roles “such as males being physically strong, assertive, and athletic, and females being prone to overt emotion, inc...
For nearly seven decades Corporate Disney has dazzled its audiences; generation after generation have been entertained through avenues ranging from movies to elaborate theme parks. While many find this massive establishment to be a significant part of American culture and welcome the Disney spirit with open arms, one man in particular looks past the hype and into his own theory of the Disney Corporation. Carl Hiaasen, a journalist for the Miami Herald, paints a witty and sarcastic portrait in this nonfiction account of a company. Hiaasen critizises the company for manifesting evil, enveloping perfection to a sickening extent, and who’s sole purpose is to inhale as much money as feasibly possible.
Towbin. M. A. et al. (2008). Images of gender, race, age, and sexual orientation in Disney
Given the existence of modern technology, individuals are immersed in the mass media now more than ever before. Media, especially television, is a source of entertain for adults, adolescents, and also young children. According to research, children reportedly spend approximately 2.5 hours a day watching television (Larson, 2001). However, there has been increasing awareness of the potentially problematic implicit messages that may be communicating to children through media consumption (Smolak & Murnen, 2001; Freeman, 2007; Levine & Murnen, 2009). Disney, one of the most successful establishments in the film industry with a target audience consisting mainly of children, should not exception to this scrutiny. Though a majority of its movies are
Nowadays, the media has a greater influence than ever on what the public believes and accepts. Research shows that the amount and realism of violence and sex in movies has skyrocketed, influencing the views of our generation. However, little to no attention is placed on the effects of movies on our views of racism, sexism, classism, and heteronormativity. Before watching a movie, you can get a general idea of how much sex and violence it will contain, in order to decide if it is appropriate for you. However, how can one tell if a movie is too racist, sexist, classist, or heteronormative for his/her viewing pleasure? What makes a movie racist, sexist, classist, or heteronormative for certain audiences, and not others? My take on the Motion Picture Association of America’s rating system serves to tackle these questions and bring light to the media’s influence on our views on racism, sexism, classism, and heternormativity. My audience for this rating system is primarily parents, who are easily offended by the racism, sexism, classism, and heteronormativity present in the media. They would likely care the most about the presentation of these ideologies in a movie, since they would not want their children to be influenced by the views portrayed in the films they watch.