Of course, we all think of the classic Disney movies as being produced solely for children’s entertainment. However, there is plenty to enjoy for adults too. Many Disney movies contain dark themes, and when you think about it, in many of them, a character dies or suffers some hardship. Some of them include outdated ideas which don’t belong in today’s society.
Take, for example, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The Queen’s constant demand to know “who is the fairest of them all?” implies that women are solely judged on their looks. In a similar vein, Cinderella can only escape her downtrodden life if a rich prince rescues her. We can add racial stereotyping to the mix when watching Aladdin, with its poor depiction of Arab characters. These are all movies you could watch on second hand imac computer for an evening’s entertainment.
Beauty and the Beast makes light of kidnapping the heroine of the story by a powerful creature, and she eventually falls in love with him, despite his bad-tempered ways. We could take this a step further by examining Sleeping Beauty, who can only be awoken by a kiss. Is it acceptable for a stranger to kiss an unconscious woman?
Let’s enjoy Disney movies for what they are; escapism from the real world.