Under the Sea Flashback

This weekend my younger sister, Karly, came to visit me! I gave her a tour of campus (somehow she's never been here before this weekend) and told her about my classes and what the work has been like. When I told her about my Decoding Disney class, she couldn't believe that I actually got to take a class that required me to read about, watch, and discuss Disney movies. I described what some of the discussions were like and mentioned that the story we're covering right now is The Little Mermaid. That was always one of our favorite Disney films growing up, and as soon as I said the title, her face lit up and she exclaimed, "I haven't seen that in forever! Can we watch it?!" I'll admit, I did bring the DVD from home since it's my favorite, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to watch it again, especially with Karly. So we put the movie in and it was like nothing at all had changed since I left for Duke. These past few months away from Karly have been weird and tough for both of us, but spending an afternoon watching one of our favorite childhood movies together was the perfect remedy.    

Disney, Dopey, and Disabilities

In their essay on the portrayal of intellectual disability in Disney films, Schwartz, Lutfiyya, and Hansen assert that Disney stresses the need to adhere to “normalized” expectations of intelligence by creating intellectually disabled characters that viewers laugh at and distance themselves from. They claim that the character takes on three roles in his characterization as mentally handicapped: the “sub-human animal,” the object of ridicule, and the “eternal child.” Combined, these roles serve to extricate the character from those around him and set him apart as a being of less value. While I agree that there is often a character in Disney movies, or all movies for that matter, who behaves ridiculously or seems less intelligent than his contemporaries, it is absurd to conclude that this allows that character to be labeled as intellectually disabled. It is much more reasonable and fitting with the literary trends of writers like Shakespeare that this unique character plays the classic role of the fool, an essential and long-standing element of many novels and plays.

I agree with the roles the authors assert that the fool plays, from serving as a glorified punching bag for other characters to providing a cheap laugh at his own expense. I even admit that I actually find a lot of the foolish humor pretty entertaining at times. The part of this piece that bothered me was the fact that it seemed like the authors were saying anyone who behaves unconventionally or has difficulty fitting into a stereotypical level of intelligence is mentally handicapped. I was especially surprised by their reference to Dopey’s “Down’s syndrome-like features,” which is an incredible stretch considering that he’s an animated dwarf with few features that bear legitimate resemblance to a human being in the first place. All of the dwarves have large, emphasized eyes and flat nasal bridges, which are typical features of individuals with Down’s. But this alone doesn’t provide any kind of solid foundation to claim that Dopey is modeled after someone with Down’s because all the dwarves show these characteristics, which happen to be typical of many animated characters from Disney movies to Japanese anime.

Their argument that the framing of these characters as intellectually disabled is hurtful to those who have mental disabilities is incredibly hypocritical. It’s much more insulting and disrespectful to those who are handicapped to assume that Disney characters who provide a laugh through their dysfunctional behavior have some sort of intellectual disability. While the authors’ intentions may have been to defend the mentally handicapped, they actually make the issue much worse.

No celebrating in Celebration

                     

         In his article Why Disney Scares Us, Kevin Shortsleeve mentions Celebration, the small town built by the Disney corporation in a supposed attempt to create a utopian society. However, as Shortsleeve points out, much suspicion surrounds Celebration, its creators, and the motives behind its formation. Described as a “microcosm of [the] paranoia” (Shortsleeve, 3) surrounding the entire Disney company, Celebration has a dark side that starkly contrasts its outward appearance as a model community. Shortsleeve reveals in his article that Celebration was actually a ploy by Disney to gain permits that could only be obtained if a residential community existed in the park. This revelation shatters Celebration’s image as a perfect society based on ideals of fairness and community, and after learning this, I became interested to learn more about Celebration.

         As I searched for more of the reality behind Celebration’s mask of utopia, I found an article by Ed Pilkington detailing a side of the village darker than any Disney conspiracy. In a town where it seems nearly everything is fake, from the ice rink made of white plastic to the actors hired to make Celebration seem more inviting, a shocking event reminds us how very real the dark side of mankind can be. In December 2010, after 14 years of peaceful existence, Celebration experienced its first catastrophe – the murder of Matteo Giovanditto. The 58-year-old retired school teacher was allegedly killed by a man who became enraged when he felt that Giovanditto was making sexual advances. While some residents became traumatized and disillusioned as a result of this disaster, others say that Celebration has a pretty good track record if it has only experienced one murder in 14 years of existence.

          Personally, I think this tragedy serves to show that no matter Disney’s intentions in his creation of Celebration, no society can ever be truly perfect or utopian because mankind is flawed and destined to mess it up eventually. So while Disney was wrong in his deceitful creation of the community, he cannot be held solely responsible for the failure of the village to become what it was envisioned by many to be. What do you think? Was Disney’s dishonest creation of Celebration the foundation of the problem? Or was that only the beginning of a society that would have its own self-inflicted evils?

Works Cited:

Pilkington, Ed. "How the Disney dream died in Celebration." Guardian 13 12 2010, n. pag. Web. 6 Sep. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/13/celebration-death-of-a-dream>.