My media criticism class is mostly about the control that advertisers and big business owners are out to gain over viewers. The other day we talked about subliminal messages and Disney movies came up. Now this is by no means a new discovery and most of the alleged subliminal messages have been removed from the dvd releases of the accused movies. However, the fact they exist in what are supposed to be innocent movies for children is a bit appalling. Being a little curious I continued to search YouTube for other opinions about what may exist to attack the subconscious minds of Disney movie viewers. I’ll admit that I found a good mix of plausible and far-fetched theories. With the sexual undertones that are Disney movies, as an adult I can see how the story lines push the envelope. I do however wonder how much of these “findings” are just the product of idle minds with overactive imaginations. At the same time, I came across some videos about the racism in Disney movies. In terms of the clearly stereotypical crows in Dumbo, I think people may just have to say that it is a product of the time period. All media during that time presented a skewed version of what people of color in this nation were like and Disney is no exception to that just because it is for children. All fairy tales and children’s programming have to be overly simplistic and once you reach a certain age, you may read too much into these overly simplified stories. On the other hand, for the things that were clearly intentionally placed into these movies, there is no excuse for setting out to corrupt the minds of children. So if subliminal messages truly do have a strong impact, looking at my generation and the one after me, the effects are already taking place and those who came before us are to blame. Great care should be given to what is provided to young minds that are supposed to grow up and take care of the people that took care of them first. But enough of that, I’m going to put up a few videos and try to let you draw your own conclusions. Some of these things are really worth thinking about.
** And just another blurb because this truly caught me off guard. I was pretty much over the Disney movie phase by the time Hunchback of Notre Dame out but after watching this clip I feel like this is one of the most inappropriate movies Disney put out. The overt sexual tension and the musical number by the Minister about his desire for Esmerelda really had me going “Seriously, not even going to try to hide it?”. And that’s all I have to say about that.**
Tags: childrens movies, disney, Movies, racism, sexism, subliminal messages
