Aladdin and Lady and the Tramp
Both children and adults are familiar with Disney movies. Many remember Cinderella, Mickey Mouse, Simba, Aladdin, and other various Disney characters. Some people, for sure, feel sympathy for these characters and consider Disney films symbols of kindness, love, belonging, and justice. However, for years, researchers have been analyzing these movies finding and investigating issues connected with gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and disability. For instance, Cheu tells about great “criticism on Princess phenomenon,” implying that without a prince, a princess’ character would not have any development (3). Thus, children’s films require more critical review for an understanding of represented social processes.
Different examples of discrimination depicted in Disney films may influence children’s development causing stereotypical and non-tolerant thinking. Disney movies being for many people a significant part of their childhood, often affect personality formation. In this regard, the certain representation of male and female characters and characters of different races, in addition to intolerance, may cause psychological problems connected with self-perception and confidence. This paper discusses issues of gender, race, and sexuality in the movies Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Aladdin (1992) and their impact on children.
The film Lady and the Tramp, released in 1955, tells the audience a romance story of two dogs, Lady and Tramp, who fall in love with each other. Lady is an American Cocker Spaniel who lives in a good upper-middle-class family surrounded by the love and care of her owners. Tramp is a mixed-breed dog living on the streets; he has to get his food and escape from the animal control service, but he enjoys it. They meet each other, experience various adventures, and understand they want to be together. The story has a happy end: Lady’s owners accept Tramp in their house, and the dogs create their own family.
Lady is represented as a traditional female character whose perception of reality does not go beyond the traditional family foundations. She is a domesticated dog who wears a collar, and she is proud of it that is evident from her emotions when she first gets the collar. In addition, she is shown as a domestic female character who feels responsible for her family (Gutiérrez 33). She protects her owners’ baby and can not leave them when she has an opportunity to stay with Tramp and live freely and adventurously. At the end of the film, Lady’s owners accept him in their family as Lady’s husband.
In final scenes, both Lady and Tramp wear collars, and researchers express the idea that collars can be regarded as wedding rings (Gutiérrez 34). By the end of the film, they are “married” and have children representing an image of traditional heterosexual relationships. Thus, Lady does not give up her values, and Tramp also becomes a part of the world where traditional foundations are the most significant.
Lady carries not only domestic female status but also the status of “lady.” It is reflected in her name and, in addition, one of her owners calls her “beautiful little lady” at the beginning of the film (Lady and the Tramp). It implies her high social position; Lady’s owners are white and live in an upper-middle-class neighborhood, and Lady corresponds to specific standards. According to Gutiérrez, although she is a dog, “she carries traditional traits associated with white women of the 1950s” (39).
As the researcher also notes, in the 50s, due to economic reasons, “more white families bought homes in suburban areas and remained racially segregated from black people” (39). Thus, the audience can see a gap between social classes that also implies the gap between people of different races at that time.
The label of “beautiful lady” implies not only her status but also the fact that her appearance must correspond to this status as well. Despite the fact she is a dog, researchers claim that her beauty “echoes that of a female human” (Gutiérrez 34). Lady’s ears remind curly red woman’s hair, and she has long black eyelashes. There are moments when Lady bats her eyelashes looking at Tramp, the gesture that is usually seen as typically female and even implying some sexualization of the character (Gutiérrez 33). One may conclude that Disney imposes stereotypes even on animal characters ascribing to them gender roles and certain social status.
Other gender stereotypes reflected through Lady and Tramp characters are connected with male and female sexuality. When Lady is caught by animal control service, she meets other street dogs who tells her a bit more about Tramp’s personality. It turns out that he had girlfriends before Lady, “there’s been Lulu… and Trixie. Und Fifi” and he “breaks a new heart every day” (Lady and the Tramp). While Lady, at the beginning of the story, is a puppy and becomes adult only when she gets a collar, so she is represented as absolutely innocent. One may agree that these characters’ features imply that a man can lead a freer life, including the sexual sphere, while the same behavior is inappropriate for a decent woman. Thus, limits are imposed on female behavior, including relationships and sex life.
