Disney

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/fashion/31disney.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

This article published in the New York Times before The Princess and the Frog gives many opinions to stereotypes persistent in Disney movies. Before the release of Disney’s newest princess, many expressed concern as to how Tiana would be represented as an African American woman. After our discussion of portrayal of stereotypes in the media, I found this article to be particularly interesting. This article represents the fact that no one can come to a decision on when stereotyping goes too far in the media (aside from a few exceptions where Disney REALLY dropped the ball in depicting races). What I got from this article was that everyone draws the line at a different place, and some critics might be a little overly-critical of racially diverse characters which can foster stereotypes in places that need not be depicted as stereotypical.

For example, Disney came close to naming the new princess Maddy, short for Madeline; however, this idea was quickly revoked because it was too close to “Mammy”. In defense of Disney, and I rarely defend Disney when it comes to their use of stereotypes, Maddy was an extremely popular girls name at the time, names like Madison and Madelyn were very common and used Maddy for short. In instances like this, I wonder if we think too much about stereotypes and, by doing so, we continue to perpetuate these stereotypes.

In another instance, critics were arguing if Tiana and her prince were “black enough.” Tiana and the prince were criticized for having skin color that was too white, and the prince was criticized because the actor was not black but Brazilian. In cases like this, many were on the fence about whether this is an important issue to tackle. Some believe Disney should have gone a bit farther in creating a more African American character. I am not so sure how I feel about this. Plenty of African Americans are lighter skinned and plenty are darker skinned. On one hand, Disney may have tried to make Tiana more “white” by making her lighter skinned. On the other hand, it could just be the illustrator’s creative vision.

Overall, what I got from this article is that stereotyping in the media is a tricky situation. There is no definitive line drawn to show people what is too far and what is not far enough. I think as viewers, it is important to take all characters with a grain of salt.