Stereotypes In Disney Movies

When it comes to the illustrations of his popular characters in Aladdin, Disney proves to be quite racist. Most of the small-part, background characters and especially “the bad guys”, such as Jafar and the palace guards, all have incredibly distinct Arabic appearances. Every one of them stereotypically consists of “beards, large noses, sinister eyes, and heavy accents, and they’re wielding swords constantly” (Giroux, 104). In contrast, Aladdin the hero, looks and talks like an All-American man. His skin is pale and he wants to be addressed as Al, which is an American name rather than Arabic. He does not have a beard, big nose, turban, or accent. The key point in this illustration is that Disney is establishing that Aladdin looks right for the part of a hero, while Jafar looks right for a villain.” Jack Zipes, author of the essay “Breaking the Disney Spell”, clarifies that “though the characters are fleshed out to become more realistic, they are also one-dimensional. There is no character development because the characters are stereotypes, arranged according to a credo of domestication of the imagination”

The author argues that this correlation can render a negative connotation to kids as they start to comprehend diversity. To be diverse means to be different. Children can sometimes use the character’s accent to distinguish who the protagonist and antagonist are. Notably, the article reads, “ The common denominator in all of these vague foreign accents is ‘the binary distinction of ‘like us’ versus ‘not like us.’ Villainy is marked just by sounding different”(Fattal). I agree with the author’s statement. Just by looking at two different people you can already notice the distinctive features between them. One conversation with a stranger could also determine if they are ‘like me’ or not based on the way that they talk. However, as children grow they start to learn right from wrong, and they might think a person that does not talk like them is the

Disney has faced a large amount of criticism from critics over the tropes and stereotypes that it portrays in its animated films. This is not a recent event however. One of Disney’s most notorious and controversial films, Song of The South, was released in 1946. Song of the South, set during the Reconstruction Era, focuses on a young boy named Johnny who learns that his parents will being living apart for an unknown amount of time, moves to a plantation in Georgia, while his father continues to live in Atlanta. Depressed and confused over the recent events Johnny decides to run away to Atlanta, but is drawn to the voices of Uncle Remus, an ex-slave living on the plantation, telling stories of Br’er Rabbit. Although it is implied that the African American workers are no longer Johnny’s family property, the black characters are still wholly subservient and are happy to be so. James Baskett plays Uncle Remus as a blissfully, happy companion ready to please. Due to this “magical negro” trope, the characters’ ridiculously stereotypical voices, and the unrealistic happy and joyful relationship between the white landowners and their black help, Song of The South, is one of Disney’s most offensive, racist, and fictitious film. Disney’s portrayal of Uncle Remus is his veiled justification of the mistreatment that minorities received before and after the Reconstruction Era.

Kids are growing up with racial prejudices created from Disney movies. For example, Disney princess are commonly thought of as white because of several films that came out early in young kids lives. Causing them to grow up with the idea that all princesses and upper class citizens are white. However, when these princesses are not white, they are hypersexualized. For instance, the Arabian princess, Jasmine, from the film Aladdin uses a seductive motion to gain her way. So not only are these movies teaching racism, they are teaching young girls to take advantage of their body to acquire what they want. The opposition may claim that few movies display this racism. However that is too abundant already. The children who watch those films will have racist fundamentals implemented into their brains. The Society For Research In Children Development wrote an article explaining how racism affects children. After researching and interviewing kids, they came to the conclusion that,”When children become aware of these types of bias about their own racial or ethnic group, it can affect how they respond to everyday situations, ranging from interacting with others to taking tests.”(Society For Research In Children Development 1). This explains how racism can affect kids when they are growing and developing through life. Disney should create films that do not produce racist fundamentals to

As far back as 1946, racial stereotyping of African Americans has been evident in Disney films. For instance, in the American classic Dumbo, the crows depict the typical southern African American with a slow pattern of speech. In Jungle Book (1967) the monkeys with African American voices are jiving in a crazy manner because they will never be real men and will always be animals. One of the most tragic examples of this racism can be seen in the movie Tarzan. In the original making of the movie, the white man comes to the rescue and tames all of the animals and natives. However, in the new Disney version of Tarzan (1999), the blacks that obviously inhabit Africa were completely eliminated and replaced by gorillas with African American voices. African American children whom view these films have no choice but to resort to relating to these often unintelligent, inferior animals because that is where they hear themselves. In Mickey Mouse Monopoly, children were asked if they could think of any black characters in Disney films, sadly they came up short of a single one. It

The model minority stereotype characterized Asian Americans as immigrants that valued hard work, family, and determination (Mok 192). This appears to be a positive stereotype that exemplifies the values of the American Dream; however, academic scholars like Teresa Mok disagree. Mok argues that the model minority stereotype emphasizes the similarities of Asian Americans and white Americans. In this sense, the model minority might be seen as assimilating to American culture by acting whiter (Mok 193). This stereotype was most notably seen in the first all-Asian musical, Flower Drum Song. The plot exacerbated the idea of the model minority, centering the story around the benefits of assimilation in lieu of keeping with traditional ways. (Mok 193).

