Preview

Disney Movies: A Case Against Fairytales

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
667 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Disney Movies: A Case Against Fairytales
A Case against fairytales
-Sami 7A We all grew up hoping to be the princesses who met the dreamy prince and lived ‘happily ever after’ like in a fairy tale. People debate over whether or not Disney fairytales are beneficial for children. Like Arielle Schussler the author of the piece “A case against fairytales”,I am against fairy tales. In this essay I will argue on why kids should not be taught Disney or original fairy tales.

Firstly, I believe that fairytales are atrocious for little kids, for the subject of body image. Body image is a major controversy when it comes to Disney movies. Beautiful locks, ‘perfect’ eyes, ‘perfect’ nose and thin waist are what most all of the Disney princesses look like. In the Disney original movies the bad guy, for example the stepsisters in “Cinderella” are portrayed as ‘ugly’, while in the original version they are known as beautiful, and delicate. In the Disney version of “Cinderella”, it suggests the prince did not look towards the stepsisters because they did not look ‘perfect’. This further proves that Disney movies suggest viewers to have beautiful looks, and skinny to posses the power for a prince or anyone to fall in
…show more content…
Did you know that in the Disney version movie of “Sleeping Beauty”, Princess Aurora is there for only sixteen to twenty minutes. Most of the movie was more about how prince Phillip fought a dragon in a lava pit, more than about the princess Aurora who the story was really about. Disney made it seem like Aurora slept gracefully while prince Philip was out fighting evil witches and dragons. A girl should be taught to take up arms on their own and not to wait for some guy in a white horse to save her; girls should not be portrayed as a damsel in distress, but be taught that girls are strong and can be their own hero, that they can do anything if they

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The introduction of the book The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim focused on the benefits of fairytales on child development. Bettelheim talks about how important developing the child's imagination is. Developing the imagination allows children to process what they see in the world and process what they hear in stories. This gives them a good grasp on their conscience (11-12). Fairy tales allows for children to learn about problems in the real world and ways to deal with them. Bettelheim says that there is a fine line between a story holding a child's attention and not; the story must be entertaining but by arousing their imagination…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Disney films are not for childrenWe were a generation that grew up with the Disney films. The Lion King, Snow White, Mulan, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and we could recall more of these famous stories without a second of hesitation. We enjoyed them, loved them, and most of us repeated our favourites like we could never grow tired of them. We loved their adventures, the world Disney films created for us. We adored the romance between the hero and the heroine and they were popular subjects to talk among friends. Yet despite all the fun Disney films brought us, hidden messages embedded in the films also came along at the same time.…

    • 702 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In today’s society women have the expectation to look a certain way; to be beautiful, thin, modest, elegant and kind. In fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, being beautiful, innocent or graceful represents that you are “good”. As a women in fairy tales having power, control and being unattractive represents that you…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “We don’t think of it as a traditional Princess Movie.”, from the producer of Frozen. In fact, Disney Animation Studio hasn’t produced traditional Princess Movie for a long time. After the rise of Pixar and DreamWorks, Disney is always finding its own differences from other animation studios, that what is its unique and simple. They understand more clear that they must “keep moving forward”, not only on the prince & princess story plot, but also on the development of the internal thesis. When politics talk about Disney Princess, they may concern a lot with the feminism, that women has taken half parts of the role on the Earth. Through reviewing different Princess Movies from different eras in the history, audience may notice the influence of…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Disney princess images play a major role on the children’s minds and perspective. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty- they are just some of the princesses the young ones look into. They do not just become role models; they’ve also impacted the children’s own standards of beauty.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fairytales. When we hear or see that calming word, we automatically think of beautiful expensive ball gowns, charming handsome Princes, pumpkins turning into carriages, and the infamous ending of true loves first kiss. When growing up, many of us had these wonderful tales read to us before bed or at school with all of our friends. Fairytales, having been around for centuries, sends all kinds of important moral messages from being a child to facing the ‘beautiful’ world of adulthood. Growing up and being placed in the adult world, we come to terms that fairytales aren’t the classic stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Briar Rose, or Cinderella that we all know and love, its much more than that. We are surrounded by Fairytales, almost as if they…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many children grow up with fairy tales at their fingertips, and these fairy tales aid the development of the child. The lessons that children take away from these fairy tales consciously and subconsciously change the way that children view certain circumstances. In “Fairy Tales and a Dose of Reality,” Catherine Orenstein states that the presence of fairy tales has resulted in an indistinct view of reality. Orenstein considers the television shows and movies that portray love at first sight and what constitutes a happily ever after. As a result of this mode of media, many people have an image of what love should look like, but unfortunately life cannot meet these hopes. On the other hand, Maria Tatar claims in “An Introduction to Fairy Tales” that fairy tales “construct the adult world of reality” (307). Both Orenstein and Tatar discuss how fairy tales shape views of reality, but Orenstein develops her thought that they cause a blurry…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story chosen is Snow White that has become the most popular princess among young girls. Snow White and similar fairy tales are playing bad with young minds by showing male characters stronger and powerful, which is also causing gender discrimination. Whether the fairy tales have significant impact on folks’ lives has been the most discussed phenomenon of the time. Many people agree to the notion that fairy tales and their myths do have an impact in young children’ life while the other rejects this. Scientifically and psychologically, it has been proven that children tend to adopt the habits they see around and that they play a vital role in shaping a child's mind and controlling his/her thoughts. “Two close readings of this version, one psychoanalytic and the other feminist, suggest that because Snow White is part of a literally as well as folkloric tradition, it may be studied as a cultural artifact and text valid in itself” (Shuli Barzilai, 515).…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fairytales: when someone says that word, the first thing that might come up in your mind is probably kid’s reading Cinderella. Fairytales’ simplicity and accuracy in delivering a moral to young kids and adults is wonderful. We’d give an adult a eerie look if we caught them reading a kids book on the train to themselves. The reason behind our thought is cause it’s a kids book why would an adult read it but behind all this is the difference of interpreting stories for adults and children. Stories like Juniper Tree, Snow White, and Little Red Cap include hidden messages through violence and imagery and dialogue. Fairy tales teach children how to grasp the meaning and power behind storytelling. In this paper I will discuss the vast ways in which a child and adult interpret fairytales. Its…

