The Politics: Redemption Song

Considering all of the Disney songs from Disney films that get stuck in your head for hours on end and for all the racist and sexist propaganda that comes with them, Pocahontas holds perhaps one of Disney’s few redemptions. This redeeming moment in Disney Princess film history does not warrant the forgiveness of all its other crimes. Take a listen to the song below and follow along as I dissect how this film uses the song ‘Colors of the Wind’ to make political commentary on the wrongs of colonialism.

Colors Of The Wind

You think I'm just an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places; I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see, if the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know...
Disney, through Pocahontas questions the historical claim to the savagery of difference that was used to justify the colonization of the United States and other places. The question she poses in the above verse is: who is the real savage?

You think you own whatever land you land on
The earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name.
Her appeal to her link to nature is what was regarded as savagery to the English colonizer, as stated in another song from the film; the Indians were seen as ‘savages, barely even human,’ whether or not this is actually savage is the question that this film exposes.

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew
Here Pocahontas highlights that an unwillingness and inability to understand difference not as bad, but as difference. This verse begs that people try to understand and empathise with one another rather than judging them for an ignorance that they too possess.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle in a loop that never ends

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or let the eagle tell you were he's been
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?

How high does a sycamore grow?
If you cut it down then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountain
We need to paint with all the colours of the wind

You can own the earth and still
All you'll own is earth until
You can paint with all the colours of the wind.

Each of the preceding verses talks about colonialisms destruction of nature, or people. The destruction of a civilization because the colonizer never tried to ‘paint with all the colours of the wind,’ meaning understand the place they invaded.

The Politics: When We’re Human

Angela Davis talks about the symbolism that lies deep in blues and jazz music that tells the story of American history in Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. Through jazz and blues music blacks were able to tell stories of struggles that are embedded in the fibres of history, while some may believe that some of these songs are only talking about love or whatever subject matter is apparent at first glance many of them have tertiary layers of truth. Throughout history people have analyzed poetry and music to uncover hidden meanings nested in each text. Below is a song taken from The Princess and The Frog entitled ‘When We’re Human,’ at face value the song tells us what the main characters and their sidekicks would do when they became human and while anyone familiar with the film might dismiss the song as a catchy tune with no other culturally political significance this song seems to be saying something else at the same time. Consider for a moment that in American history blacks were enslaved and treated unfairly under the pretense that they were not actually human, now revisit the context of this song and the film as a whole where two of the main characters, both of which are black have been turned into animals. Tiana’s character evokes the American dream in her verse when she says ‘I worked hard for everything I got, and that's the way it's supposed to be.’ The beckoning words of the title that are reiterated throughout the song are remnant of the age of slavery. The song is modeled after a yearning for being recognized as a human being which simultaneously calls to mind the history of blacks fighting to be recognized as human.

When we're Human

If I were a human being

I'd head straight for New Orleans
And I'd blow this horn so hot and strong
Like no one they'd ever seen

Louis Armstrong, Mister Sidney Bechet
All the boys gonna step aside
When they hear this old ex-gator play
Listen!

When I'm human
As I hope to be
I'm gonna blow this horn till the cows come home
And everyone's gonna bow down to me
Thank you! Thank you! Aw, thank you! I love you too, baby!

When I'm myself again
I want just the life I had
A great big party every night
That doesn't sound too bad

A redhead on my left arm
A brunette on my right
A blonde or two to hold a candle
Doesn't that seem just about right
Eh, Louis?

Life is short
When you're done, you're done
We're on this Earth to have some fun
And that's the way things are

When I'm human
And I'm gonna be
I'm gonna tear it up like I did before
That's a royal guarantee

Your modesty becomes you
And your sense of responsibility
I worked hard for everything I got
And that's the way it's supposed to be

When I'm a human being
At least I'll act like one
If you do your best each and every day
Good things are sure to come your way

What you give is what you get
My daddy said that and I'll never forget
And I recommend it to you

When we're human
And we're gonna be
I'm gonna blow my horn
I'm gonna live the high life
I'm gonna do my best to take my place in the sun
When we're human!