The media is often the only form of culture that many Americans are subjected to. Consequently, many stereotypes are formed from that medium. These stereotypes include the interfering Asian American woman that cannot keep her nose out of other people?s business. The Asian woman is also supposedly sexually active, exotic, overly feminine and eager to please. This character is termed the ?China Doll,? and appears countless times in popular movies. Hollywood tends to characterize Asian women as prostitutes, yet fails to portray the hardships these women face such as trying to support their families. Asian American women are also depicted as passive and indecisive, and often times are treated as though they want to have sex with white men, even when they are verbally not agreeing. ?Dragon Lady? refers to an Asian

The usage of African-American dialect for Pedro and other characters reinforces the stereotypical image that all

Three sources analyze the racial conflicts of white actors playing colored parts, and all agreed that it was not a trivial situation, for audiences, or actors. Racial tensions are very popular with the media. While there is some minor tension today, the movies and plays of Othello top the charts for most racial conflicts. First, The article, “Othello: the role that entices and engages actors of all skin colours,” by Andrew Dickson shows the history of the actors that played Othello, and when the actors were black, they were either not cast, due to segregationists, or were criticized in their performance for the same reason. Also, this article uses diction to convey the seriousness of white vs. minority crisis. Next, the video, “SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED White Actors Playing Othello” by PBS, shows the performances of many Othello actors that were white. Additionally, the video shows one white actor who used makeup to make himself more than than black. The video uses hyperbole to describe the absurdity of Othello movies. For example, Laurence Olivier, the 1964 Othello was black-top showing how far film industries will go to cover-up racial tensions, and the narrator describes the makeup as ridiculous,and dramatic. Finally, the last article, “Aladdin: putting a white character in Disney’s live-action remake is offensive,” by Hannah Flint displays that film industries feel obligated to please a white audience, keeping the minorities second fiddle by adding characters white people

A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these

Throughout the history of motion pictures, prejudice directors have used film to control how the general public views certain demographics of people. In particular, the black community has historically been viewed in a negative light. Stereotypes were created through literature and film that still affect African Americans. Directors and writers would create relatable stories and attach demeaning traits to black people that have qualities in common with Black Americans. This would force readers and viewers to subconsciously attach these stereotypes black people. Examples of these stereotypes can be found in Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Birth of a Nation. Derogatory terms such as “Bucks,” “Toms,” “Coons,” and “Mulattos”, have put African

Different archetypes have been used to represent black people through television, live performances, and film. These stereotypes consisted of “Coon”, “Mulatto”, “Mammy”, and “Tom” (site—Johnson). Prior to films and television, African American’s were depicted by white actors wearing “blackface” in which white people entertained audiences through plots that portrayed African Americans in stereotypical ways that had prevailed since the time of slavery. “Coon” for instance, was created as a from of comedy and amusement for white individuals, as this image allowed for comic relief through idiocy. “Coons” had, in essence, a low level of intelligence with minimal common sense. Their dull-wittedness advocated the view that African American people were unintelligent beings who were incompetent and unable to formulate intelligible thoughts. This further reinforced the idea that African American people were in need of instruction and guidance from white individuals—just as they did during slavery—in order for African Americans to sustain and remain alive, or else they would be damaged by their own incapabilities. Similar to the “Coon”, Mammy was also a common character who was portrayed as an obese and grumpy woman who also provided comic relief to white folks. Mammy’s creation was

The story of Dumbo as a whole could be viewed as presenting racial ideologies as Dumbo is

     A further stereotype that is used in this film is that Asian people make good managers, but are never good leaders. What this tells use is that while a person of Asian descent might know the best possible way to accomplish a goal they will never have the force or strong enough personality to get others to get the goal accomplished. The film has Asian men taking over an American plant and trying to incorporate work ethics that are highly successful over in

So right in the first three minutes of the movie they have already portrayed Arabs as being barbaric. Also, some of the shop keepers in the movie are portrayed as liars, cheats and thieves. The shopkeeper in the beginning is portrayed as trying to sell anything even if it’s broken such as the hookah/ coffeemaker he’s trying to sell in the market. When Jasmine is walking through the market disguised, she sees a small homeless child trying to reach a piece of fruit on the cart. She hands the child a piece of fruit and goes to walk