Born in 1991, I grew up watching Disney movies. I remember having the VHS cassettes of Aladin, Pocahontas, The Little Mermaid, Lion King, and so much more. I grew to love All that is Disney and passed them down to my brothers. I vividly remember my youngest brother being born and me putting him in front of the TV to watch The LION King. I remember changing my Instagram handle to Kovu after the character in Lion King 2.
Linda Christensen made some great points about how it most likely shaped my life and the children who watched it. But at my place in life, I’m unsure how much it matters or how much damage was done. I try to reflect on my life and identify with being a man. I personally adhere to some of the social norms that come with it. But I was also raised in a church and by religious parents. I also was raised in sports culture with some issues of its own. Also, just being born in America has its stuff that you can align to “secret education.” Vapes with flavors that attract young teens. I can’t tell you how many watermelon Ice or Very Berry berry vapes I’ve confiscated this year.
I believe that as parents, we attempt to help children build that educational armor. But so much information is being slid through every day. If you aren't careful, you might miss it. Teaching students how to think critically is so important. When parents/guardians, teachers, and educators are no longer there to guide them, they can fall back on what they learned.
As I watch some of the movies, I see how they’re problematic. But for some reason, I still find it difficult to attack them critically without feeling bad. Mulan needed to pretend to be a man to save her father because a woman's voice was mute in their society. After saving many soldiers, she was found to be a woman, and the punishment they wanted was death. Christensen explained why the little mermaid was problematic, not to mention the world's uproar when they cast a black woman as Ariel in the live-action movie.
What I’m fighting is the nostalgia of what got me through childhood and facing the fact that maybe they weren’t so great, to begin with.
Hi Jai! I found your last sentence to be really powerful - I feel like my relationship with Disney has always had this nostalgic pull. I had the same problem with JKR and the Harry Potter franchise, especially after her transphobic comments on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the balance between connecting to media we loved as children or young adults while also being critical of them?
P.S - Li Shang from Mulan is seen as a bi icon in the queer community. Totally not Disney's intention, but it's interesting to view media in multiple lens.
Hi Jai, Your words resonate with me. I agree that we need to teach our youth to be critical thinkers and that some stuff is going to slip through. I feel that we need to be careful about not always looking for the bad/the negative but to balance it with the good/ positive that is portrayed as well. I won't stop watching my favorites but I will notice how the hidden messages could affect my assumptions of the world. Its all about perspective and intent.
ReplyDeleteJai, Great post. I agree that there are a lot of influences in our lives that shape us. It seems you've given a lot of thought to it too. I like how this class is making us look back and reflect on our own lives. You brought up a really interesting point too about how the vaping industry also impacts a lot of our youth. Again, nice read.
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