Which Princess Represents your Style?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/which-disney-princess-is-your-style-icon#.ay0yl3p5K3

I took this buzzed quiz today that popped on my Facebook and I got that Jasmine represents my style because I am sexy and regal and that I like to rock a Jewel tone. I take on trends, but I find ways to make it my own. I feel like some parts of this description was accurate and some of it wasn't, but it was interesting to see what I got.

Response to Amanda Putnam

Amanda Putnam's article on Mean Ladies:transgendered Villains in Disney Films adopts a stereotypical stance that certain qualities are masculine and certain one are feminine; however, given the stereotypes, Putnam makes a very valid argument that the villains in Disney films are transgendered and given qualities of the opposite sex. I never really thought of female characters portraying male characteristics and vice versa until I read Amanda Putnam's Mean Ladies:transgendered Villains in Disney Films. One point that I do not agree with Amanda's article is the fact there a division between what qualities is masculine and what qualities are feminine. There are girls who are tom boys, play sports, athletic, and do not look like a typical female, which does not mean that they are any less of a female. Defining certain qualities of a female is impossible to do because each female is unique in their own way. Same argument with males applies. Men can take jobs within domestic work and be happy, like interacting with animals, and finish school. I find in general the whole principal of Putnam's argument to based on false ground and adhering to the stereotypes that we find in society. However, if we discuss this issue within the stereotypes, Putnam makes an excellent argument that the villains in the Disney exhibit qualities of the other gender. Disney portrays these villains as such to illustrate a stark difference what Disney defines to be the stereotypical male and the stereotypical female. One such example that Putnam uses to illustrate how the villains exhibit transgendered qualities is with Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Ursula, the female villain in the movie, is the typical transgendered villain in Disney because "Ursula's overweight body and tentacles, her deep voice, and the excessive sexualized shimmies are reminiscent of a drag queen on stage, overly made up and singing deeply, appearing both female and male simultaneously" (Putnam 155). Ursula depicts the typical drag queen, where males dress up as females, make up, clothes, and everything, and perform for an audience. Putnam illustrates here that Disney purposefully makes the villains as transgendered to depict to their audiences that these individuals are not the typical males nor females that the audiences should aspire to be. Because they are the villains in this case and exhibit these transgendered qualities, Disney illustrates that one should not cross boundaries in what qualities should be defined as male and female. Even with the males, these transgendered qualities are apparent.

However, Putnam does make stretches in her argument to try and prove that all Disney villains exhibit transgendered qualities. For example, she uses Jafar from Aladdin to try and prove that not having a romantic interest in someone proves her point that all Disney villain are transgendered. Putnam argues that "wish is not motivated by lust, but rather by his obsession for more power. Jafar's only incentive to pursue a heterosexual relationship is to humiliate Jasmine and anger Aladdin" (157). Putnam tries to argue that not wanting to be in a heterosexual relationship indicates a transgendered quality; however, Jafar's quest for power and dominance over the kingdom illustrates a strong male quality that he has. He wants to take over the Sultan position by any means possible and because he has no romantic interest in Jasmine does not indicate that is a transgendered individual. Maybe his thirst for power consumes everything inside of Jafar that he has no room for anything else for him to consider, especially love and relationships. Just because villains do not have spouses or fall in love does not indicate that they are transgendered, it just indicates that the greed and lust for power consumes all villains, so they do not have time for anything else.

Response to Roberta Trites

A lot of Roberta Trites's arguments I found very skeptical and very misguided. Fo example, Roberta sexualizes almost every scene in The Little Mermaid. Yes, certain scenes can imply sexual meanings, but not every single scene has some sexual connotations. For example, the idea that in Andersen's version of The Little Mermaid when she dances, it feels like she is walking on knives that her blood would flow represents the hymen breaking, was completely stretching the argument. You could argue that this fact represents how someone should not try to change who they are for other people, but you cannot stretch the argument just to make it sexual. Also the whole sexualizing Ursula to illustrate her personality was way too much of stretch that was completely ridiculous and made me think what is this author trying to prove. There are so many other arguments that one can make about The Little Mermaid, that there is not really a need to oversexualize everything about the movie. Especially, the author talking about the final scene, about Ursula taking power from Triton and her eventual downfall was all a scene about sex was completely absurd and made her lose her credibility with me. I was honestly done reading that whole section about her argument and done reading with her paper because she was fishing at things to argue about.