Discussing gender roles in the movies, it is also worth mentioning Lady’s owners. They are a husband and wife who refer to each other as Darling and Jim Dear, and the audience does not hear Darling’s real name. Gutiérrez notes that this fact is crucial and implies that “Darling is valued less than Jim” (33). In addition, they also reflect the image of a family with traditional gender roles and values: Darling is a housewife, Jim goes to work, and they have a baby.
It is possible to agree that such representation of characters, especially Lady’s representation, may have a great impact on the formation of a family image in children. It can create a belief that a traditional heterosexual family is the only possible model and that a woman can not be happy without a man and children. According to Gutiérrez, Disney films, including Lady and the Tramp, often imply that “the highest achievement any girl can accomplish in life is landing a man and getting married” (6). This sexist stereotype can be destructive for the formation of personality in girls. Women are driven into frames of gender roles, and under the impact of these believes, they often may not realize their full potential and may feel dependent on men.
The represented family model may cause stereotypical thinking in boys as well. It can refer both to the family image and the perception of women as weak and dependent. Researchers claim that “rigid gender roles can be destructive and harmful to young men and women” (Gutiérrez 7). Of course, all these facts do not imply that a traditional family model is destructive itself. A lot of people can realize their potential and feel happy within these traditional foundations. However, children should not be confined to the framework of only one existing norm. They should see that many different ways also can be considered as normal.
Another Disney movie under discussion is Aladdin released in 1992. The actions take place in the fictional Arab city Agrabah. Street thief Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, the protagonists of the film, encounter the evil sorcerer Jafar who wants to get a magic lamp with gin and marry Jasmine to become Sultan. However, with the help of gin, the heroes manage to defeat Jafar. In the finale, the Sultan, Jasmine’s father, changes the law, which allows Jasmine to marry Aladdin.
Gender roles and stereotype issues are also represented in the Aladdin movie. Princess Jasmine, at the beginning of the film, looks strong and independent. According to the law and her status, she is obliged to marry a prince. She is very frustrated with the idea of arranged marriage and tries to confront her father by abandoning potential suitors and finally escaping from the palace. She tells her father: “The law is wrong. Father, I hate being forced into this.
If I do marry, I want it to be for love” (Aladdin). However, when she meets Aladdin after escaping and falls in love with him, the audience can see her image changing in accordance with the gender roles model. According to Gutiérrez, Jasmine loses her freedom and becomes dependent on Aladdin, and, in the end, begging for her father’s approval to marry Aladdin becomes dependent on Sultan as well (58). Thus, the representation of Jasmine during the film changes from a non-stereotypical independent female figure to a more traditional image of a woman fulfilling her gender role.
Jasmine, like Lady, can have a significant impact on children’s perception of women and their role in society. Jasmine’s searches of freedom and individuality end up in the “happily ever after” model. Such character development may imply that even when a woman has different goals, aimed, for example, on career or self-realization, it is temporary. It reinforces the idea that every woman needs a family, and she can not be happy on her own.
Aladdin’s image also may be destructive for young men and women as he is depicted as a heroic type who needs to win a girl. He is brave, strong, and adventurous, and it is possible to agree that mainly thanks to these features, Jasmine likes him. Returning to the movie Lady and the Tramp, one also can agree that Tramp is of the same type of fearless and reliable man. He saves the human baby from the rat, and after that moment, Lady forgets her grievances caused by what she learned about Tramp’s personal life. Although previously, she angrily was demanding answers from him: “Who is Trixie? And Lulu? And Fifi?” (Lady and the Tramp).
This representation of male characters also can impact children’s perception of relationships. Young men may conclude that only heroes deserve love, and young women may have the illusion that men must commit heroic deeds for their sake and win them.
