But now the film studio finds itself fending off a chorus of accusations of racial stereotyping in its forthcoming big-budget cartoon, The Princess and The Frog: An American Fairy Tale, which marks a return to hand-drawn animation.
A musical set in 1920s New Orleans, the film was supposed to feature Maddy, a black chambermaid working for a spoilt, white Southern debutante. Maddy was to be helped by a voodoo priestess fairy godmother to win the heart of a white prince, after he rescued her from the clutches of a voodoo magician.
Disney's original storyboard is believed to have been torn up after criticism that the lead character was a clichéd subservient role with echoes of slavery, and whose name sounded too much like "Mammy" – a unwelcome reminder of America's Deep South before the civil rights movement swept away segregation.
11 comments:
I sent you this story because of your prowess in visual arts and unconventional ideas. Being the father of a six year old black girl I'm acutely sensitive to this topic.
The typical civil rights response would include marches in front of the studio, writing letters, and television appearances by self-appointed custodians of the black electorate decrying such portrayal. Leaving aside the questions about the effectiveness or desirability of such tactics, is there another approach that you or others would suggest? Am I making too much of a small thing?
Am I making too much of a small thing?
Yes, since Cinderella was essentially a maid and Snow White was arguably a whore (living with 7 men).
Isnt there always a rags to riches theme with Disney?
Do you look as closely at other programming?
I do, but I can't avoid thinking and feeling differently about this. Disney has created other heroines of color, Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine, without making overcoming conditions of servitude define their character or reveal their courage.
Now, I would have no objection if Disney made a story about a kidnapped African princess who is rescued from the bowels of a slave ship by a Benin warrior prince. But I don't think they would conceive such a tale. Disney could have patterned Mulan after an abused Chinese laundress in San Francisco circa late 1800s but they didn't. With Disney's remote history of indulging in explicitly derogatory racial stereotypes and their first attempt to create a black heroine, I would have thought that they would feel the need to get the story just right.
Disney has created other heroines of color, Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine
Actually sub, you missed the common denominator here.
Maddy was to be helped by a voodoo priestess fairy godmother to win the heart of a white prince, after he rescued her from the clutches of a voodoo magician.
The consistent meme here is of White American (male) superiority that continually rescues fair maidens from the savagery and inferiority of their own native cultures. Especially by beating them at their own game.
Mulan was another tired retred of culturally-illiterate feminist rhetoric.
And why was Pocahontas a heroine? When she sold-out, aided and abetted in the genocide of tens of millions of her First Nation countrymen?
Why not a Native American princess who scalped a dozen White settlers, instead?
Why not a Chinese woman who fought bravely against the Jews dumping opium into her country in the Opium War?
YES, Disney metaframes reality for young minds and I would highly recommend you not expose your kids to such Jewish mafia propaganda. It was all downhill after Disney died and the Jews took helm...
Remember, this is the same slut-factory that cranked out Xtina, Britney & Miley Cyrus...
Hey Byrdeye for the record you know youz my nigga... That's why I always be messin with you... Im still gonna call you turdeye from time to time though
ILLMATH
It's all cool Ill, daps. Keep the flows comin. :)
BTW, guess who the only ones really fighting David Icke are?
JEWS!
Watch the ADL thought-pol get him kicked out of every public area he tries to go to. These guys are robotic drones who don't even want ANY debate on the matter! Bye bye free thought & speech!!! SHALOM!
Anyone else notice that she looks kinda like a flapper, which unless i'm mistaken, was equated as something of a "loose" woman at the time.
And yeah, the whole "white prince" thing does come off as a sort of suggestion that only a white man can save the black woman from the savagery of her heathen ancestors. Fear of black sexuality.
Quick story-- There's an episode of the Little Mermaid cartoon where Sebastien gets visited by his crab friend. (blanking on the name at the mo.) Sebastien has the obvious Jamaican accent, and his friend has a sort of waspy patois to his speech, with a pronounced cleft chin and almost what looks like a spit curl atop his head. (What i'm trying to say is, the crab is obviously white.) So the whole episode, Sebastien's friend proceeds to effortlessly best him at pretty much every competition. He's the best singer, the fastest swimmer, the strongest arm wrestler, even the better crier. Even Sebastien's friends, including King Triton start to warm up to his friend more. At the end of the ep, after pretty much besting Sebastien at everything and isolating him from his friends, the character proceeds to cry, saying, "That's what you're better at than me, making friends. No one wants to be friends with me because i'm so perfect." Which, in case you can't tell, is BULLSHIT. Being a writer myself, it looks like the scriptwriter knew exactly what he was doing, and sort of cowardly wanted to back away from the garbage he was putting in little kids' head. "See, kids, Sebastien can win because he's got friends." instead of, "The white man is superior to you in everything, darky." Yes, I know it sounds like i'm reading a little much into this, but I don't think so.
People, watch these shows with your kids, especially the old 70's, 80's shows that are put in syndication. People think, oh, they're cartoons, what harm can they do? Kids are much more perceptive of that type of stuff than we think. Remember the "doll" experiment, where little kids already perceive "white" as being the preferable baby doll color. Ask yourself why. I'm not saying this's the entire reason, but it definitely plays a part.
I remember loving this show as a kid, but looking at it now, I was very disturbed at the subtext there. (And I almost vaguely recall being a young black kid who almost "got" the subtext, and really wanting Sebastien to finally best him at something.)
Which makes me wonder what else has been hidden in all this stuff supposedly "for kids". (This was recent, so yes they're STILL airing it.)
"The white man is superior to you in everything, darky." Yes, I know it sounds like i'm reading a little much into this, but I don't think so.
No, you're not. You'll notice that in most of their "diverse" toons, the White male hero saves the brown natives (often a female) from themselves.
BTW, also notice this Black chick has green eyes? Guess that makes her a little Whiter too, "better" than normal Black society and so "worthier" of a White "prince."
Princess Tiana will be her name.
Info + picture + cast:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Frog
Post a Comment