Day 9

Today in class we spent quiet a bit of time looking at images and the different ways that they can perpetuate stereotypes. We looked at clips from a few Disney movies that portrayed people from the Middle East as shady, manipulative and having big noses. I'm sad that Disney felt the need to put such overgeneralized images in their movies. While we may know that stereotypes have to come from somewhere, they are the exception and not the rule. It's somewhat heartbreaking to think about all of the children that watch these movies and don't know any better. One of my absolute favorite Disney movies is Lady and the Tramp. It's actually the only one that I own. I will have to spend some time sitting down and watching it with my new critical lenses to see what stereotypes I can pick up. I do remember the Siamese cats with their interesting accents and sneaky ways. I will have to see if I can pin that down to a specific culture. While I'm not excited to pick apart one of my favorite Disney movies, I'm interested to see how many messages I absorbed through watching it as a child without even realizing it.