Thursday 2 July 2015

Exam. First semester 2015

Hello again my followers! 

To continue with the theme I was talking about last week, today I'll talk about stereotypes, and more specifically, stereotypes in Disney movies. 

While watching "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Cinderella" during the weekend ( my parents forced me to watch it with my little sister) I realised about how many prejudices are present in these type of movies. And not just the ones I previously mentioned, but in almost every Disney movie I've ever seen. This has been a very controversial issue since the beginning of the movie industry, and specially in the past 20 years or so, given the development of the Internet and the rise of social media, as this makes an idea easier to expand. 

First, let's talk about stereotypes in general. They are defined as "a simplified and standardised conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group"1. So it's basically a term to classify a group of people, but this term has to be general and mostly negative. It's similar to the word prejudice. Nowadays stereotypes are present in every day life thanks to media and its possibility to reach a large number of people. Ads, TV shows and movies are just some of the places where you might find stereotypes. The most common type are gender and ethnic stereotypes, and as a consequence, they are the most developed ones in media. Men and women are an example of gender stereotypes; while white, black or Asian people are examples of the second type. There is another type of stereotype, which is the one that makes reference to the place where you are from. The latter has become more "popular" in the U.S. since 9/11 attacks. People in that country judge immigrants, specially those coming from the Middle East (which were directly involved in the attacks) and latinamerica. 

But let's begin with the movies. First "Snow White". We all know what the movie is about (right?) and while we might find it funny, sad or a waste of time, many stereotypes have gone unnoticed. For example the most evident one: women are always supposed to be the tidy ones in the house, whilst men are the untidy ones. As a consequence, women are always cleaning and tidying up the mess that men leave behind. This can be seen in the movie and it's portrayed as something that makes Snow White happy, and that she enjoys it. By doing this, she saved the dwarfs from succumbing under their own trash. However, by the end of the movie she is the one that's saved (from death this time. How tragic!) by a prince. They got married, and lived happily ever after. So boring!besides, this is another stereotype (mainly directed to women): get married and all your problems will vanish but this is not always true. Some marriages get divorced. Others fight. They even cheat on each other or love just disappears. So your problems won't always disappear unless you really love your couple. 

For the second movie happens something very similar. As you might find "Cinderella" once again funny, sad or whatever, there's also a couple of stereotypes that can be identified. First of all, the one related to cleaning, cooking and serving or attending the rest.mThis stereotype is very similar to the one present in "Snow White", but there is a difference. Cinderella is forced by her evil stepmother to work in the house as a servant. She doesn't like it. She doesn't enjoy it. However, if she wants to stay living there, she is obligated to comply with the desires of her stepmother. This situation leads us to another stereotype present in this and almost every Disney movie: the evil stepmother and, to a lesser extent, stepsisters. We can also find an example of this in "Snow White", since that is the reason she escaped in the first place: her evil stepmother wanted to kill her because of her beauty. Anyway, let's go back to "Cinderella". In this movie her stepmother and stepsisters tease her and make her feel bad. For example p, this situation can be seen when they don't let her go to the party. Once again in this film, the main character is saved from her evil family by a man, and more precisely, by a prince. Yet, this is another stereotype. In fact, it's the same that's present in "Snow White". For girls, getting married or finding a man is the only way to solve your problems or, in this specific case, be free.

So what was my point by telling you all this? Open your ayes. Make you realise that stereotypes are present everywhere, even in movies aimed for little kids. And this is the most worrying part. If kids can't be free of prejudices, who will?

Try not to believe everything you see in the media and question yourselves: is what I'm watching accurate? Does it stick to reality? This is the only way we can change this situation. 

What do you think about this issue? Is your opinion similar to mine? Please write it in the comments section.

Thank you for reading!



Word count: 870 words

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