Walter Disney of the Walt Disney fame by creating renowned fictional characters like Mickey Mouse became very popular among the youths who nearly idolized him. Because of desire to develop identity at childhood and adolescence, children normally look to heroes and role models to shape their behavior and values. Choice of their heroes is normally based on the perceived hero’s skills and attributes. Many children and adults alike have found their heroes in the Walter Disney animations. The Princes and the Frog a Disney’s 2D animated film has become an American fairytale that typifies nostalgic magic and modern attitudes bent on ushering in a new generation of lovers of animated works. A waitress who is a cast in The Princess and the Frog undertake to begin saving to fulfill her dreams and the dreams of her late father of owning a restaurant. Mass media has surely revolutionized the pop culture. Television sets, booming movie industry, play stations and computer games, and other forms of mass communication devices expose people to never ending culture messages. Cartoonist and other forms of animations by Disney Company have been a darling to all and sundry including children. Many have taken to this culture irrespective of the ethnic, racial, and cultural boundaries.
What impact does Disney have on Pop culture?
Children television programs and films have taken to elevating the status of man at the peril of women by portraying man as an all important figure as portrayed by the cartoons. Cartoon male characters are normally shown to be independent, physical endowed, technical, very responsible, and overly assertive. Male carton characters have leadership ability, are not cowardly, are aggressive, are braggy, and are jovial more than female characters. Male cartoon characters play more pivotal roles that require them to frequently appear several times than the female characters. Male characters in the cartoons have been stereotyped. The male casts take part in more leadership roles, are extremely bossy, and portray razor sharp intelligence. This cartoon put men on pedestal where it becomes absolutely difficult for the females to get somewhere near to (Thompson 655). In this way, Disney encourages male chauvinism. It portrays men as a superior sex. Children who watch the cartoon episodes of animated films grow up knowing that to be born a woman is some sort of servitude and being a man is blessing in itself (Seidman 11).
Cartoons and animated films have episodes that kind of centers on violent episodes. Because the children see these characters in the cartoons as their heroes they take to emulating these violent characters. This has prompted the witnessing of ugly scenes where children in day care facilities or schools end up causing fatal injuries to their colleagues. Those whom the children look up to as heroes in the cartoon or animation films, are normally less remorseful about their undoing, they are never punished for their misdeeds, neither are they impeded when they undertake to engage in violence. This makes children to believe that it is morally right to engage in acts of violence (Young 49). Many youths grow knowing that violence is a tool for solving their problems. Casts in animated films do idolize stereotypes. There has been a major gain pertaining to ethnic imbalance and male chauvinism some elements of these can still be noted. Some heroes in children cartoon like Aladdin are portrayed to be very light skinned, probably a Caucasian. However, the cast has no accent (Dietz 426). This is racial stereotypy of its kind. The full bearded Middle East casts, with heavy accent, carrying swords are portrayed as villains. Disney stereotypes characters that their role in animations is very historical. This epitomizes racial bigotry that has continued to clip the wings of the 21st century society.
How does Disney become an impact to change pop-culture permanently?
Disney entertainment has become a platform where people articulate their intellectual capability. Disney has molded a society where access to information is unlimited regardless of once age. They have managed to shape the political landscape of countries as well as political ideologies because of the power they wield. Disney has become even more powerful because of their enjoyment of the broader America landscape. This has made them so appealing to people’s fantasy and dreams. They have helped enhanced cynicism. It has since evoked utopian longing by offering a sense of ordinary in the extraordinary (Giroux, p. 9). Disney creates a wish landscape in children that integrates elements of fantasy and fun. It moreover creates an imaginary world to children. By watching animated films, children become overly exotic. Their exotic tendencies catapult them into developing a desire to overlook the historical realities.
Allowing children to watch and read Disney publication calls for development of education program in an out of schools that gives children an edge in critical reading of the new media technology. This cannot work under normal circumstances. Therefore companies like Disney should be subjected to public interrogation and critical dialogue on the content that they televise which are directly consumed by children. If this does not happen then the societal moral fabric will be in dire tattered condition.
Works Cited
- Dietz, Thomas. “An examination of violence and gender role portrayals in video games: Implications for gender socialization”. Sex Roles 38 (1998): 425-433.
- Giroux, Henry. The Mouse that roared: Disney and the End of Innocence. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999. Print.
- Seidman, Steven. “Revisiting Sex-Role Stereotyping In MTV Videos”. International Journal of Instructional Media 26 (1999): 11.
- Thompson, Teresa & Zerbinos, Eugenia. “Gender roles in animated cartoons: Has the picture changed in 20 years?” Sex Roles 32 (1995): 651-673.
- Young, Thomas. “Women as comic book superheroes: The weaker sex in the Marvel Universe”. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior 30 (1993): 49-50.