Mickey Mouse Monopoly

This documentary is not going to shock you. You probably already knew that Disney is not only creating their Magic Kingdom of innocence, but also a monopoly on media cooperations which conveniently serves to place their product in a very effective way. Scholars from different universities express their opinions about how characters in Disney movies presents and emphasizes certain ways of being woman, man, African American, Latino or Native American.

What this documentary does, is reminding you of important questions that you need to ask yourself as an educator. Not only as an educator, but anyone who interacts with children, and anyone who is exposed to mass media - which basically means everybody. Disney stories are packaged in a Magic Kingdom wrapper and sold to children. Chyng Fen Sun, one of the creators of the doc, wonders "what type of stories get invented, circulated and perpetuated in the public imagination and why?". Stories of racism? Stories of female suppression? But has Disney intended to present, on a mass scale, these hidden stories of oppression, social injustice, and fixed gender roles? In the documentary, Dr. Gail Dines states that "it does not matter whether it's intentional or unintentional, the effect is ultimately the same."

This is where the documentary shakes you up a bit. Children respond to the Disney movies they have seen. Some of their reactions blow your mind. Disney's version of Pocahontas basically re-writes history by supposedly picturing a true story. It serves the political purpose of presenting the Native Americans and pilgrims as ultimately becoming friends, and so no - you do not have to feel guilty about colonizing a land and people. Really? Abigail, nine years old, shares her thoughts about the (=Disney's!) story of Pocahontas; "I think that at the end, the Pilgrims go back to England because they understand it's their [Indians] land shouldn't be taken over." If only...

This documentary reminds me of Peggy Orenstein's book "Cinderella ate my daughter". She talks about this book on the Q (CBC Radio 1: http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2011/02/16/is-the-disney-princess-craze-damaging-to-young-girls/). Worth listening to. Maybe you become more aware of the strategic marketing that underlies all this magic innocence. Maybe it will open your eyes. Maybe you can help young people to open their eyes. Maybe you can even inspire them to resist the message that is being projected on them. We can create alternative ideologies!