This article was especially interesting because it is something that all people face, whether they are black, white, fat, thin, fat-ankled, big-footed, ugly, pretty, whatever. The first quote that I really liked was, "The "secret education," as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children's books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is in these social blueprints." I read this point which I could easily relate to and I also thought about other things that influence society's outlook on what people should look like. For instance, Barbie and GI Joe, both going out of business, but they too set standards of images. Some foods for example, usually the more expensive ones, show images that wean people's incentive to buy that product with a promise to help them lose weight and look more like the perfect person on the box. To top that off, anyone notice how much more expensive the health food sections are at your local store? Even better, society blames weight issues on those people who buy the cheap processed foods.
I also like the quote from Dorfman that the author includes. "We are not only taught certain styles of violence, the latest fashions, and sex roles by TV, movies, magazines, and comic strips; we are also taught how to succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, how to forget the past and suppress the future. We are taught, more than anything else, how not to rebel." The bad guy always loses. Almost every Disney movie shows the clashing of two titans in the media world; the good guy and the bad guy. The bad guy usually tries to take over the world or tries to suppress a group of sweet little kids and the good guy somehow always saves the day. The good guy does not always win, in fact many people would say that their ending is not a happy one. What about those orphans who don't find a wonderful family, those people who don't marry prince or princess charming, or those people who really just don't ever have that fairy-tale ending?
Christensen talks about the fact that Disney does not have a black cinderella. She talks about how this fact made people angry. Today there has been a black cinderella and other movies by Disney, where the color of the cast is black, but Christensen makes a very important point that does not just relate to the issue of color. She points out that changing the color of the character does not change the fact that the character is still sets an example for children and sets a standard for societies. She says, "Both young women wanted the race of the actors changed, but they didn't challenge the class or the underlying gender inequities that also characterized the lives of Cinderella, Ariel the Mermaid, and Snow White."
This article was very good to read because I as a reader could relate to what the author was saying directly. But, if Disney wasn't setting a this certain standard, then what other standard should they set? Not setting any standard in my point of view is near to impossible. I do feel that society should be more open to differences, and that Disney is a crucial player in helping to form acceptance. I'm not saying that Disney should be setting standards where the princess always finds her prince or where the poor find riches from their wildest dreams. What I am saying is that Disney as a company is marketing off of what they have found makes the most sales. Shouldn't people's preference over what they want to show their children take some of the blame?
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