My Relationship with Disney

Growing up and being immersed in everything Disney, I truly enjoyed watching Disney films. To this day I can tell you that my favorite princesses were in fact Cinderella and Ariel. Though now being able to clearly look back, these movies had a leading impact on my life. The underlying assumptions I created of beauty, relationship dynamics, certain roles gender forms to in society, were often based off of these movies. I agree with Christensen's claims on challenging cartoons, and their central message. If we don't challenge these cartoons, and bring awareness, who will? As a child, I feel as though I was sort-of manipulated to feel a certain way regarding my self image, and my ideal "fantasy" happily ever after. I wanted all of that. Christensen went on to make a point that, "stereotypes and worldview embedded in the stories become accepted knowledge" and I absolutely agree.
I also found the retelling of "Cinderella" created by Mary Carter Smith very fascinating. The other version of Cinderella, called Cindy Ellie, "reads like laughter-bubbly, warm, spilling over with infectious good humor and playful language" (p. 181). "Cindy" was played by a young woman of color, living in East Baltimore. Although, she is of different race than the original tale of Cinderella, the main goal is the exact same- to find her prince charming after she is transformed through new clothes and hairstyles. Also, the way both characters go about finding their partner are the same, they both compete with their "sisters" and other women who are single. Putting women against one another to so-called "win" attention from a man, and become married. Christensen made the excellent point that even though the race of the character is changing, she wants her students to know that injustices may indeed remain.
Interesting enough, I have seen Frozen a few times from an entertainment/ leisurely standpoint. Tonight, I attempted to put on a new lens as I tried to discover underlying assumptions and/ or stereotypes this film created. In the very beginning of the film (the first 15 min...) Princess Ana was singing around her castle in a beautiful ballgown dreaming about finding a man, "at least I have a chance" she said, on finding true love. She has spent most of her time alone, in the castle, with no one to talk to- so I don't entirely blame her. Though with that being said, it was a typical beginning of a Disney movie...young, beautiful, put-together, Princess pleading in desperation (usually told through song) dreaming about finding her soulmate.
On the other hand...her sister, Elsa, is about to turn into a Queen and be around the public for the very first time since her accident. She begins to sing that she has to continue to be the "good girl you have always have to be..." because she is worried she will hurt everyone with her powers. Stating that she has to be the "good girl" everyone knows her to be, demonstrates that she has been deemed as "perfect" and as the future Queen, will have no flaws, but in actuality she is very different from the rest. Which brings to my point on why I enjoyed this movie so much.
The movie ends where Ana has to have a "true loves kiss" to unfreeze her heart. When she realizes her future husband is actually the bad guy, and does not love her at all, she thinks Kristoff will have to kiss her! Which would make sense, he has to love her, right? I mean he brought her all the way back to the castle on a reindeer for crying out loud! (Okay, Disney!) The wonderful ending to this story was actually the true love and bond between her and her sister was strong enough that it unfroze her heart. I was very happy to see a movie end where there wasn't a marriage obligation between a man and a woman, the truest love was the relationship between the two siblings. They weren't plotted against each other, or competing for a "prince", they brought the city back together on their own. Overall, in the beginning I had my doubts, but this movie was able to some-what challenge my view of princess culture.