Trump and Finding Dory

The day after President Trump enforced the infamous travel ban, he reportedly held a screening of Finding Dory for WH staff and their families.

Here's what Ellen had to say about it:

This is exactly why Ellen won the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Here's an Upworthy article if you want to read more: http://www.upworthy.com/ellen-used-finding-dory-to-send-a-vital-message-to-trump-about-immigration?c=ufb1

BuzzFeed: 8 Drug References Found In Disney’s Alice In Wonderland

Here's a BuzzFeed article identifying the various drug references in Alice in Wonderland.

The Force Awakens...

The Disney Devil

http://waltdisneyconfessions.tumblr.com/post/135961957067/i-hate-the-disney-corporation-for-a-lot-of

Zootopia - Diversity in Disney

Amusing photo I found on 9GAG on "Honest Titles" for 2017 Oscar Movies:

Taken from 9GAG

Also, here's an interesting read on "5 Lessons from Disney's Zootopia", written by a diversity and inclusion advocate: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-lessons-from-disneys-zootopia-kelley-johnson

Disney Villains and Evil

Disney villains tend to consistently fit into a “villain” trope. Appearance wise, these include those that are considered unattractive in contemporary society (eg. being overweight/severely underweight) and exaggerated body features (https://anatomyofevil.wordpress.com/ goes into great detail). They also seem to 1) habor intense jealousy 2) possess great power and 3) are overcome with astronomically high levels of greed and obsession. These villains are juxtaposed against the protagonists, who just like the villains, fit into a particular “main character/hero/princess” trope.

When we consider these characteristics more closely, what’s scary is that the “good” characters - whom we identify as being relatable - may in fact not be as relatable as we might want them to be. Meanwhile, the villains, whom we intrinsically attempt to distance ourselves from, may actually have more relatable features than we realize or want to admit. As Forbes explains in The Aesthetic of Evil, most of us subconsciously or consciously desire to remain “morally pure” because our moral compass drives us to do so. But in reality, good and evil both coexist within each of us.

In my opinion, Disney characters, good or evil, represent two ends of a spectrum that each human being constructs based on their sense of self: on the most “desirable” end, the Disney princesses and he male leads are the epitome of impeccable romance, looks, personalities, and on the most “undesirable ends” the villains the representation abject life dissatisfaction, castaways and basically a life gone wrong.

This rigid representation of evil in classic Disney villains made me think about Eddie Carbone in A View From The Bridge. In the play, Miller depicts Eddie as a protagonist with a tragic flaw; he attempts to break up his Catherine’s (his niece) relationship with her Italian immigrant boyfriend Roldopho at whatever cost, reporting Roldopho to the immigration bureau. Carbone can be considered the villain; but interestingly, Miller sets up the play to evoke the audience’s sympathy for Eddie, and to mitigate any disgust they may have for Eddie. In doing so, Miller’s illustration of Eddie’s character downfall because of his immense love for Catherine adds a more emotional dimension to the play that the audience can relate to. But in my opinion, the emotional dimensions of classic Disney villains are often severely downplayed, thus we are less likely to be motivated to relate to them; it’s almost akin to masking of our own insecurities and idiosyncrasies deep down.

Having said that, I felt that the Maleficent (2014) movie was fantastic in taking a completely new and unconventional approach to the portrayal of Disney villains. By by delving into Maleficent’s story, thoughts and emotions, the audience becomes forgiving towards her, and the uncovering of her “good” within her “evil” exterior makes Maleficent far more appealing to the audience. It’s great that Disney is putting in more effort to achieve this: the lines between good and evil are blurred in Moana (2016) where Maui can be interpreted as either a villain or a hero and as it plot progresses, it becomes clear that Te Fiti is in fact not a villain.

Ariel at the Women's March

Last Saturday, I attended the Women's March on Washington in DC; boy did I get to see an interesting range of posters.

One poster caught my eye - it had a picture of Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid, and it read: "Women are too tired of swimming... it's time to stand up!" I tried to take a picture of it but I didn't manage to, which really annoys me.

Ariel was depicted as a embodiment of feminism, yet the sceptical me feels that Ariel is not an appropriate figure. Yes, perhaps that woman with the poster solely identified with Ariel's liberation from the sea and the control of her father, but after all Ariel unhesitantly gave up her voice to pursue a guy whom she hardly knew in exchange for legs and could only rely on the men around her to save her...

To me, the poster was quite an irony!

Introduction

Hey everyone, I’m Alethea! As a current freshman at Duke University, I have to enroll in the mandatory Writing 101 course; and of course I chose the fabulous, riveting and insightful Decoding Disney!

Growing up, Disney movies were an integral part of my childhood. As a young girl, I loved being captivated by the ice skaters at Disney on Ice performances, being immersed in the magical environment of Disneyland, and escaping to an imaginary world when watching Disney movies. To me, the Disney world was my utopia.

It wasn't until I grew older that I came to understand that there was so much more to the simple perfect world I had constructed of Disney films. For instance, one area that I have always been intrigued by is how ideas of femininity, exhibited by female Disney characters, may manifest differently in varying cultures. When I visited Disneyland in Tokyo as a teenager, I began to realise that in Asia, including my country Singapore, classic Disney princesses are typically popularized as being pretty, cute and innocent, rather than the Western image of them being classy and adventurous.

Even though I’m now in college, I still love to watch Disney movies, both new and old. Some movies fill me with childhood memories, while the newer movies give me new insights about how Disney as an industry is evolving. It is undeniable that Disney films appeal to people regardless of their ages; all Disney movies have a particular message producers aim to convey and I love figuring out and learning about these messages. Also, I love Disney movie soundtracks, some songs are soothing, and some are empowering, and some are both! (is it weird that I sometimes listen to Mulan’s reflection while running?)

One thing I greatly appreciate is that Disney films are increasingly reflecting changes in societal attitudes. Disney female protagonists are increasingly shifting away from the traditional “impeccable, damsel-in-distress princess” moulds (besides Mulan of course) and are taking up roles that dare to define their own ideal of femininity (my favourite is Moana!).

http://margots-robbie.tumblr.com/post/156222571589/im-a-big-tough-girl-i-tie-my-own-sandals-and

Further, I love that Disney is making an effort to address issues that plague present day society, but I also have my reservations about some of their approaches. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about Inside Out. On one hand, it was great that Disney addressed the issue of teenage mental health, and reinforcing the message that it is okay to embrace negative emotions instead of fight it. On the other hand, I am somewhat irked by the fact that it seems to suggest humans have no control over their thoughts and emotions, but rather that our emotions (represented by the characters Joy, Sadness, Disgust etc) literally are in charge of the ‘Headquarters’ of our mind.

I'm raring to uncover the multifaceted complexities of the Disney World - particularly ones that challenge me to reevaluate my longstanding perceptions of Disney characters from childhood - and am so excited to hop on my magic carpet and embark on an adventure in decoding Disney. In the process, I hope to explore various perspectives, be it from my classmates, film critics or academics, that both echo or differ from my viewpoints.