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.