I tell myself that I AM NOT AFRAID
Disney has a lot of faults. I get it. It is not inclusive, it doesn’t really know how to do feminism, it distorts history and a lot more… However, when we’re children, we do not think about how Belle shouldn’t stay with the Beast because their relationship touches abuse. We just learn that it’s okay to love learning and reading, that it is okay to love someone who’s different and that everybody deserves love. At least that’s how I saw things. My parents always watched the movies with me, and I think that helped me get the right message from them.
Disney can and should do a lot to improve the way they approach minorities, and they’re taking steps in that direction, even if slowly. Still, when I watch the older movies, I don’t focus on that. I focus on the good messages, the loving, adorable messages. They have a context, a temporal context more than anything. That’s what my parents taught me. I don’t think I even saw the problems until I was way older. So, I don’t think people should forbid their children from watching Disney movies because of some wrong messages. They will face wrong messages all their life. Parents should just watch the movies with their children and help them understand the difference between right and wrong. Instead of forbidding your daughter to watch Snow White, talk to her at the end of the movie. Explain her how she doesn’t need to wait for Prince Charming to save her if she doesn’t want to, and then tell her how awesome it is that Snow was so loving and caring for different people and animals. Make it about the good things.
(Source: daily-disney)