However, initially, I really did like her arguments because I felt that there was evidence to back these arguments up. I especially really like the argument that was the connection between Satan and Ursula and the whole argument about the scene from Paradise Lost giving the forbidden fruit to Adam and Eve is the basis for the whole movie. A lot of points add up to this fact, like going to shore is forbidden and seeing humans is forbidden which equates to the forbidden fruit, Ursula is Satan because she tempts the unsuspecting Eve, which is Ariel in this case to taste the forbidden fruit, which is going to land. If Trites had focused on that argument, instead of all the sexuality in her paper, her paper would be so much stronger instead of losing credibility with her ridiculous arguments. Another argument I really liked was the dependence of Ariel. All we see happen in the movie is Ariel's dependence on her father get transferred to her husband Eric. The stereotypical standard of women from the 1500s where women are dependent on their fathers and husbands. That idea still gets reinforced into all these Disney movies that women are dependent on a man in order to have their lives.  Disney still portrays old fashion ideas in their movies, which has been a continuing thing since the 1930s, and The Little Mermaid came out in 1989. My opinion about Trites's argument was overshadowed by all the sexual argument Trites's tried and failed to make, so I believe her article to be ineffective and made her lose her credibility in my eyes.

Historically Accurate Princesses

http://www.buzzfeed.com/eugeneyang/if-disney-princesses-were-historically-accurate#.xfMQwkWvYk

Buzzfeed also came out with this video about what Disney princesses would look like if the movies were historically accurate in following the time period. Some of these looks may surprise people

Would You Rather

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanbergara/disney-would-you-rather#.pm7d1b6e9b

Buzzfeed came out with this video about Disney on things you would rather have or do and some of these choice are really tough. My favorite was choosing between having ice powers like Elsa or having super human strength, which obviously duh choose the ice powers

More on the Measles at Disneyland

http://news.yahoo.com/more-measles-cases-tied-disneyland-illinois-day-care-203956488.html

More outbreaks are happening of the measles with individuals who had gone to Disneyland during Christmas time. This article explains more about what is happening with the situation.

Review of The Little Mermaid

Watching The Little Mermaid again was very entertaining for me. Despite being several years since I have watched the movie, this movie and its songs are classic and reminded me why I loved Disney so much. Ariel represents the curious nature in all of us that want to travel and see what the world has to offer. She represents the normal rebellious teenager who wants to live her own life by her own rules. My roommate definitely was giving me weird looks as I was watching the movie because I was humming/singing along to the songs, especially "Part of Your World". Compared to Snow White, Ariel is a thousand times better of a princess. Ariel, first of all, is a Mermaid, and who doesn't want to be a Mermaid; she is also once of the first princesses to see with a loving family. In typical Disney movies, the family is somehow broken, and I feel like Ariel's family is the least broken out of all the Disney families.  We never see Ariel's mother, but Ariel has 6 other sisters and her father Triton, who clearly love her.

Most of the movie was the same way that I remembered it, but there were certain parts that I didn't remember at all. One example was the beginning of the movie when Sebastian was throwing the whole concert for the mermen and mermaids, and Ariel was supposed to be the star singer of this concert. I clearly did not remember this scene happening and didn't even remember that Ariel had missed it because she was discovering new human treasure. I also completely forgot that Eric had a dog, what kind of detail am I forgetting!!! The dog was absolutely adorable and I don't know why i forgot Max. I also forgot the whole scene on what happens to Ursula, I had known that she had used Ariel's voice and turned into a human to lure away Eric to get Ariel tied to her for eternity, but I had forgotten the rest of the scene. I had forgotten the necklace around Ursula's neck had contained Ariel's voice, forgotten that Eric was too late to kiss Ariel because the sun had set on that day, and that Ursula had kidnapped her. I also had forgotten that Triton had switched places with Ariel and had given up his trident for her. That shows family love and commitment to one family. I also had forgotten that it was Eric that stabbed Ursula to save everyone. Basically, I had forgotten how the movie ends other than the fact Ariel gets legs and marries Eric.

I will now be in a Little Mermaid music craze and be listening to "Part of Your World" and "Kiss the Girl" on repeat because I had forgotten how good the music is in this movie. Sure, Ariel is a little ditzy, dumb, naive, and innocent, but we all have our faults, and The Little Mermaid will still be one of my favorite Disney movies of all time. Seeing this movie again when I am more mature has not changed my stance on the movie at all. Ariel is still one of my favorite princesses.