    • 1983 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For many generations, the fairy tales, loved by many, have been passed down from relatives and friends, being shared and retold by one individual to the next. Growing and evolving as the years go by, these stories live on through readers’ lives. The deep connection between the timeless tales and the lives of people accentuates its need to exist in society. These fairy tales mold and shape people’s own stories and are a reflection of what individuals experience and encounter. During times when one feels lost and disoriented, fairy tales are a tool of navigation; they unveil a path and guide one down it. Not only do these tales provide insight to oneself, they impart an educational source to children and individuals in society. They spark and…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fairy tales are part of every Western child 's upbringing, and have been for decades. The method of telling and the stories them selves may have changed from the purely oral tradition to that of the written word with the introduction of the printing press and more importantly the Chap Book in the eighteenth century (Montgomery, 2009 p. 13). But the basic core of the tales remain hundreds of years on to instruct and delight children to this day. These days children are surrounded by fairy tales in the form of the books read to them at home or nursery/school, television and film adaptations, cartoons and even advertisements, as well as Christmas pantomimes. Each version they see will have differences, some more subtle than others, but the basic story will be the same.…

    • 2178 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many people have contemplated if whether or not to let children watch or read Disney fairytales. In my perspective, I believe that children should be granted to watch Disney fairytales. Today my goal is for you to be convinced into my opinions and/or reasons to why fairytales are good for children. My thoughts are referred from “10 Reasons Why Kids Need To Read Non-Disney Fairy Tales” by Melissa Taylor, the genre being why fairy tales should be read by kids.…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For most people, the first image that comes to mind when the subject of Walt Disney’s animated movies comes up is the studio’s popular princesses. Ever since Snow White made her debut in 1937, Disney has cornered the market on princesses. One primary topic that critics have discussed in Disney’s films is the way princesses are portrayed. The roles of the female characters are especially drawing the interest of academic critics. Jack Zipes, author of Breaking the Disney Spell, believes that the Disney princesses have regressed. On the other hand, Libe Zarranz, author of Diswomen Strike Back? The Evolution of Disney’s Femmes in the 1990s, and Rebecca Do Rozario, author of The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function of the Disney Princess, believe that the Disney princess has progressed. Another aspect of Disney’s movies that catches the eyes of critics is the moral simplification in the films. They believe that the morals from the original fairy tales are being manipulated and simplified in the Disney films. A. Waller Hastings, author of Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and Finn Mortensen, author of The Little Mermaid: Icon and Disneyfication, both agree that Disney’s simplification of morals is giving viewers the wrong depiction of life. Disney’s portrayal of women and simplification of morals are giving viewers the wrong impression of life and women.…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sleeping Beauty and Snow White are both characters that are unrealistically beautiful. Sleeping Beauty for instance, had fair skin, blue eyes, long blonde hair, and an impossibly thin figure. This sets unrealistic standards for female beauty. Also the stories show a dependence on males for the female identity. The princess is sleeping, just waiting for her prince to come save her so she can resume her place as princess and "live happily ever after". Snow White was also poisoned and laid sleeping until her prince came to save her. In a way, this is saying that women are simply waiting around for a man to come save them from ordinary life, so that they can have their 'happily ever after' ending. Another point that shows up in "Cinderella" is that the stepmother who raised three children on her own, which shows independence, is made the villain of the story, while passive Cinderella is the lovable victim. In these fairy tales, they show tat a woman is nothing without a man. They give the picture that a woman has nothing to do but wait for her prince, and then once he comes her life will be fulfilled. In today's world it's quite obvious that these things could not be more false.…

    • 878 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Around the world, fairy tales have been to children for many centuries. These stories let children experience the wonders of unimaginable worlds with strange creatures and events. Fairy tales are thought to be vital to children and society because they develop the imagination and critical thinking skills that are necessary in adulthood. Undeniably, fairy tales have withstood the test of time due to their appeal to both children and adults. As seen by analyzing the history, archetypal elements, and the psychological values, the “Little Red Riding Hood” by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm brings…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays