What are our Kids really learning from Disney?

I recently had to do a movie project for class. My group and I chose to do Disney for it. Not just any Disney, but the effect that it had on children. During this project we had to dissect many of my childhood favorites. Needless to say I came out very disappointed in the company I believed made magic.

We found out that not only are the majority of the songs and storylines sexist and borderline racist, but they are also very offensive to more than just one race. Disney portrays its characters in such a way that children are left with the thought that to be a good wife you must cook and clean and sing and wait on your husbands. They are also left with the insinuation that all Indians are savages, all Latinos steal cars, all black people are jazz talking cool Daddy-os’. When Disney’s songs and movies are dissected it is astounding how much they are influencing are children’s thoughts.

When we look at it seems obvious what they are doing, but when you are in the heat of the moment watching the movie with your giggling child who seems to experience every seen as if it were happening to them, we tend to over look the obvious. We tend to trust Disney so well because of their established ethos. Disney created the first animated cartoons, and they have followed us through the years. We trust them because they are the same cartoons that we watched when we were younger.  The make you empathize with every character in the movie until you are able to quote their lines. They make catchy timeless rhyming songs that are so fun to sing. So it is no wonder that we are blind to their faults, when they seem to create such joy. Even though it is false.