The Children: Snow Black

When Halloween rolls around each year and children flock to get their costumes, there are always quite a few little girls who want to be princesses. Cue the Disney Princess film collection of costumes in the window displays of the Disney Store like clockwork. When five of the nine Disney princesses are white, some non-white children and their parents may be put off by the selection, while others will choose what they like or identify with. A friend of mine once told me a story about dressing up as Snow White for Halloween. She was told by her peers in her class that she couldn’t possibly be Snow White, because she is black. Thanks to the beliefs that her parents instilled in her, at aged eight years old, my friend remained unmoved by this racially loaded remark and rebutted "I’m Snow Black!" From one perspective this was a proud moment for a black child, but consider from another perspective what a remark like that aimed at another child who had not been given a disclaimer on the fallacy of race inadequacy could have done? The power of racial inscription that exists in Disney films has powerful repercussions; they build on ideologies that feed on inferiority complexes that have been created throughout history.

(image courtesy of nippy13 on deviantart.com)

The Politics of the Exotic: Been there done that

As I may have mentioned before, Disney’s last dip into the exotic pool had me less than satisfied. Not only did Disney not give Tiana enough face time as a black woman, but I found the constant berating comments in respect to her career ambitions insulting. Apparently Tiana was dreaming about the wrong thing, instead of dreaming about prince charming coming to rescue her she was dreaming about self-sufficiency making her my favourite Disney Princess up until she decided to sacrifice it all for the spoilt, ungrateful Prince Naveen, who we are led to believe changes his ways through the love of a good woman. Considering that the last four Disney Princesses have all been the most rebellious, refusing to conform fully to dominant feminine expectations I suppose The Princess and the Frog was the nail in the coffin to burying the rebellion against feminine ideals. Each princess has been saved in her return to dominant ideals of femininity and falling in love. Now that Disney has acknowledged racial difference in the last four films it can, like the rest of the United States, make a fallacious appeal to colourblindness.

At this point in Disney Princess film history Disney has managed to create nine princess stories, five of which have been white princess and the remaining four lumped together as racial other. The next Disney Princess film will be Rapunzel, set to be released nearing the end of this year bringing the grand total to six white princesses and four others. Capping off at ten Princesses, will Disney stop with this one? Has Disney finished its foray into the exotic racial other, only to return to the Grimm’s Brothers tale of a damsel in distress with long blonde hair that is stuck in a tower waiting for her prince? For the last almost twenty years Disney has on some level embraced the racial other. In doing so, they have played into many stereotypes and trivialized these cultures, but has that era ended for the Princess franchise?

(image courtesy of staronahill on deviantart.com)

The Politics: The Ideal Woman

The film Mulan has its merits for playing with gender boundaries and opening up a space for young girls who do not necessarily fit into the classical fairytale princess motif that Disney has used for decades. However, Mulan exists in a society that does not value anything she has to say until she is dressed in disguise as a man. In the lyrics to ‘A Girl Worth Fighting For’ the conventional accepted behaviours of a woman are explicitly outlined, listen to the song below and read along with the lyrics and consider the validity of my commentary.

(image courtesy of mydreamis on deviantart.com)

A Girl Worth Fighting For

: in essence a damsel in distress that values masculinity and is domestic and docile

For a long time we've been marching off to battle
In a thundering herd we feel a lot like cattle
Like the pounding beat,
Our aching feet aren't easy to ignore,

Hey! Think of instead, a girl worth fighting for!

Huh?

That's what I said, a girl worth fighting for!

I want her paler than the moon, racial values of beauty
With eyes that shine like stars

My girl will marvel at my strength,
Adore my battle scars

I couldn't care less what she'll wear,
Or what she looks like,
It all depends on what she cooks like: a woman’s value linked to domestic ability
Beef,
Pork,
Chicken,
Mmmm

'Bet the local girls thought you are quite the charmer
And I'll bet the ladies love a man in armour

You can guess what we have missed the most,
Since we've been off to war

What do we want?
A girl worth fighting for!

My girl will think I have no faults,
And I'm a major find

Uh,
How about a girl who's got a brain,
Who always speaks her mind?

Nah! As Mulan tries to write herself into the song as ‘a girl worth fighting for’ she is denied because female autonomy is not valued

My manly ways and turn of phrase,
Are sure to thrill her!

He thinks he's such a lady killer

I've got a girl at home,
Who's not like any other

Yeah, the only girl who loves him,
Is his mother!

But when we come home in victory,
They'll line up at the door

What do we want? A girl worth fighting for!

Wish that I had... a girl worth fighting for!

A girl worth fighting... for!

