Christenseen begins by opening our eyes to the "secret education" that children's books and movies portray. She describes these social blueprints as a "depiction of domination of one sex, one race, one class, or one country over a weaker counterpart". Within the young viewer, this secret education transpires into a distorted "accepted knowledge"of the world, embedded and transferred through the seemingly innocent and happy stories they grow to love. The children who are watching are filled with stereotypes and misinformation without realizing what has happened.
Dorfman writes that "we are taught, more then anything, not to rebel".
While this may be true in certain stories, I find that several disney stories also teach just the opposite. While many protagonists in these films or stories suffer in some ways for rebelling, they almost certainly end up in a place of power or a place more desirable in the end. On the contrary, this end goal is often attained through magic or luck, and is motivated by love (Ariel living on land and getting married, Belle ending up with a prince, her library, and escaping the working class)
I can see why Justine was afraid to dissect the impact of media on her everyday thinking and on her dreams. I mean, several disney stories end with a "happily ever after" between a man and woman, which is probably why so many little girls dream of this perfect wedding with a perfect prince of a guy. This, understandably transfers into adulthood. If this implanted fantasy proves to be misconsrued, then this can cause great distress.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I love the points you make about learning to "rebel" -- so the questions I leave you with is, rebel against what? What is Ariel rebelling against when she gives up her voice in order to live happily ever after with her man? Just some food for thought. I love that you raise this issue!
ReplyDelete