Response to Snow White

It has been a long time since I watched the full version of Snow White, and it is quite different than how I remember it. Sure, I remembered the basics that Snow White was supposed to be killed by the huntsman, he could not do it, so he told her to hide in the forest, she comes upon the dwarves' house and cleans it.  She then meets the dwarves and tells her story, and she promises to cook and clean for them; then the evil queen finds out that Snow White is alive and puts herself in disguise to give the poison apple to Snow White. She eats it, Snow White falls into a slumber, the evil queen is killed, and the prince comes and restores Snow White with a kiss. I knew the basics of the story, but a lot of the songs and scenes I really didn't remember.  For example the opening scene Snow White was a maid cleaning the castle and she sings the song about making a wish, and then the prince comes in.  I never remembered that the prince was in the beginning of the story at all. Or that they had a love song in the beginning. I also did not remember that all the animals had helped her find the dwarves' house. I thought of the animals always on the sidelines helping her clean and cook. I also did not remember that they were the ones who got the dwarves to come back because the evil queen was trying to convince Snow White to eat the poisoned apple.  By watching this movie again, my view of Snow White has changed again.  Before I knew about the misogynistic viewpoints of Snow White and how the movie was trying to portray a patriarchal society.  However, just seeing the movie illustrates how much this opinion influences the movie.  Snow White is 14 years old in the movie and she is singing about finding true love. She is very young and illustrates the misconception of the time that in order for a woman to be worthy she has to be domestically talented and marry a successful man. The dwarves also let her stay with them in her house because she is domestically talented as well.  This perception that women are only good for cooking and cleaning, is an idea I saw more clearly and more defining with every scene that happened in the movie.  Snow White absolutely does nothing of importance in this movie, neither do really any of the other characters.  None of the characters have defining personalities or characteristics that makes them even remotely similar to any of the audience.  The only possible argument to make to that is the seven dwarves, but even then, their personalities are just one characteristic that defines any normal human being. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Bashful, and Dopey are all version of what we feel or a characteristic we could have at one point of our lives. Doc, the dwarf that has a different type of name, is the voice of reason of the movie and illustrates what a child should do, listen to their mother.  This film is very simplistic and ideal and trying to portray the characteristics of an ideal American family.

Now I realize why after my childhood I never watched Snow White again.  It is a very bad Disney movie for any individual to watch who is not a child. There are just so many things wrong with the film, with the ideas they portray and just with the animation.  Even though for when it was created, the animation was beyond its time, to the current generation, it seems very lame and very simple animation. Honestly, I would never watch this film again because even after two minutes of rewetting Snow White, I was so very bored, and the movie just seemed dull. Snow White's high pitched voice also seemed very annoying during the film and is not what like anyone I know sounds like. Although it was good to watch Snow White again when I am old enough to understand what all the subtext is in the movie, I would honestly never watch this movie again

Reading Response to Jack Zipes

Pipes generally had a very well thought out argument, and is my favorite writer that we have read so far. He had the most evidence the support his argument, even though I may have not agreed with all the points he made. I felt that to support his argument it was very helpful to present the origin of fairytales and how they have changed right before Disney made his modifications to these stories.  His argument, however, is very contradicting to all the facts he presents. He tells us right before he starts criticizing Disney for changing the stories that all these authors and individuals before Disney had their own modifications to these fairytales.  Zipes argument is weakened because he doesn't acknowledge that fairytales have been progressing and evolving over time, and Disney is another individual who played a part in changing these fairytales. Zipes lets his hatred of Disney come into his arguments, especially in this quote "Disney's film is also an attack on the literary tradition of the fairy tale. He robs the literary tale of its voice and changes its form and meaning" (32).  Because the adapting of fairytales has been a common occurrence, Disney is the same as every other individual who came before him and adapted the fairytales to how he saw as fit. However, Zipes's argument about the way Disney changed the film to have a more sexist viewpoint is something I agree with.  Especially when Zipes says "women cannot chart their own lives without male manipulation and intervention", I feel that Disney tries to reinforce that stereotype women are weak and susceptible without a strong, successful man (36).  Even though this patriarchal notion was common in the 19th century, Disney seems to reinforce it by changing the parts of the prince in Snow White. The prince plays a bigger role in the movie, showing up initially in the movie and win Snow White's heart and then at the end he bestows a kiss to wake her up.  By changing these parts of the tale, Disney still retains the key ideological idea of patriarchy in society, by hiding in the context of the story, so it is not as upfront as it was in the Grimm fairytale version. Disney is trying to influence the subconscious of the younger generations to stick with these stereotypes when he created this film.  Zipes illustrates very well what are the problems of allowing this patriarchal stereotype to keep existing in society.  Overall, Zipes had a very good argument against Disney, but sometimes he let his hate of Disney get away from the true argument and problem that he has about Disney.

Summary of Disney for the Week

Disney is crating its first Latina princess, which is something new and exciting for the company.  Her name is Elena, is 16 years old, and comes from the Kingdom of Avalor.  According to Disney, this character was inspired by "diverse Latin cultures and folklore".  I think it is definitely great that Disney is creating its Latina princess because it is about time that the company had created one.  Disney is finally portraying the image that anyone can be princess, and it does not matter what ethnicity one is, any young girl can dream of being a princess within her own culture.  I also took the Ultimate Disney poll on BuzzFeed this week to see which overall are the all time favorite princesses, princes, villains, and favorite all time Disney movie. The all-time favorite princess is Belle, all time favorite prince is Flynn Rider, all time favorite villain is Maleficent, and all time favorite Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast.  This poll also asked what was the all time favorite song by a princess and favorite song by a non-princess.  The poll showed that "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid was the favorite song by a princess and the favorite song by a non-princess was "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan.  Many of these favorite songs and individuals illustrate either the individuals who are some of the most diverse characters that Disney has created or songs that are more relatable to the current generations.  This poll illustrates that we like characters and songs that we can relate to the most and embody characteristics that we like.