As Ellen Willis says "for women, life is an ongoing good cop-bad cop routine. The good cops are marriage, motherhood, and that courtly old gentleman, chivalry." (Willis) However, there are a few elements that things song adds to the good cop routine that Willis has left of, primarily related to the domestic sphere, that is to manage the household and maintain docility. As Willis goes on to explain the above statement she relays that the exchange for women's cooperation is romantic love, sentiments shared by Disney in its promise of 'happily ever after.'

Willis, Ellen. "Feminism, Moralism, and Pornography." 1993.

Happily Ever After

On a trip to New York a couple years ago, two friends and I decided to play dress up in the Disney Store on 5^th Avenue. We stumbled upon a top hat and veil wedding set, complete with Mickey Mouse ears. I beg the serious question: who would wear those things on their wedding day? While my friends and I tried on these headpieces all in good fun, it occurred to me that someone or more likely some people had actually worn them before to their weddings. I recall back to the last wedding I went to, a superfluous extravaganza that could have paid for an Ivy League education, but that was beside the point. Upon congratulating the bride she squealed "I just wanted to be a princess," less than a year later she was divorced. The hype that surrounds the wedding really leaves the marriage as the downturn, after all, that’s when real life sets in and the idea of the happily ever after fades. That is the disappointment. There’s a reason Disney never shows you what happens after the happily ever after, reality isn’t so pretty. Yes, there have been sequels, but they fail to tackle or shed a light on these post happily ever after relationships.

Those headpieces are a small example of Disney’s Wedding and Honeymoon division and considering the significant amounts of revenue that Weddings and Honeymoons bring into the Disney Corporation I doubt we’ll ever get to see what happens after ‘happily ever after’ in a Disney film. The image above is a reminder that not only does Disney produce the happily ever after, but it profits from it for years to come as each of the industries of this major corporation funnel into one another.

The Roommate: Someday Her Prince Will Come

My dear, sweet naive roommate busted into my room and exclaimed that she was in fact Princess Tiana, and had met her prince charming. Without thinking of a controlled response to her clear exhibition of insanity, I rolled my eyes and exclaimed in a voice that matched her pitch and tone ‘you can’t be serious’ with an added obvious measure of annoyance. Her eyes narrowed and she continued to explain how it was love at first sight and that they were going to live happily ever after (don’t ask her what happily ever after means). I considered telling her that upon graduation she should think of becoming a writer for Disney, instead I bit my tongue and tried to more tactfully explain to her that she was nuts! Needless to say two weeks after meeting him, the novelty had worn off and she was left distraught, singing as if straight out of a Disney Princess film that ‘someday her prince would come.’ Consider for a moment that this is what Disney’s fairytales have produced, crazy girls that expect men to live up to these unrealistic expectations of love, don’t you feel bad for these men?

(image courtesy of LoveMelody on deviantart.com)

The Politics: Unrealistic Expectations

Consider what the Disney version of the fairytale has been teaching young girls for over seventy years to expect from love. Women expect a man to provide for them, an ideal that predates Disney but has nevertheless been intensified by it. As a prince in a Disney film, their source of income is already laid out for them, all they need to do is adequately embody the role of the chivalrous saviour. In its production of the ideals of happiness and love, has Disney produced unhappiness as a counterpart? These expectations of prince charming have possibly the worst translation into reality, women are left with the dissatisfaction of not being swept off their feet time and time again, rescued from their mundane lives. Instead, they are found screaming at their husbands, cursing them for not being men. On the converse side of things, men’s expectations of women as self-sacrificing creatures that will do anything to please and take care of a man, that are beautiful beyond most natural capacity, feeds dissatisfaction with authentic women. Instead, this proliferates a production of femininity that is not only unnatural but damaging to their self-esteem."The real evil of the media image of women is that it supports the sexist status quo...They encourage men to expect women to sport all the latest trappings of sexual slavery—expectations women must then fulfill if they are to survive."(Willis) The ending of the fairytale, the 'happily ever after' produces the obsession with the wedding rather than the marriage that is probably the reason divorce rates continue to soar higher and higher. Moreover, the thought that women are damsels in distress that need to be rescued by a strong, chivalrous man is also damaging, as it creates an exclusive space where women that are self-sufficient and men that are less so have no place. 

The Disney Complex operates within society through the proliferation of unrealistic expectations. What happens when real life fails to live up to the fairytale? In one word: unhappiness.

