Have Disney Movies Improved The Messages Being Conveyed To Viewers?

Disney has maintain some key elements in many of its films over the past few decades, but there have also been some significant changes in their portrayal of body image, gender roles, and in the overall morals they convey. This post will explore whether the messages, both subliminal and explicit, have evolved since the release of The Little Mermaid in 1989, using The Pirate Fairy (2014) as a comparison.

BODY IMAGE

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Princess Ariel of The Little Mermaid is illustrated as a flawless 16-year-old mermaid—she has an unreasonable small waist, very large eyes, skinny arms, beautiful hair, and blemish-free skin.

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Zarina, of The Pirate Fairy, is also very skinny with generally disproportional features.

The depictions of both characters indirectly advance the importance of physical perfection. Although its never explicitly mentioned, the absence of any faults in the appearances sends the subliminal message to young viewers (especially girls) that looking any way other than how they are illustrated is unfavorable. The most significant problem with this message is that attaining this appearance is an unnecessary goal that could never be achieved (because of the unrealistic nature of these characters' features).

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The evil character in The Little Mermaid, Ursula, is overweight and has various imperfections, such as wrinkles and the mole on her face. The association of wickedness with these physical features furthers the idea that external beauty is a key component in the quality of one's character.

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The Pirate Fairy also portrays some of its evil characters as overweight, but also includes others of a similar body type who aren't defined by villainous behavior. However, it's important to note that all of the main characters are either very thin or muscularly built, and that there are no women illustrated as anything but skinny.

Overall, messages regarding body image in The Pirate Fairy were only slightly better than those in The Little Mermaid. In the 25 years between the productions of each film Disney failed to make a significant improvement in the depictions of their characters, and failed to account for the fact that young children could be negatively affected by the lack of diversity in the appearance of their protagonists—by only producing physically perfect heroines, they advance the concept that anything but this external beauty is insufficient and unwanted.

GENDER ROLES

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Ariel gives up her voice and even her body (in her transformation from an adventurous and courageous mermaid to a mute and nervous human) to pursue Eric. By compromising her own qualities for a man, Ariel essentially encourages young girls to do the same—to prioritize the attention and approval of one's love interest over oneself.

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Ariel is eventually handed from her father to Prince Eric, as though she must always be under the control of a man (or even as though she's one of their possessions). This concept is potentially harmful to young children, who could be influenced by this idea that men have such absolute power over women.

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Zarina feels a sense of empowerment when she is initially repressed by her boss (who happens to be a man). She becomes dedicated to pursuing her goal independently, and although she gets deceived by a man along the way, she ultimately regains complete control of the situation.

The Pirate Fairy begins and ends with a song about how great it would be to have the bravery to follow one's dreams and be one's full self, with the chorus beginning "I want to feel free to be who I am..." Unlike The Little Mermaid, in which Ariel directs her aspirations toward being accepted by a man, The Pirate Fairy portrays the main character with strength, independence, and a desire to achieve goals centered around being herself.

Gender roles are certainly more clearly defined in The Little Mermaid, and it seems as though Disney made an effort to promote a stronger sense of power within female characters in The Pirate Fairy. This advancement prevents the perceived requirements of each gender from being enforced at a young age.

OVERALL MORALS

Both movies have flaws in the morals they present throughout their stories, but the lessons of The Pirate Fairy are generally more positive than those of The Little Mermaid.

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The biggest issue with The Little Mermaid is that its story is based on the idea of changing oneself dramatically to fit in to a seemingly more glamorous world. The love between Ariel and Prince Eric is founded on her attempts to be accepted as something she's not (a voiceless human as opposed to a singing mermaid), and their connection is formed almost solely because of their physical attraction to each other. Young viewers are at risk of taking away the idea that falling in love occurs when two beautiful people simply see each other, because neither Ariel nor Eric (but especially not Eric) show much appreciation for the other's personality in their process of developing a romantic relationship. Overall, Disney has combined negative messages about body image with a questionable moral about changing who you are to produce a movie that appears harmless, but in reality has the potential to negatively alter children's views about the importance of physical appearance.

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The Pirate Fairy initially evokes a sense of sympathy for Zarina, who gets herself in trouble by ignoring the potential for consequences, which is not necessarily a good reaction to inspire in an audience made up of children—sympathy for a girl who has misbehaved and harmed others while doing so is not constructive. However, the major elements of the moral of the story include the topics of being oneself (unlike The Little Mermaid), being persistent in pursuing one's dreams, forgiving each other, and ultimately choosing loyalty to one's friends. Although there are times throughout the movie that do not promote ideal messages—for example, through the use of characters with unrealistically flawless features—the overall advancement of admirable values such as independence, persistence, and loyalty, demonstrates that Disney has not perfected but has certainly improved the quality of the content that it is advertising to young viewers.