Problems In The Movie Zootopia

Disney movies have been the leading outlets for child education and social learning. Due to such power of influence controversies have been raised which include the following, but not limited to, gender roles and stereotypes, issues of independence, and misrepresentation. Many people argue that despite the morals and messages that occur within such films there are still underlying messages that deal with beauty standards and norms. However, others may argue that Disney is evolutionary and evolved the imagery of male/female standards. The controversy then becomes: are Disney films doing more harm than they are good? Due to certain themes brought on by such movies, it has left younger audiences with both positive and

The Mickey Mouse Monopoly documentary reveals the obscure social messages behind the animated films created by the Disney Company. Although we are conditioned to believe that these movies are pure forms of entertainment, further examination has proved that there are hidden messages concerning gender, race and class that Disney is instilling in the minds of children. The speakers in the documentary argue that Disney is extremely political and hides its ideas behind innocence, magic and fun. When masked by features that are appealing to a younger audience, it is difficult to realize these ideas without taking a closer look.

What images come to mind as one reflects upon his or her childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the fondest of memories. Yet, for many, mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept off their feet, and lions roar to their royal place in the animal kingdom. Disney films have captivated the American culture for years and have become a pivotal part of popular culture as well as a form of education. However, these films have devoured the youth of America and, in the process; have perpetuated an institutionally racist society based on harsh stereotypes. Minorities are often underrepresented, and even completely left out, of many Disney films such as Dumbo (1941), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and

But [she] didn’t ‘hear’ it until it was said by a small pair of lips that had already learned it could be a way to humiliate [her]” (Naylor, 411). This not only supports the fact that the boy had been taught or heard this word by someone older like a parent, but it is also sad that a nine-year-old had to be taught that such a nasty, ugly word was created to make her and people like her feel ashamed and embarrassed to be black, or that are worth less as human beings, which is absolutely false. That is why slurs are created though, to make groups of people feel less “human”. This essay explored the most infamous slur against the black community. The fact that slurs like this are prevalent in today's society is extremely upsetting and wrong. There are plenty of racial slurs that are so casually used today, it makes one's stomach ache in distress. Ableist slurs are even less reprimanded, a high school student walking through the hall will hear the r-word too many times to count during the course of a day. Just as commonly used are homophobic and anti-LGBT slurs. A high school student will hear the f-slur and the q-slur plenty of times, and even more will “that’s so gay” or “you’re so gay” be whipped from the mouth of students without a second thought. It’s disheartening.

Our world has came a long way fighting racial and ethnical issues. It’s quite ludicrous however, how we have reached the 21st century, and we can't get rid of all those racial stereotypes that are impacting all ethnicities: white, african american,mexican, asian, etc. I have never noticed how many incorrect ideas towards certain races are portrayed everywhere in our day to day lives until I scrutinized the novel Seedfolks, written by Paul Fleischman. This short book is about a very diverse community that have learned to come together and help one another to grow a public garden where a lot of garbage used to be; This all started due to a young girl. This novel is a children's book that everyone can come to the conclusion that it contains a good moral and value. However, the author decided to use a vast amount of stereotypes throughout the book. Children are being shown these books and television shows that discretely have stereotypes as well and it is completely wrong. We in this century have made it “okay” to categorize our racial background, making everyone the same and it is unacceptable. We, in this society believe that racial comments no longer exist because of how normal we make them see. Once we all are willing to focus and put effort into wanting our ideas of people to change, we will all realize that it is everywhere showing all ages. It is about time that offensive comments and portrayals of ethnicities are put an end to. To start off, people must see where the

For my final paper where we had to pick a topic from current popular culture, I decided to write my paper with the focus on Disney movies. More particularly with the focus on the Disney princess movies. When it comes to the Disney movies they have always been and will always be such a huge part of our society. While growing up most children grow up watching these movies and get the idea that that is what they want to be when they grow up. When you ask a young girl what she wants to be when she is older there is a good chance that she will say that she wants to be a princess when she grows up. I have always been such a huge fan of Disney movies and I have a feeling I always will be. I found it very interesting this semester when we spend the short class period talking about the Disney female and male characters. It is rather interesting and something that I can say that I really never noticed before but the fact that the majority of all the female characters all had the same face shape. Whereas the males there were none two that were the same. However for this paper I will be looking into the relationship to cultural meanings about gender and other identity markers, such as race, sexuality, and cultural norms as seen in some of the more classic well known Disney movies.

Regarding the film Zootopia, there are several social psychological concepts that were explained in the events. Throughout the film, subtle but offensive comments and actions are unintentionally and unconsciously directed toward the non-dominant group (predators) and the protagonist of the film, Judy Hopps, encounters those macroaggressions throughout the story. As the film progressed, the police force became increasingly fearful and pejorative of the predator group in the city, which drew similarities to the attitudes exhibited by law enforcement officers in American society. Attitudes provide an association between a concept and an evaluation, whether it is favorable or unfavorable, desirable or undesirable, positive or negative. In addition, attitudes can be classified as automatic or deliberate. In comparison to the reflective responses (also called explicit attitudes) that individuals exhibit, the (automatic) implicit attitudes are relatively inaccessible to control and conscious awareness.

Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite

Traditionally, Disney tales have a common theme where their princesses or princes’ curses need to be broken by the spell through a kiss of love, so the dream becomes a reality. In the first feature-length animated film from Disney, The Snow White, and Seven Dwarves. Jasmine the princess and Aladdin the street boy both they had chemistry and realized their wishes against Jaffar and Middle-Est culture. Passing over the fabulous story of Ratatouille, Alfredo Linguini and Remy that is the story about rejected someone according is status. Disney animated movies blend social diversity through their tales, but they didn’t realize to go so far until they see the first African – American president in the White House, Disney made a First American princess who is black, The Frog and the Princess. Moreover, Disney animated movies are diversities whose people knew as The Jungle from Indian culture, Mulan is a Chinese tale, the Amerindian- Princess Pocahontas, and so on. Thus, Disney animated movies include more various cultures and teach children to know and appreciate diverse cultures.

Disney creates gender roles, racial roles, and white supremacy through socialization within their motion pictures. For example, Walt Disney’s “Snow White”, “Fantasia”, and even “The Little Mermaid” all show females as obscenely beautiful, male dependent and flirtatious creatures who couldn’t save themselves from a Chinese finger trap. Males are the perfectly sculpted rescuers who can be easily wooed by a woman’s body; and these exaggerated roles create a false standard for children and can lead to severely underdeveloped sociological skills. Moving onto the racial roles; in the movie “All dogs go to

In the article “All’s Not Well In The Land Of “‘The Lion King’”, Lazarus discusses how the movie: “The Lion King” negatively portrays a society to children by using racism, homophobia, and social inequality. In American culture, racism and homophobia are both very common and controversial. Discrimination in today’s society is not primarily associated This essay is not completely effective because children do not yet understand social concepts and she did not have enough reasons to back up some of her statements.

During the last several decades, the media has become a strong agent in directing and controlling social beliefs and behaviors. Children, by nature, can be particularly susceptible to the influencing powers of the media, opening an avenue where media created especially for children can indoctrinate entire generations. Disney movies, like all other media “are powerful vehicles for certain notions about our culture,” such as racism. (Giroux 32). Racist scenes in Disney movies are often identified as simply being “symbols of the time” when the films were produced. Furthermore, Disney racism is often passed over as simple humor, or as a simple guide to

perpetuated over the years throughout Disney’s movies. Disney is one of the largest media companies in the world. According to Forbes, the “net worth and market capitalization of Disney Company has been estimated as $103.96 billion in 2013” ("Walt Disney Company Net Worth - Celebrity Net Worth,”). From the premiere of the Steamboat Willie cartoons in 1928 Disney has transformed pop culture as we know it today. This paper is designed to look into four major issues gender identity, gender roles, ethnicity, social class throughout Disney’s Cinderella (1950) and Frozen (2013). I aim to show that in these films can be found a subtle manual for social norms, a supplier of dominant family values. I will assess certain sociological concepts that are represented in these films namely ‘The American Dream’, standardization, pseudo-individualism and the creation of false needs. As a society, the understanding of these issues are instrumental to our being since our identity is often distorted through long term norms, ideals and merits set forth through these animated films.

On the surface, Zootopia might appear like a fun, silly Disney movie, but the film actually touches on powerful messages about stereotypes, prejudices, and power in today’s society, especially regarding racial relationships. Zootopia is a film about a world where prey and predators live together in supposed harmony. Judy Hopps, a bunny aspiring to become a police officer, faces resistance from other animals. Similarly, Nick Wilde, a con artist fox, faces social stereotypes that harm his self-image. These two characters work together to solve a missing mammal case, and end up discovering a darker secret: the mayor’s assistant, Bellwether, hatched a plot to turn predators into savages so that prey would finally get recognition in government. The prey, however, are the majority, making up ninety percent of Zootopia’s population, and the predators are the minority, making up ten percent of the population. (Zootopia) Throughout the movie, the viewers are exposed to the stereotypes and discrimination that the prey impose on the predators. Ultimately, this film is a message about the relationships between the dominant and minority groups. Through this prey-predator relationship, Zootopia reveals how the power of language and the dominant narrative results in both harmful stereotypes and unconscious biases.

It is no surprise people enjoy stories of overcoming the odds. This is why both children and adults love the movie Zootopia. Walt Disney’s Zootopia is a heartwarming story on its own, but when it is analyzed, the movie has deeper meaning and lessons to learn. Zootopia not only has many post-colonial aspects that explain the mammals’ way of life, but it displays psychoanalytic tendencies about how the main characters childhoods affected them later in life.