(image courtesy of belleprincesselle on deviantart.com)

Willis, Ellen. "Women and the Myth of Consumption." 1969.

The Roommate: The Princess

My roommate, God bless her soul maintains the unfortunate belief that fairytales exist, that prince charming is out there somewhere, and that all she has to do is bide her time until he comes along to rescue her. I always tell her that she has a Disney fairytale running on repeat in her head. She is an extremely poignant example of what happens when the ideologies of Disney Princess films are not prefaced with a disclaimer that these are fantasy worlds. Upon release of The Princess and the Frog my roommate was elated to say the least, before this time no black princess existed and she therefore somehow felt that this was a princess she would be able to identify with more than any other of Princess Tiana’s predecessors. Funnily enough I would assume that my roommate would identify more with princesses like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, the princesses that categorically lay in waiting for their prince to come and save them. Unfortunately for her, or else she marries a millionaire or an extremely successful person, her dream of staying at home with the children in a life of luxury is a fantasy that will not come true. Except for the obvious racial similarities, my roommate and Princess Tiana have nothing in common; my Princess Roommate has no career ambitions as such, instead her focus is to perfect her ability to carry out domestic duties in preparation for her marriage. The fact that she, at the age of twenty still fervently believes that prince charming exists and will find her eventually scares me, but the truth of the matter is she is not alone.

(image courtesy of Sweet_Amy_Leah on deviantart.com)

The Children: Princess Party

I used to work as an event planner, planning children’s birthday parties. My least favourite of the birthday themes was always the Princess party, on the occasion that I had to dress up as a princess, the blonde wig and itchy costume were potentially a worse annoyance to me than the little girls clamouring around me in delight at the princess that came to the birthday party. At one particular event I was surrounded by a group of girls between the ages of five and six who all gushed something to the effect of ‘I can’t wait to grow up and meet prince charming and get married like (insert their favourite Disney Princess’ name here) and live happily ever after,’ one child went as far as asking me how my prince was. My jaw clenched as I looked around, imagining for a second that I could shake every last one of these little girls and tell them that this is all fake! Not only does prince charming not exist in real life, but most, if not all of the boys they will kiss in their lifetimes will turn out to be 'toads.' At this particular party, the entire house had been decked out in Disney Princess decorations, complete with all the most current images of the beautiful, skinny, and utterly unrealistic princesses that somehow, someday these girls wanted to become. Perhaps most importantly, I wondered what these children thought the happily ever after would be like, the idiomatic expression seems so useless, it’s the compulsory addition to ‘The End’ that completely denies reality. Nowhere in a Disney Princess film is there a disclaimer that says your soul mate may eventually annoy the hell out of you, you will most likely will get divorced and that all of these notions of beauty and happiness are ideals. For the most part, they are a dream that unlike Cinderella would have you believe, will more often than not, not come true. I suppose that disclaimer should be left up to the parents, but Disney’s carefully manicured notion of childhood innocence not far behind these unrealistic expectations of love and life has most parents buying into this fantasy world too.

(image courtesy of yuffieleonheart on deviantart.com)

The Politics of Gender & Love: The Princesses

(image courtesy of on hiouibioui deviantart.com)

In some ways the Disney Princess is an anomaly, she is a depiction of perfection but often times sets the story in motion by disobeying her guardians. Though the princess may be somewhat rebellious the end result is always the same, her rebellion leads her to the path on which she discovers her true love and finds her way back to conventional feminine behaviours.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

The very title of the film and title character portrays very stringent definitions of beauty. Snow White is beautiful, because after all she is the fairest one of all; her skin is as white as snow an attribute that marks her body as a defiance of the Queen. Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is the first instalment in what has become the Disney Princess franchise it stands to reason that it is the foundation of the franchise, a foundation that is loaded with a racially exclusive image of beauty that is equated to whiteness. Snow White is the perfect image of the domestic female, not only is she beautiful and royal, but she cooks and cleans and manages a house for seven men. According to the film, love conquers all things, even death, as Snow White lies in ‘sleeping death’ she is awakened by true loves kiss.

