Conclusion Blog Post

This class has been really influential on my views towards Disney. I have been pretty open since the start of the class on how Disney has played a large role in my life. At first it was The Jungle Book that really moved me and then Mulan solidified my long love for all things Disney. Disney was an escape for me, literally and figuratively. I look back at my trips to Disney Theme Parks or finishing my work then watching Mulan and singing every word with my sisters with great fondness. They will forever be some of the happiest memories of my life. I didn’t expect much from this class to be honest; I am a poor writer and I thought we would just be analyzing the villains in these animated films. However, I was wrong. This class revealed Disney's true colors and by doing so exposed their ability to hide those true colors through a culture of secrecy and deceit.

Decoding Disney revealed the intricacies of making the villains and the subtle messages they conveyed. One aspect of Disney that this class revealed that really surprised me is the image of Disney conveying anti-homosexual sentiment. Having a lesbian sister and a gay uncle, I don't know whether to feel angry or ignorant to the fact that the songs we were singing and the plots we were captivated by were derogatory in nature. The same myriad of feelings came to me when this class revealed the gendered messages the Princes and Princesses reinforce. I remember running around my kitchen table with my sisters singing Disney songs like "A Girl With Fighting For" like it was yesterday. While that moment was great and will forever be great, my memory of that moment has soured because I realize we are praising strong, smart, and independent women like my sisters, but almost as housewives that serve their husbands.

Additionally, Decoding Disney has revealed that Disney conveys villainy in ways other than a typical villain. For example society could be viewed as evil in Mulan, or WALL-E, or Wreck it Ralph. 

Wreck it Ralph, the last film we watched for this class deepened me view towards villainy the most. Ralph was born into being a video, like many of the people born into crime. Ralph portrays villainy in a new light in that he just wants to be good but constantly feels like an outcast. By doing so, Ralph becomes if not the first, one of the first villains to show that he has feelings and that they are hurt. By creating Ralph, Pixar has perpetuated an idea that people, even villains, could be good and that the good guy and the bad guy often aren't that different.