Stereotypes In Disney Fairytale Movies

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

Walt Disney over the years has impacted the lives of millions of children with his animated films. His Disney movies have evolved in the last years and have moved from the traditional damsel in distress theme. Specifically, the classic movie Cinderella gives the wrong idea about what it is to be a woman for young girls. The movie portrays a young woman facing emotional, mental, and physical abuse by her evil stepmother and later falls in love with a charming prince. However, if viewers take a closer look, Disney’s anti feminist message is firmly emphasized. The story of Cinderella is sexist due to it’s lesson to girls that beauty and submission will award them a rich bachelor. This is seen through Cinderella’s submissive behavior, Prince

The Beauty and the Beast starts with a lively music in the castle which immediately set us into action. A castle full of expensive housewares and beautiful ladies wearing white gowns dancing to the music represent perfection. The ball is interrupted by a knock from an unexpected beggar who offered the insensitive prince a rose for shelter. The loud thunderclap and the way the chandelier lights were blown off by the wind intensified the scene. When he refuses, the beggar transformed into an enchantress and changed him into a hideous beast and his servants into housewares. The camera angle which showed the shadow figure of the prince turning to a beast was amazingly done. She casts a spell on the rose and it would only be broken if he could learn to love another and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell. On the other hand, Belle starts the film in a small lively village which implies peacefulness and security. Belle is a simple, creative girl wanting to leave her monotonous village life to explore new things and go to an adventure. This came true when her horse Philippe went home anxiously without Maurice, her father. The way the horse neighed repeatedly implied that something is wrong. Belle, without hesitation, stormed off to the castle where her father was imprisoned and took his place as

Giroux argues that in Beauty and the Beast, Belle teaches young women that they are responsible for controlling a man’s anger and violence, and that any woman can change an abusive man into a Prince. However many children are going to be focused on the dancing, singing furniture rather than analyzing the message Giroux interprets; that Belle is just a prop used to solve the beast’s dilemma. The age of children that will be most influenced by Disney films, are at a level of thinking where they have not begun to recognize and understand the images that Giroux describes are embedded in the Disney films.

Belle is extremely important to original story, and the movie. Maybe you are asking yourself why? Well, she is for surely one of the two main characters, the other being the beast whom she is supposed to fall in love with to make him become a man again. Especially in the original book version, it is more focused on Belle because they leave out the “evil sisters”. She still has bitter

In Beauty and the Beast, when Belle read books, she was seen as the weird girl who reads and does not like Gaston, when everyone else in town loved him. She was seen as the thinker, which seemingly no one wanted a wife with a strong

In 1740, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot De Villeneuve wrote the first official version of the fairytale, “Beauty and the Beast”, which was translated from her original French title “La Belle et la Beta”. In reality, Villeneuve’s version is the original fairytale, although, many people believe that either Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s version would be the authentic one, and others that also believe that there had been similar versions prior to Villeneuve’s writing. “Beauty and the Beast” is a short fairytale about a prince who is given a curse that turned him into a Beast because of how he had rejected an old, unattractive fairy’s proposal to marry her. She then was so furious towards the rejection that she set that curse on him. Then, in the fairytale, there is a girl, Beauty, who happens to be the youngest daughter of a merchant who is set to give up his life after he had pulled a rose from the Beast’s garden to deliver to Beauty, but instead Beauty decided to take his place and she was set to live the rest of her life in the castle with the Beast. After some time, Beauty agrees to marry the Beast which then causes the curse to no longer exist, turning him back into prince he used to be. This fairytale has also been turned into a film a few times, the most famously know is the 1991 Disney animated version that was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, starring Paige O’Hara, as Belle (Beauty), and Robby Benson, as the Beast. In both the 1991 film by Trousdale and the original fairytale story by Villeneuve, there are a few differences from the meaning of the rose, to characters being added or taken away, to the actual spell that is cursed on the prince. Villeneuve uses personification, love, and feministic traits to demonstrate how Beauty chose to stay with the Beast on her own recognizance.

“Beauty and The Beast” is a classic well known romantic Disney movie that depicts the gender role of men and women in society. The film is based upon a smart young female protagonist named Belle who is imprisoned by a self-centered young prince after he has been turned into a beast. They both learn to love each other in the end and throughout the film there are several examples shown portraying the roles of gender. In the film the main characters Gaston and the Beast portray themselves as rude, conceited and more important than the woman even though the main character Belle is a woman whom is considered odd, yet smart, and unrelated to most women in society.