In addition to mentioned gender stereotypes, Jasmine and other female characters’ clothes make them over-sexualized. Cindrić notes that female characters wear “clothes that reveal their stomach while also wearing veils to cover up their faces” (20). This fact serves to the sexual representation of women in the movie. Over sexualization of Disney princesses, including Jasmine, also may have a destructive impact on children’s development. In addition to the idea that a woman can be happy only with a man it reflects the belief that only being sexual and beautiful, she can get this man. When not corresponding represented beauty standards, young women may feel frustrated and unconfident.
Representation of female characters in Aladdin in the describe clothes also does not correspond to the depicted culture. Agrabah is shown as a Muslim city, and, according to Muslim culture, women are forbidden to wear clothes revealing their bodies (Cindric 21).
That is not the only aspect that represents a distorted view of Arab culture. In the opening song Arabian Nights, one of the lines sounds as “It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home” (Aladdin). The word “barbaric” implies the representation of Arab culture as uncivilized and cruel. At the same time, according to Rahayu, barbaric features are shown in a somewhat romantic way, and the song has a cheerful tone. Thus, the barbarism is represented as natural and one of the only possible features of Arab people.
It is worth noting that racial contradictions are also represented in the characters’ appearances. Some researchers note that positive characters, in particular, Aladdin and Jasmine, are more westernized in comparison with negative character Jafar (Elmogahzy 52). For instance, Jafar wears a turban and has a big nose and a beard, unlike Aladdin, who has none of these attributes. These differences in the representation of positive and negative characters may imply that people of different appearances differ from white people. In this regard, it can even create a primitive but destructive chain in a child’s mind: he/she is different; it means he/she is bad.
Although it is difficult to imagine that children’s movies can promote intolerance, all mentioned gender, race, and sexual aspects reflect stereotypical and discriminative social views. According to Patterson and Leland, “children’s popular culture serves as a mirror for whom we value and whom we devalue in our communities” (86). The researchers believe that it is impossible to celebrate the success of tolerance while popular culture, including films and animation, allows oppressive representation of characters in connection with race, gender, and sexuality (Patterson and Leland 86). Thus, it is of great importance to analyze children’s movies critically and contribute to a more conscious perception of such films.
Thus, Disney films Lady and the Tramp and Aladdin may have a significant influence on children’s development. Some aspects of representation of female and male characters and characters of different cultures may cause stereotypical or intolerant perceptions of themselves and other people. In particular, the perception of a woman as weaker and more dependant in comparison with a man and the view on the traditional family model as the only possible variant. In addition, represented stereotypes may contribute to the image of people of a different nationality as aggressive, alien, and less civilized. One may conclude that children’s films need to be paid as much attention as other movies for society to fight stereotypes and discrimination successfully.
Works Cited
Aladdin. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, performances by Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, and Jonathan Freeman, Walt Disney Productions, 1992.
Cheu, Johnson. Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Disability. McFarland, 2013.
Cindrić, Fabijan. Construction of the Other in the US Media. Diss. University of Zadar. Department of English., 2016. Web.
Elmogahzy, Amany. “A “Whole New World”: Race and Representation in Disney’s Live-Action Remakes of Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan.” 2018. Web.
Gutiérrez, Brianna Prudencia. “Breaking the Glass Slipper: Analyzing Female Figures’ Roles in Disney Animated Cinema from 1950-2013.” 2017. Web.
Lady and the Tramp. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, performances by Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Thompson, and Dallas McKennon, Walt Disney Productions, 1955.
Patterson, G., and Leland G. Spencer. “What’s so funny about a snowman in a tiara? Exploring gender identity and gender nonconformity in children’s animated films.” Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture, vol. 2, no. 1, 2017, pp. 73-93.
Rahayu, Mundi. “Identity politics in Aladdin: from Arabian Nights to Disney animated film.” 2016. Web.