How has the Representation of
the Heroine within Disney Films Changed over Time?
“Representation of the world, like the world
itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view,
which they confuse with the absolute truth” – Simone de Beauvior.1
In the 1930s, Disney released
Snow White, their first film including a Disney princess. The initial sketches
for Snow White as a character were similar to that of Betty Boop, a widely
known cartoon who dances around wearing red (a colour connoting love, sex and
danger) revealing clothes making her a perfect example of how the Male Gaze, by
Laura Mulvey, is spreading to what potentially is an institution made for children.
Snow White as a character is
completely reliant on men. When lost in the woods she took to seven male
dwarves to look after her, and when attacked by the witch, she took to waiting
for a prince to save her. While with the
dwarves she resulted to roles such as cooking, cleaning and generally taking
care of them. Even when doing tough jobs like these, she still managed to wake
up every day with perfect hair, flawless skin and never once complained about
it. Like all princesses, Snow White had the ability to sing stunningly. Disney
even won an academy award for the music, including Snow White’s ballad titled “Some Day My Prince Will Come” – a name
which outlines how much the whole film is reliant on men.
Laura Mulvey states that for
feminists, the Male Gaze can me interpreted in one of three ways; how men look
at women, how women look at themselves, and how women look at other women. The
whole plot line built around Snow White is that the Wicked Queen wants to be
“fairest of them all” however as Snow White is a threat to this dream, the
Wicked Queen tries to kill her. This is an example of how the Wicked Queen is
comparing herself to another woman. In the end, Snow White’s only asset (her
physical appearance) is what attracts the prince to kiss her and save her from
death. The idea that princesses can only
be saved by their “true love’s kiss” reflects badly on audiences as it is giving
an example to young women on how they need to have a man in their lives or else
they are powerless in facing life’s problems.
Films such
as Snow White were published in an era where women would naturally conform to
roles such as the wife, the mother or the housekeeper. Cinderella was released
in 1950 and she too was forced to keep up with the housekeeping. Even when the
mice came to help her, it was the female mice who took charge. However, viewers
at that time may have taken it as a use of escapism. In the book ‘Star Gazing: Hollywood Cinema and Female
Spectatorship’2 the author, Jackie Stacey suggested that the
female audience could relate to the protagonists and as stated by the Uses and
Gratifications theory, they are using the films as escapism from their roles
through the films. “…it also offers an
escape from what is perceived as the drudgery of domesticity and motherhood
which increasingly comes to define femininity at this time.” Yet now
audiences are trying to relate to these social roles that do not apply to this
time anymore therefore, according to the Hypodermic Needle effect, female viewers are getting brain-washed into
believing that they must act accordingly (e.g. be the housekeeper but still be
beautiful) if they are to ever be happy. The impression of young women being
trapped with the only hope of freedom is from a prince is argued to be too
unrealistic for the spectators who watch these films.
An
important example of a woman actually changing her physical appearance for a
man can be found in The Little Mermaid. The princess, Ariel, is a mermaid but
to become attractive to the prince, she had to leave the world where she
belongs and adapt to having legs therefore becoming a human. She is even
willing to sacrifice her voice in exchange for the prince falling in love with
her. Mulvey states that “man can live out
his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by imposing them on the
silent image of woman”3. Emphasis on “silent” which is literally what Ariel had become. The male
character gets Ariel (as if she is an object) therefore he gets what he desires
however Ariel must sacrifice not only aspects of her physical appearance but
also the chance to ever see her friends and family again in the sea. It could
be entailing a false hope in an audience as they are led to believe that they
must make a sacrifice in order to fall in love.
The
villain in The Little Mermaid, Ursula, is also a female character however her
physical appearance is much different to that of Ariel. She is overweight, wears
much darker colours (connoting evil and death), has a rather large facial mole,
and judging by the colour of her white hair, she is a lot older than most
female characters. Unlike Snow White being based on a younger provocative
character (Betty Boop), the sketches for Ursula were based on Divine.4 Divine
was a homosexual American actor, singer and drag queen. People magazine described him as the “Drag Queen of the Century”5.
Opposed to Ariel, Ursula is seen as ugly therefore through the eyes of Disney,
anyone who is old, over-weight or does not have plain skin is also seen as
unattractive or even “evil”.
A lot of parents viewed the
ideologies of Disney very negatively so much that they even managed to ban
their children from watching it “their 5
year old had yet no conception of female oppression or male dominated culture
they were worried that these false ideologies would be internalised.”3
Due to the Male Gaze, Disney has
also been very culturally wrong. For example, in Aladdin, the female
protagonist, Jasmine, is not wearing traditional clothes for that culture or
period of time. A great deal of their outfits were more American-based than
Arab. There are other female characters in the background however unless they
are thin they do not have their stomachs showing. One of the main factors of
the Male Gaze is how the camera lingers on woman to try and make them look more
inflammatory than they should. An example of this can in fact be found in
Aladdin even though their primary audience is young children. In one scene,
Jasmine is imprisoned but instead of looking hurt, scared or injured her body
and hair still looks flawless giving the impression to audiences that when in
trouble you are still meant to look perfect. The way that she is chained up
comes across as a lot more arousing than it should. She even manages to break
her way out by sexually seducing Jafar (the character imprisoning her) by
feeding him grapes.
