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Reflection: Beauty and the Beast (2017)

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I was thrilled when I found out that Emma Watson was playing Belle in the live-action of Beauty and the Beast . I am a massive Harry Potter fan, and an even bigger Hermione Granger fan. However, in addition to her role as Hermione Granger, I also idolize Emma Watson for her work with UN Women and HeForShe. I think it means a lot that Disney chose a very spoken feminist to play the lead role in a movie with… questionable feminist messages, to say the least. In July of 2017, I had yet to see the live-action version, but was on a trip with extended family who owned the DVD. The only girl in their family was five years old at the time and is the literal definition of “tomboy” (a word that, for the record, I hate, but fits perfectly for this situation). She has two older brothers and really rebels against participating any “feminine” behaviors. She apparently loved this movie, though, and I really wanted to see it, so we sat down one night in Zion Park and played it on the rental house’s DV
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Reflection: Moana

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I watched Moana for the first time with several of my young (female) cousins. I was pretty weary before the movie started; the trailer of the film looked promising, but my experience with prior Disney princess movies (watching as a teenager, rather than a child) was… disappointing, to say the least. By the timethat Moana was released, I had already begun to do research for a high school independent study about gender in Disney princess movies, and perceptions of body image. This research experience made me hyper-aware of the fact that I was sitting next to several young girls who meant the absolute world to me. For the next hour and a half, they would be absorbing the messages of the film, and I wanted them to be empowering. For once, I was pleasantly surprised while watching this Disney princess film. I will not pretend to be an expert of any kind on Polynesian culture, so I cannot speak to the legitimacy of the portrayal of Moana’s community and story. I fully recognize that t
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Former Disney Star Joins Trump White House

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It is no secret that President Donald Trump is pretty much obsessed with television. Well, the obsession continues... Caroline Sunshine is known for her role in the Disney show Shake It Up , acting alongside Zendaya and Bella Thorne, but will now also be serving as a White House press assistant. She previously served as a White House Intern, worked for Senator Kevin McCarthy, and been involved in other political groups. She was hired right as many people were leaving the White House, including Gary Cohn, HR McMaster, Rex Tillerson, and Hope Hicks. Sunshine is a member of a much smaller group of Hollywood actors and actresses who have expressed support for President Trump. Much of the industry is, instead, involved in advocating for Black Lives Matter, March For Our Lives, the Women's March, and other social justice movements that were largely initiated because of Trump's election.
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Disney World Was the Original Target for the Pulse Nightclub Shooter in Orlando, FL

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In June 2016, Omar Mateen shook the United States (at least for a few weeks...) when he killed 49 people at Pulse Nightclub. Mateen was also killed that night after being shot several times by law enforcement, but not before he pledged allegiance to ISIS. On Wednesday, March 28th, prosecutors revealed the Pulse was not Mateen's original target. Rather, he was planning on hiding a gun in a stroller and then killing people in Disney World, specifically the House of Blues in Disney Springs. There is camera footage of Mateen walking around this area a few hours before he attacked Pulse, but he seemed to have been scared off by the police officers surrounding the area. This was all revealed in a trial for Mateen's wife, Noor Salman, who many believe helped her husband, at least to an extent, to conduct this mass shooting.
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Reflection: Susan Jeffords

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The Susan Jeffords piece on The Beauty and the Beast was fascinating - especially because it delved deeply into the differences between the original fairytale and the Disney version. I really enjoyed her discussion of Disney’s portrayal of the Beast as a somewhat helpless victim, despite the fact that the corporation changed his character to be at least partially deserving of the curse. This has also always frustrated me (at least as I have become re-familiarized with the film in the last couple years). I imagine being cursed and turned into an animal is not pleasant, but that does not mean that the Beast gets a free pass for his abuse, kidnapping, and aggressive anger. No matter what has happened to you, treating someone like that is unacceptable. However, it feels to me as though Disney tries to somewhat excuse or justify his behavior by providing an immediate backstory. In doing so, Disney romanticizes domestic abuse and encourages the audience to express sympathy for the perpetra
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Reflection: Mulan

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Similar to most of the movies that we have watched in this class, I had not seen Mulan in about a decade, with the exception of the “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” clip for other gender-related projects. While there were some things that frustrated me about the movie, I think that overall, I was far more pleased with and excited by this film than I have been for any of the others. However, I fully acknowledge that my knowledge of Ancient China is basically nonexistent and, while I am viewing the movie with primarily a lens of gender, I do believe that the film is certainly open to cultural criticism about the depiction of Chinese society. Personally, I absorbed far more satire in this film than I believed was ever evident in scenes like Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” or parts of The Beauty and the Beast . To me, the message that the film’s producers was trying to get across was quite clear: it is problematic that women are not given the same opportunities as men, and the world
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Reflection: Beauty and the Beast

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Belle was one of my favorite Disney princesses when I was younger; I loved that she liked to read, and I think a lot of people justify their love for this film with that one point. I think I always took the town making fun of her for this passion as the “bad message.” I also took much of Gaston’s behavior as undesirable - hence the fact that he was the villian. However, after rewatching the movie, I realized that there are actually far more bad messages than I realized. This likely means that, while I purposely rejected some of the most explicitly harmful messages, there were far more negative stereotypes and content that I subconsciously absorbed without even realizing it. The storyline is, overall, just problematic (as per usual, I suppose). After Belle is held captive by a literal animal, she ends up falling in love with him. Some think this is a portrayal of Stockholm Syndrome, and some do not. Either way, the plot is unacceptable; it absolutely romanticizes domestic violence
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