Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

While I was not a Disney obsessed child like some friends I had, I believe Disney played an important role in my childhood as source of entertainment and culture. I fondly remember watching many Disney classics such as Fox and the Hound or Robin Hood. As an adult, I primarily remember watching the movies that were unrelated to the princesses, likely because those were mostly directed towards typical female audiences. An exception that I recall would be the movie Mulan, which seemed more appealing as a child with its action and fighting. Additionally, I was fortunate enough to have been raised in San Diego, CA, which was only an hour away from Disneyland. Disneyland as an attraction was always a desirable location to go to, and one that was rare to attend as a family of 8. Regardless of background, everyone loved going to Disneyland if they had the means to do so. I also recall the 'playground status' given to students in elementary school that came back from vacations wearing their shirts and pens.

In my experiences working with elementary school children at The Boys and Girls Club, Disney and other popular media seem to be the only concepts that the students know. When working with 5 and 6 year olds, they all show up to school wearing their Disney character inspired shirts and backpacks and lunchboxes. They play imaginary games in which they are the princesses or are the ones saving the princess. Though frightening, it is impressive to think of the capacity of mental space constructs such as Disney occupy in our's and our children's minds. Christensen discusses that this culture industry colonizes our minds and in turn teaches us how to act, live and dream.

I think it is difficult for me to say the ways in which my memories may be challenged by Christensen's chapter as well as the movie Frozen, especially if they were subliminal in nature. Christensen refers to this as a type of  'hidden education', where the viewer is not cognizant of the ways media is manipulating to act in society. I think I learned early on that the ways in which these movies taught us about life was not always how life was. Growing up closeted, I had early exposure in regards to learning about norms and roles associated with gender and sexuality. Understanding these roles was important in order to maintain my outward identity of straightness. Due to this, I believe that most of the themes and lessons I recall from these movies were tied to gender and identity. Through understanding the ways in which men or women are 'intended' to perform, I could then myself perform those identities.

Though there are tropes of the typical Disney princess movie present in Frozen, by the end of the film, most of these tropes have been reversed or satirized. As mentioned previously, lessons such as being courageous or strong for others was typically a lesson applied to men in the movies. Frozen counters this and applies the same lesson to one of the female characters. Other examples include the fact that, though there were two 'prince' characters, neither are the ultimate hero (and one is the villain!) I think movies like Frozen are important in combating gender stereotypes when interacting with young children. Though these lessons are usually oversimplified, I have interacted with young students who seemed to have understood the point of these lessons and modified their actions accordingly. Given the power this media has, it is important that it teaches lessons that will lead to a more inclusive and diverse society. In order to do this, Disney has a long way to go in pushing stereotypes regarding class and race beyond what they have done in the past.