Mickey Mouse Monopoly

The Mickey Mouse Monopoly documentary we watched in class on Thursday was definitely eye opening on the topic of the dark underbelly of the magical world of Disney. Though I didn't necessarily agree with everything the film said, it did have a lot of interesting content, especially concerning the way Disney markets itself and its products to children. As a strategic communication major, any insight on the thinking behind image and brand protection interests me, and I'm taking several different classes right now on the same subject.

One part of the documentary that stood out to me was when when they explored how Disney is constantly changing to keep up with the times, but still has the undertones of sexism and gender stereotypes. For example, in The Little Mermaid, Ariel defies her father, but then gives up her power of speech all for a man. In Beauty and the Beast, she excuses his cruelty and abuse and eventually falls in love with the Beast. As a child, these were the kinds of characters I looked up to and patterned myself after- and the kind of Halloween costumes, dolls, and toys that I wanted. I had never really thought about how influential these characters and stories were on a child until I looked back and my own experiences and realized that I did the exact same things the children profiled in the documentary did. Because Disney toys were so similar to the characters in the movies, when I played with these toys, I was basically re-creating the movie instead of making up my own stories. This caused the same gender and racial stereotypes from the movie to be even further drilled into my head.

Interesting project on strength and male dominance stereotypes in Disney movies.

I also grew up in a mostly white, middle class neighborhood and had little exposure to other races or national origins besides those very like my own. I drew a lot of what I knew about other cultures from the movies and TV that I watched, including Disney. As a child I'm sure I didn't see the overt racism, but looking back, it's plain to see that the Middle Eastern, Chinese, and Latino characters in Disney were not portrayed in a positive way.