Thursday, October 13, 2016

Disney's Ability to Manipulate the Media

I read a Mirror article today titled "The three things Disney have banned from all of their films" today that really angered me. I grew up with my dad always working, so majority of my time was spent with my mom and my two sisters. Throughout my childhood Disney films and television programs were always on. Such an article irritated me because the authors of published articles aren't idiots, yet they are viewing Disney as this two-dimensional entity that is family-friendly. Neglecting the pernicious aspects of Disney only further enables their empire to grow and perpetuate a sexist ideology. This article states that Disney films are "good, clean family fun" and cites the "morals at the heart of every story" as evidence. The author of the article, Zahra Mulroy, concedes there are only a "few" instances of "Dark Disney". Only a few?! What about the constant oppression woman face in every Disney film?! What about the innumerous amount of suggestions that woman are merely objects designed to please men?! What about the negative connotation Disney films have associated with sexual orientation?! Sure the article says that Disney films never include decapitation, impalement, and smoking, but viewing Disney as "good, clean family fun" is absurd. Usually such an article wouldn't have caused such aggravation, but recent articles I have read in class along with my essay on the negative portrayal of gender roles in 'Mulan' has created such a sour taste in my mouth. I was basically raised by woman and my sister is gay, so since I realized how innately discriminatory Disney is I have had a hard time noticing any positives of Disney. Moreover, such an article further demonstrates Disney's ability to maintain its pure and innocent appearance in Media. I am not sure whether Disney has an amazing PR team or whether there is some "payolla" type scenario going on between Disney and various media outlets, or both. But I plan on further investigating Disney's seemingly impeccable appearance in the news.

Link to the Article:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/three-things-disney-banned-films-9036798

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