Cinderella (1950)

The pale, blonde hair blue eyed beauty Cinderella is the second Disney Princess, once again Cinderella, like Snow White is a domestic white female figure. Though wronged by her stepmother after her father’s death Cinderella remains as gentle and kind as ever, as if nothing can corrupt her goodness. Cinderella’s only rebellion is breaking the unwritten rule her stepmother has made, Cinderella is never to overshadow her stepsisters. This image of perfect femininity is laced with the ideal that a woman’s purpose is to please others first and only think of herself after she has taken care of everyone else, only then is she worthy of rewards. Her self-sacrifice is seen by the powers that be and she is rewarded by her fairy godmother and eventually rescued from the hell of being a slave in her own home by Prince Charming.

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

The golden haired, red lipped princess that is unwittingly living the life of a peasant girl that disobeys the fairies when she speaks to and falls in love with the stranger that turns out to be her betrothed. Aurora is saved by true love’s kiss, unlike her predecessors however, she lives happily before the events of the story unfold, and her only desire is to find love. Perhaps this is the most active prince charming depiction yet, in a fervent display of chivalry it is prince charming that must fight off all sorts of evil to awaken the princess and to complete the happily ever after motif.

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Ariel is the first non-human princess; she is a highly sexualized mythical creature that is half-human and half-fish, who yearns to be fully human. The Little Mermaid is perhaps the worst of the Disney Princess films in its objectification of women, as it goes the farthest in what it asks her to sacrifice for true love. Ariel is the most rebellious Princess yet in the Disney Franchise, out rightly disobeying her father and abandoning her home for love. Though she fits the paradigm of beauty, grace and songstress, she is asked to sacrifice her voice in exchange for legs and a chance to win her prince. The Little Mermaid reveals an episode of female agency and silences it shortly after. Instead Ariel is told to rely on the use of body language to get Prince Eric to fall in love with her, this act claims in some ways that the worth of a woman lies in her feminine wiles and her body.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Belle is probably the most intelligent of the Disney Princesses; her head is always stuck in a book. The problem with Belle is not her search for knowledge but the idea that though her prince is actually the beast, her love has somehow been able to change him and uncover the goodness that has been hidden behind the monstrosity of his beastly body and temper. The notions of femininity that are proliferated in Beauty and the Beast are wholly bound up in the ability of a good woman to change a man. Just as her predecessor Cinderella, Belle is all about self-sacrifice as she is willing to become a prisoner in the beasts home to save her father’s life even though it is against his wishes. For all of her sacrifices Belle is rewarded with a library and the opportunity to melt the heart of a strong, untamed man.

Aladdin (1992)

The first Disney Movie that is centred on the virtues of the male character who is vying for the love and attention of the Princess. Jasmine is the defiant and highly sexualized Arabic princess that refuses to marry for anything other than love. In running away from the palace, Jasmine instigates the series of events that follow in the journey to find true love. Though Jasmine is supposed to be the first depiction of a princess that is racially other, critics of the film maintain that though her skin may not be as fair as her predecessors her features are still heavily bound up in definitions of beauty that are categorically Caucasian-centric. Aladdin wins Jasmine’s heart by showing her as the film’s most famous song dictates, ‘A Whole New World.’ Jasmine seeks freedom for love; recalling the classical paradigm of the lovers from two different worlds Jasmine and Aladdin overcome evil with love and a little help from the genie.

Pocahontas (1995)

Though she is not technically a princess in the classical definition, Pocahontas is considered a member of the Disney Princess franchise. Critics have disapproved of the films inaccurate adaptation of the Pocahontas and John Smith story that has imagined a romance that never existed in history; however this film makes one of the most politically active stances in the Disney Princess franchise history. Not only are Pocahontas and John Smith the first interracial couple in the Disney Princess franchise, but they raise questions about the wrongs of colonialism and provide commentary on the definitions of savagery and difference. The ending of Pocahontas is also the most open ended of all the Disney fairytales; it is uncertain whether or not Pocahontas and John Smith live happily ever after because they both remain with their respective racial groupings at the end of the film. Perhaps Pocahontas’ rebellion goes too far, not only does she disobey her father’s and tribe’s wishes, but she crosses a racial line that has never been addressed in the Disney Princess franchise before. Their separation at the end of the film seems to tell audiences that there is a limit to love’s power after all, according to this film one may determine that love can conquer everything except racial difference.

Mulan (1998)

Disney’s 1998 instalment of the rebellious non-princess, princess is the Chinese daughter turned soldier son, Mulan. Mulan defies her family more egregiously than any preceding princess, breaking laws of femininity that have never been challenged before in Disney princess history. Mulan reveals the performativity of gender by disguising herself as a man to replace her father in the army. Though rebellious Mulan’s goal is to sacrifice herself for her father and prove her worth. Her journey however off the map it may have been leads her to her true love. By the end of the film Mulan returns to attempting to fit into the acceptable notions of femininity. Her journey outside the boundaries of gender is only temporary and therefore somewhat acceptable to society.

