I was talking via facebook with my friend Disney today, because she posted a Little Mermaid quote, and we got on to the subject of discussing how we like to analyze children's movies.
Now, this is particularly fun and interesting to me, since I LOVE doing this, and bring it up in my Literary Criticism class whenever I can. I don't mind dissecting these things from my childhood, even though some people complain that analyzing their favorite movie/poem/whatever ruins it for them.I think that's DUMB.
SO, that being said, if you are one of those people I've just mentioned, READ NO FURTHER, as I'm about to ruin your childhood.
The first instance I'd like to discuss is the raciness of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
I'm going to get right to the chase here, and say that Frollo's song "Hellfire" is downright RAUNCHY. If you haven't heard it in a while, go listen to it now: Here it is on YouTube
This guy is seriously fucked up. The main reason he's chasing Esmeralda throughout this movie is that he wants to bone her. Don't believe me?
What the hell is a kid supposed to make of this? I was astounded when I grew up a little and rewatched this movie. Subsequently, I had a wonderful time picking apart the meaning of it.
(For example, I brought it up in class when we were talking about the obsession with a "transcendental self," or a level of being beyond the physical. The idea tends to downplay and even distrust the physical manifestation of the body. In this case, Frollo distrusts and vilifies his own physical desire to the point of blaming Esmeralda for placing him under some sort of Satanic spell.)
Moving on...
to the arrogant, vain, domineering, bull-headed Gaston of Beauty and the Beast
Who, after being blatantly rejected by the "girl of his dreams," publicly humiliated, and dumped into a puddle of mud, comes up with an elaborate plan to blackmail Belle into marrying him.
Yeah, Right.
You really think this guy would have come up with a plan like that?
No. This guy would have waited around until she got home and gang-raped her. Assertion of dominance, putting the lady "in her place," destruction of virtue, and a heaping dose of public humiliation, all in one.
Okay, I KNOW this is totally horrible. As a matter of fact, Belle is my favorite Disney princess and I hate to think of this happening to her. But, come on,
tell me I'm wrong.
(Also, you do realize that Tarzan totally would have been screwing Terk? I don't want to go into that one, but while we were on the topic of horrible sex-related secrets, it seemed appropriate)
Keep in mind here, I'm really doing this post to be funny. There is an endless amount of deep, philosophical theory hidden in all of the Disney movies. I'm avoiding most of the really serious stuff, but I'll touch on a little bit of it.
Namely, the omnipresent MISOGYNY of Walt Disney.
 |
| I love this one, because it includes the oft-overlooked Mulan. Okay, I'm sure you've noticed at least some of this. From left to right:  Jasmine, the lovely, free-spirited daughter of the Sultan. She desperately yearns for freedom from the oppressive life of a princess (is this maybe a metaphor for the hardship of life for an Arabian woman??), which she cannot achieve without the help of a MAN. I mean, she's really pretty helpless once she escapes the castle. If it wasn't for Aladdin, she'd have had her fucking arm chopped off in the first five minutes of her adventure into Agrabah. She's also literally a prisoner of time (magically imprisoned in an hourglass) until Aladdin can save her sorry ass again. Could this also be a metaphor, for the limited time a woman has to marry before she becomes old and undesirable, and therefore achieve validation in a male-driven society? I'm sure some of you are shaking your heads right now, but that's really all women live for in a lot of cultures. It is, after all, the only thing that the Sultan wants for her...  Mulan, the unmarriable geisha who only receives acknowledgement for her heroic bravery while she is believed to be a man. Okay, it works out okay for her in the end, but she has to become a man to achieve anything worthwhile in her life, beyond putting on white face makeup and birthing tons of little warrior sons.  Snow White, who honestly pisses me off. She's entirely fucking useless. The chick literally DIES because she can't listen to her friends who are trying to save her life, knowing there's a vain, homicidal queen coming after her. Then she gets to wait around being dead until she can marry the first dumb necrophiliac who comes along and kisses her.  Cinderella, this mostly goes without saying. The only choice she sees beyond slavery to her bitch stepmother and stepsisters is marrying some guy she doesn't even know. (I notice these explanations are getting shorter and shorter as I'm getting huffier and huffier about them XP Please comment your thoughts and we'll discuss in more depth!)  Briar Rose, aka Aurora, who honestly I feel a little bad for. She's caught up in a whole lot of things she actually has no control over. She's told on the same day that her identity is a complete fabrication, and that as a result she can't even be with the man she's fallen for. Then, she's ensnared by a horrible witch to prick her finger on a spinning wheel (consequently, this is definitely a symbol of women's oppression. Ever see a man on a spinning wheel?) AND FUCKING DIE. The only thing that saves her is the goodwill and foresight of a dumpy fairy to make sure she's just made to fall asleep instead. Then, she's at the mercy of her "true love" to find her and kiss her-- while she's unconscious. Doesn't that sound like taking a bit of advantage to you? You know, you can't consent if you're passed out. Just sayin... Then, of course, it turns out the man she's betrothed to is actually the one she met ONCE UPON A DREAM, and what else matters after that?  Ariel, the wild young lass who falls in love with a member of another species, and subsequently trades her VOICE for the chance to visit him. If that's not symbolic, I don't know what is. In order to be happy, the woman must be silent. Disney pointed me towards a blog post by a girl who speculates that Ursula's bitterness is caused by her own rejection and bad experiences during her own adventure on dry land (for more on this, see here. These are her ideas, not mine). But of course we've all noticed Ursula's emphasis on Ariel's sexual value, over all others. "It's she who holds her tongue who gets her man." |
I'm not even gonna go there.
Lastly, we have the intelligent bookworm, Belle, who falls for the Beast despite the fact that he's literally a gigantic, hairy monster. But, notice that they don't really end up together until Beast gets pretty? (Also, did you know the Beast's name is Adam? I don't remember that being mentioned in the movie. EVER.)
Alright, I'm going to leave things here. Likely more to come in posts or comments!
