So, I stumbled on this article while I was on Facebook. It made me laugh and think at the same time.
What did I think about? Well, for one thing, this writer may be kind of right. There is quite a bit of not-exactly-progressive subtext in some of the movies, if you're looking for it. Cinderella in particular does have that body-image issue, which is especially interesting considering that in the original story, the stepsisters were actually beautiful. It's as if Disney purposefully changed their appearance in order to conform to this whole pretty=good/ugly=bad binary that society has going on.
Another thing I realized is that people seem to love piling bad shit on old Walt. Hell, he's already a racist (in particular an anti-Semite), so I guess he makes a great dartboard for a whole host of other crap to be stuck on him. I myself am guilty of this: I've always considered the first three Disney Princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora) to be rather a bit anti-feminist: They're not even active characters in their own stories. They just basically get pushed around by the plot and/or the baddies of their respective movies. Aurora herself spent maybe three-quarters of her own damn movie asleep! What is that, seriously? I mean, people say Jasmine, Belle, and Ariel are weak, but at least they actually did something. They at least had some measure of control over their own stories (especially Ariel: her decisions set the entire plot in motion, and continued to influence it thereafter.)
That is the end of my opinionated little rant for now. And since everybody in the world is opinionated in some way (you do form your own opinions, right?), I'd like you to tell me yours. What do you think of Walt Disney, his movies, and the namesake studio that made (and still makes) them? If you see this, feel free to leave a comment in that there box.
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