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

More than ten years after Mulan’s release, Disney released its most recent addition to the Disney Princess franchise. Tiana has been hailed as the first African-American Princess but clocking in at thirty-three minutes of total actual screen time as a black woman and approximately sixty-two minutes of being a green frog I am inclined to refer to her as Disney’s first green princess. Tiana’s goal, unlike all other princesses before her is not to find love but to achieve her career goals, an idea that is regarded as her major problem in the text. Tiana’s failure lies in her inability to see the importance of love and enjoy life. Perhaps this film addresses the career driven women of today, who are allegedly too wrapped up in themselves to see the importance of love. Once Tiana falls in love with Prince Naveen she, like all other princesses before her is willing to sacrifice anything for love, even her dreams. Prince Naveen in another breath is probably the most selfish of all the Disney princes, completely consumed with himself, unconcerned with chivalry or love, instead concerned with self-indulgence and womanizing. It is Prince Naveen that sets the course for the film as he is in some ways punished for his un-gentlemanly behaviour. While Disney may turn on itself in some ways it still employs the golden rule – true love conquers all.

The Disney Princess Commandments

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There are some things that you can always expect from a Disney Princess film, below are what I consider to be the cardinal rules of every Disney Princess fairytale.

1. Thou shall be beautiful, graceful and have an amazing singing voice

The apparent correlation between beauty and goodness is a cornerstone of this fairytales belief system.

2. Thou shall fall in love at first sight, or rather first encounter.

No real sort of courtship or relationship building is needed, love is an instantaneous determination.

3. True love shall conquer all things.

With the help of a little magic ‘true love’ overcomes all things, even death and the ultimate convention of the Disney Princess film that is coming from two different worlds.

4. Thou shall live happily ever after with Prince Charming

Not only does the perfect man exist for every girl, but after overcoming whatever adversities to find love, happiness is never ending.

5. Thou shall dream; dreams will save you from your life circumstances.

Every Disney Princess yearns for something more than what their life circumstances have provided. The place they yearn for is usually not simply just a place where they fit in, but the arms of Prince Charming.

Blaming it on the Mouse

If you can think about Disney as a producer and circulator of ideologies, rather than the dream-maker, you should also take a moment to consider how its nuanced depictions of love have affected your own outlook on life. Consider Disney as a producer of culture that has the ability to pervade all sorts of boundaries and manifests itself into one of the most dominant hegemonic powers that disseminates the ideologies that have come to define notions of beauty, love and femininity. Disney may not be the original source of the problem, but as a supreme hegemonic power, Disney is a major producer of it. This blog will serve as an in depth analysis of what Disney films and their promotional products really tell us as a society, specifically focusing on the now nine Disney Princesses that I deem to be important inscriptions of both race and gender that contribute to the Disney complex that defines life and love around the world. As I move forward, I will categorize each blog post under the titles of ‘The Children,’ ‘The Roommate’ and ‘The Politics.’ ‘The Children’ will focus on experiences of children concerning Disney’s fairytale production, outlining instances where Disney has been instrumental in defining thoughts about race, gender and love. As any decent marketing executive worth their cookie cutter mould can tell you, starting out by marketing a product to the impressionable minds of young children creates a brand loyalty that is their dream. The pieces classified as ‘The Roommate’ will narrate the thoughts of a girl I know personally that thinks that real life is a fairytale, she is the ultimate believer, who buys into everything that Disney and society as a whole has told her. Try as you might to shake her out of it ‘The Roommate’ still believes that the happily ever after legitimately exists in real life. The trick to Disney’s success is its pervasiveness; most people don’t quite understand how the series of unrealistic expectations that are Disney propaganda manifest themselves in different ways in society that seem relatively far removed. Through ‘The Politics’ I will explore Disney’s propaganda and its implications on a personal scale while, in some instances taking into consideration the theories of Angela Davis, Ellen Willis and other public intellectuals. Remember one thing, even though Disney is a big part of the problem, and possibly the largest proliferator of these ideologies today, it is not the original source.

(image courtesy of spaghetti016 on deviantart.com)