Why Disney should
“man-up”?
By Paulina Kuchorew
Let’s start simple.
We’ll turn the calendar back by quite a few pages; it’s
1998. Imagine a young girl, 8 years old, being presented
with an innocent VHS cassette. I can’t really remember
why I nagged my dad’s friend to let me borrow that
particular one, but I do know that it took 5 years for me to
return it.
With the world changing around them Disney went ahead
with it and made their heroines more diverse and
interesting. And while you can’t necessarily say that
Disney movies were ahead of their time, the creators
certainly paid attention and addressed issues little
women could be faced with in the future. Just look at
At 8 years old I was completely taken by Disney’s Beauty Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. She’s
portrayed as a sex-symbol, yet everything that people
and the Beast. The VHS was played so many times I’m
surprised it still worked. Fact is though, that among many would “wrongly” assume about her character is broken
down and smashed into little pieces. She is not just a
movies I’ve seen when I was a child, this one stood out
among them. I’ve never seen any appeal in Snow White pretty face, she’s a smart woman that loves Roger Rabbit
and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) or had a particular love for dearly and would do anything to protect him. She also
happens to be incredibly sexy while doing it. She’s a
Cinderella (1950). Those movies, while non-arguably
classics, seemed very outdated in the eyes of a little girl character that chose her life partner based on the fact
that “he makes her laugh”. Amongst all her possible
that always considered her mom to be the head of the
suitors, she chose someone that she could share a
family.
deeper connection with and reminded faithful, hence
Just think about it; both Cinderella and Snow White
disregarding the misconception that a “sexy” character
needed their princes to rescue them and to give them
has to be either: stupid, evil, shallow, a bitch or unfaithful.
their happy ending. Even the Little Mermaid: Ariel, a
So if you hear someone yell outrage at the way Jessica
character created for a 1989 movie was led by “love at
first sight” and ready to throw her family and life away for Rabbit is drawn, remember that there are many ways to
portray women and even cartooned versions have every
a “complete stranger”. She’s only met the guy, and
right to be sexy if they damn want to, doesn’t mean you
already she was giving her voice away for him. Talk
have any right to assume who they are and slap on
about difficult teenagers, but her single father, should
labels onto them.
have had a long and serious talk with the girl. Yes,
adventures and curiosity are traits to be praised, but I
wouldn’t be so quick in praising stalking a total stranger.
That just seems dangerous.
Anyways, I digress. While Disney was slowly setting up
their soon to be biggest franchise: “the Disney Princess”,
the writers took a step forward, and with Beauty and the
Beast, decided to bring the current stereotypes down. So
Belle became the new standard for a Disney Princess:
brave, adventurous and with other goals in life than just
finding love. A wise decision, as the lovely bookworm
was a character many young girls could identify with.
Saying it is okay to be different, that it’s okay to not
accept unwanted advances and that love is not that
simple. Very basic messages but, in a way powerful and
perfectly presented to a young mind.
It’s a very
similar concept we see with Belle in Beauty and the
Beast. She’s considered the prettiest in her village, but
also a little “odd”. Apparently reading books is not a
popular past time over there, go figure. Fact is, Belle
sticks with who she is and what she believes in, at times
even going as far as to ridicule the “perfect specimen” –
Gaston, by completely accidentally dumping him with the
pigs. Well deserved. The man was a representation of
everything, as a woman, I had to deal with. Men that
assume that they have the right to decide if you are or
aren’t perfect for them. I’d like to make that decision for