Obviously the first stop on their tour around Diagon Alley was Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. As soon as they got there the group split up and headed towards sections of books they thought looked interesting. Annabeth headed for the Ancient Runes and Arithmancy section, trying not squeal as she browsed through the area. She also decided to pick up several books on wards. Thalia instantly drifted toward the area dedicated to Astronomy and surprisingly, she also took a liking to books on the history of magic, especially ones with battle and strategy tips. Meanwhile Piper and Leanne drifted through the sections on Magical flora and fauna and together the two oh'd and ah'd over the pictures of adorable critters.

For decades now, Disney Corporation has been providing us with countless films made to delight and amuse children and adults alike. But not all Disney films seem particularly appropriate for their target audience. Many of these films portray violence, gender inequality, and skewed views of leadership roles that seem altogether inappropriate for impressionable young children. Better and more contemporary heroines need to be added to Disney’s wall of princesses in order to counteract years of sexism.

The portrayal of women, gender roles and stereotypes in Disney films has long been a controversial topic. Disney’s 1959 animated film, ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and Robert Stromberg’s 2014 live action remake, ‘Maleficent’, each provide a different take of Charles Perrault’s 1697 fairy tale, ‘La Belle au bois Dormant’ (‘The Sleeping Beauty’). The comparison of Aurora, one of the main characters from both films, brings into light the stark contrast in portrayals of gender roles as well as physical ideals and stereotypes in women. Emphasis or lack thereof on physical characteristics and gender representation from both texts challenge and reflect ideals and stereotypes that are impactful to the audience.

What young girl does not dream of becoming a princess and living in a castle happily ever after? Virtually every young girl identifies with princesses and has watched at least one Disney Princess movie. From the first movies of Snow White and Cinderella, to the later movies of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, to the most current movie Moana, Disney Princess movies permeate not only the movie theaters, but also our culture. In fact, “becoming a princess is as easy as purchasing a tiara and hosting a princess-themed birthday party or buying a Halloween costume and playing pretend” (Garabedian, 2014, p. 23). Nonetheless, as declared by Princess Merida in the movie Brave, “there comes a day when I don’t have to be a princess. No rules, no expectations. A day where anything can happen. A day where I can change my fate” (Andrews & Chapman, 2012). In other words, does the life of a princess measure up to the expectations of little girls everywhere? The Disney Princess brand has grown incredibly popular, especially with young girls. In spite of this, the franchise has also become extremely controversial due to potential gender stereotypes in the films. “Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today’s society…[it] represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female…influencing the views and opinions of future generations” (Maity, 2014, p. 31). Yet, is the Disney Princess brand harmful to young children due to gender stereotypes? Two essays that contemplate the Disney Princess brand and gender stereotypes with opposite viewpoints on this controversial issue are “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” by writer Monika Bartyzel and “In Defense of Princess Culture” by writer and mother Crystal Liechty. However, Liechty’s essay “In Defense of Princess Culture,” is the most effective article in convincing the audience of her point of view due to the claim, support, warrant, language, and vocabulary employed.

In Disney’s version, Belle’s father is called Maurice and to further support the lesson of the story we are presented with the typical self-centered villain, who is looking for a maiden as fair as he, Gaston. Disney’s Beast was once a selfish and whiny prince who refused shelter to a helpless woman and in the original story the Beast is cursed because he rejected his governess. However, both are cursed to live in the solitude of their own castles and wait for the chance of freedom. The character of Belle has the same qualities in both stories. She is kind, thoughtful and caring. She finds happiness in the simple things in life including reading.

In Sleeping Beauty, the Prince is portrayed a strong and courageous person, he can be seen as a great character because he overcomes many obstacles to be able to help the Princess survive. Although Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale and is stereotypically more admired by girls, the masculine tale might be liked by the male population because they aspire to be the male hero. Maleficent shows the feminine tale and warns the girls that not men cannot be trusted in some cases, and that there is no need to have a man by your side. A woman can survive on their own using her own intelligence and courage to overcome any obstacle that she might face. For the female population, this change is very important because this “hero” story helps us relate to the character and our desire to do great and special acts (Seger 387). This film proved that a woman is capable of defeating evil, and brings a new perspective into Disney

Once upon a time in a land not so far away, the society of man created the idea that it was a woman’s job to conform to the ideologies generated in fairy tales. From women depending on their prince charmings all the way to romanticized sexual abuse and lack of consent, stories like Cinderella and Snow White radiate sexism within an array of scenes of the stories and films. Not only does this affect the way that men view women, but it has had a relatively negative effect on the ways that many women view themselves. Many fairy tales have made their way into mainstream culture, and today many young girls and boys grow up hearing and seeing the subliminal messages in fairy tales. As more and more fairy tales make their way onto the big screen, it can be seen that all princesses seem to share a common feature other than their crowns and lack of self worth without a man by their side; their tiny waists. In recent years during the 21st century more and more people in the media have been calling out fairy tales for their anti-feminist attitudes with sexism, body standards as well as societal comments about women being dependent on men.