As interesting as I found this reading, I disagree with many of the things Giroux says. I do not believe that children watch movies and pick out the racist and cultural commentary, let alone identify certain scenes in moves as 'clashing culture'. I believe that Disney movies give off a much better message that children take away from it, that they do in underlying controversies in culture and race. Young children are not going to pick out which scenes inaccurately depict women in society and which clash in cultures. I think that Disney is a special part of childhood that one should not be putting down so much as Giroux is in this reading.
I agree with your statement, "Young children are not going to pick out which scenes inaccurately depict women in society and which clash in cultures". Take the story of Pocahontas for example. Not many people know the true story because they've seen the original movie first - John Smith was in reality an evil and terrible person who treated his workers poorly and Pocahontas was more savage then once believed. No child wants to see these sides of these characters. Children like love stories and happy endings. Some analysts says that Disney is sheltering children from the truth, but in reality, they are just creating stories that will entertain. So although Pocahontas may be an inaccurate depiction in the movie, but it is just for entertainment purposes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying 100%. Personally, I don't think Disney was out to brainwash children and portray racism or stereotypes. Rather, he was out to provide innocent kids with a feel good happy ending. Furthermore, the fact that Giroux goes out and attacks Disney movies in the manner that he does makes his argument weaker. Had he given the audience a fair chance to look at both sides of this controversy, I think his ideas would've come across as less of an attack and more as just a point of view for which the reader can accept or deny. However, because Giroux only purpose in writing this piece is to attack Disney, I feel as though he causes the reader to go against him, ultimately making his argument weaker.
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