On the other hand, Aladdin
himself is dressed in more traditional clothes that were appropriate for that
time. When he does eventually wear a little less, he is portrayed as muscular
and strong with a thin weak-looking Jasmine stood next to him looking up and
adoring him. This is a perfect example of how media is seen through the eyes of
a heterosexual man as the main male character is being loved by the beautiful,
provocatively dressed female.
Although, Jasmine was one of
Disney’s first steps to a breakaway from the Male Gaze. Even though the way she
looks and dresses is still very stereotypical Disney, Jasmine escapes through
the clutches of her father who tries to arrange her marriage. She finds Aladdin
so she can marry for love making Jasmine one of Disney’s first rebellious
princesses.
Disney slowly backed away from their stereotypical
princesses with the rise of Belle from Beauty and the Beast. “For Belle is, for all intents and purposes,
a Disney Feminist.“ - Jefferds, S6. The film starts off with the
mise-en-scene containing Belle reading a book and even though she is taken
aback by a man, the fact that she is intellectual makes a point for Disney
audiences. Instead of waiting for a prince like most princesses, she is
actually doing something worthy with her time.
There was a progression with the appearance of
Belle as well. Even though she still looks beautiful, she has wisps of hair
that always fly around the side of her face. Disney’s initial idea when
designing Belle’s hair was to show the audience that she was not perfect. Hair
has been a common tool for Disney to show their princesses as being slightly askew.
One of the major progressions through Disney is
Frozen, one of the latest films containing a princess. One of the protagonists,
Anna, wakes up in the morning with messy hair – a small change that made a big
impact. Disney is depicting a more
“normal” princess. The whole film in general has been a major success for
feminism. The dialogue used, such as Elsa’s “you can’t marry a man you’ve just met”7 and Kristoff’s “Hang on. You mean to tell me you got
engaged to someone you just met!?”7 suggest that Disney has
realized the stereotype they have made, and how it is unrealistic for this day
and age, therefore they attempt to change it through their main female
character, Anna. She finds her “prince” before she even sets off on the
adventure, someone who she does not fall in love with straight away and is a
countertype of a Disney prince as he is not muscular and he has a slightly
disproportioned face. The whole plot itself is based on Anna trying to help her
sister, Elsa, and in the end Elsa saves Anna too showing how women can also be
heroines. The co-director of Frozen, Jennifer Lee, was the first woman to
direct a Disney movie therefore Disney is literally moving away from the Male
Gaze as the film is directed through the eyes of a woman. This is an example of
liberal pluralism as people such as Jennifer Lee has seen how Disney has dealt
with feminism and intended to change it. As well as the role of females,
Disney’s Frozen also brought in a cameo of their first openly homosexual family
making Frozen the most realistic film in terms of the diversity you find in
modern society.
One of the biggest progressions in Disney
princesses is Merdia from Brave. A girl with bushy tangled ginger hair who has
a wider waist than most Disney princesses and does not want to get married to
any of the suitors her family has lined up for her. She is a strong character
as instead of her main asset being her sexuality or her physical appearance;
it’s her bravery and skills with a bow and arrow. She is also the hero who
saves her mum and brothers making her a much more appropriate role model for
younger audiences as they can relate more to her appearance wise.
The
women in Disney are becoming a lot braver.
Disney even took classic tale of Rapunzel and gave it their own spin on
it to produce Tangled, a film with an open-minded adventurous young girl who
even though she needed a prince to help her out, she did it for the right
reasons. Rapunzel managed to free herself from the castle and only need Flynn
to guide her to her parents. Hence the Effects theory may suggest to audience’s
that it is okay to ask for help but you can still make decisions on your own –
a much more appreciated message than you must wait for a man to save you.
Disney is becoming less
reliant on men and is progressing to become more realistic however certain
aspects such as a female hero saving a man, a female saving another female who
is not a relative, or a female of a slightly more average weight are still not
being portrayed. The Effects theory suggests that the media has a major
influence on the audience whether it is intentional or not. Everyone is still
waiting for a Disney princess that they can truly relate too and therefore, if
the audience is indeed passive to the powers of media institutions, viewers can
believe that they too can achieve their dreams without the help of a man.
Bibliography:
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1
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Psychology A2 textbook by Mike Cardwell and
Cara Flanagan
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2
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Star Gazing: Hollywood Cinema and Female
Spectatorship by Jackie Stacey
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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Disneys Frozen
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