Frozen in Disney

I have to admit, I love Disney movies and pretty much everything with Disney. I grew up watching Disney movies with my family. I went to Disney World every few years as a child. For me, Disney World and Disney movies were magical and somewhere would I could escape too. Although I had this love for Disney movies, especially the princess, I do remember at a young age feeling like I was not one of them. Christesen stated it perfectly by saying "My waist didn't dip into an hourglass; in fact, according to the novels I read, my thick ankles doomed me to be cast as the peasant woman reaping hay while the heroine swept by with her handsome man in hot pursuit" (pg. 175). Of course, I never would have thought about it that deep when I was younger, but the idea still stays the same. With all that in mind though, even as an adult, I still love watching Disney movies and get excited when a new one comes out. I do have a feeling after this class I will have a harder time sitting back to enjoy them without critically analyzing each new one.

"And often that world depicts the dominations of one sex, one race, one class, or one country over a weaker counterpart" (pg. 175)

This quote from Christensen really stood out to me because I do feel that looking back, a lot of these movies and films are always putting one of something, whether it be sex, race, class, country, etc, over others. It is unfortunate that this is how children have to grow up seeing this as an example. While reading, Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us, I kept thinking about my students and how I could connect this with them. I teach in a lower-income community, so I think it would be really interesting to do something with my students to see what there take is. As stated in the text, "I want my students to question this accepted knowledge and the secret education delivered by cartoons as well as by the canon" (pg. 176). I am really thinking about taking some students in the fall and completing a project/unit like this. I would also like to get other staff members involved because just as "many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising" (pg. 177) adults do not want to believe it either. 

"Both of these tales leave young women with two myths: happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption" (pg. 182)

On the other hand, Frozen (2013) is a story where two female leads are strong. For me, this is a huge turning point in the "Princess" world. Ana and Elsa seem to prove over and over again throughout the movie that they do not need a man to save them, although there are instances where Hans and Christof do save them in the moment. The story is focused around the two women and ultimately they save each other. Personally, I love that in Frozen, their happiness had nothing to do with getting a man. The reward, in the end, was that the gates stayed opened and everyone was happy all together. 

To be completely honest, although I am beginning to be able to critically examine media, I do fear that my love for Disney and this movie might have gotten in the way at some points of seeing past things and looking for the deeper meaning. I look forward to our discussion in class tomorrow to determine what I might have "overlooked" or what I might not have seen through the same lens as classmates. 

***After posting originally, I went online and searched a little bit more. I came across this article. Little bit of a long one, but brought up some interesting points that I definetly did not think of while I was watching the movie or while I was writing my post.