• Jezebel
  • celebrity
  • sex
  • fashion
  • Profile logout login

#filmschooled#wwwaollatinoblogcom#2007#11#29#lanavidadenargentinaundiadistinto

Jezebel

Share Cancel
   
Upload an image | Add an image URL
×

logging in
  • FAQ. Include # before tag:
  • #tips,
  • #snapjudgment,
  • #groupthink,
  • etc.

New York, 10:05 AM
Tue Dec 1
67 posts in the last 24 hours

Tip your editors:
tips@jezebel.com

Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
Email | Twitter

Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
Email | Twitter

Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
Email | Twitter

Contributing Editors:
Anna North
Email | Twitter
Sadie Stein
Email | Twitter

Reporter:
Irin Carmon
Email | Twitter

Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
Email | Twitter

Contributors:
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Latoya Peterson
Email
Jenna Sauers
Email
Lizzie Skurnick
Email

Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter


Weekends/Commenter Moderator:
Hortense
Email | Twitter

SUBSCRIBE TO Jezebel RSS

New: Breaking news and daily top stories via email
1770 Subscribers
Jezebel
  • Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of eatsshootsleaves eatsshootsleaves
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Hey so let's play a game, guys!

    Which latter-day Disney depiction of minorities was the most offensive: Aladdin, Mulan, or Pocahontas?

    I'm going to go with Pocahontas, because they took an actual, once-living heroine of Native Americans and turned her into a highly sexed-up princess who talked to trees.

    That being said, the treatment of cultures in all three of those movies was handled insultingly, so I kind of find it hard to believe that this movie will be any different.

    (Admittedly: I still like Aladdin nonetheless.)
     Reply
    Edited by eatsshootsleaves at 11/30/09 9:00 PM eatsshootsleaves was starred eatsshootsleaves was unstarred
    Image of FizzyGood FizzyGood
    02:43 AM

    @eatsshootsleaves: I'd have to go with Aladdin personally, since Jasmine's appearance was partially based on Jennifer Connelly (and Aladdin's on Tom Cruise). I wonder what prominent middle eastern film star Jafar was based on? At least Pocahontas and Mulan VAGUELY looked like they were of the races they were meant to portray.
     Reply
    prismatism promoted this comment FizzyGood was starred FizzyGood was unstarred
    Image of prismatism prismatism
    03:07 AM

    @eatsshootsleaves: Eh, I hate this game.

    There are things that are very wrong with all of them.

    But there are also things that are very right, and those get ignored for the sake of sensationalism and rageyness, when they're the things I actually picked up on as a kid.

    Aladdin - there are definitely racist aspects to it. But it also has a strong female lead, and a male lead who loves her for her independence and intelligence, not for her body (she's fully covered when they meet) or her social status (she is pretending to be poor, and he is discouraged when he discovers that she isn't). And that the movie shows any Middle Eastern culture or people at all is extremely positive, especially since the majority are portrayed as good and normal people, even if they are good and normal people who are entirely stereotypical. What other cartoons do we have about Middle Eastern people in America? I can't think of any others.

    Mulan - She cross dresses. This entire film is about proving gender roles wrong and rebelling against cultural restrictions. Again, what other cartoon does that?

    Pocahontas - "You think you own whatever land you land on. The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim. But I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name. You think the only people who are people are people who look and think like you. But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew you never knew". When I was a kid, I knew every word to that song. I am sure that this movie inspired a generation of environmentalists. And, again, a cartoon with a Native American, female lead. There aren't many of those.

    All three movies have their problems, but all three are unique. I worry that being too critical of the way race was handled in them discourages anyone from trying again. I'm not saying racism is acceptable, but it is to be expected, because we haven't dealt with it yet. To deal with it, it has to come to the surface, and then we can move beyond it. We can't just try to sterilize everything. We need to actually clean it, and stop making the messes in the first place.
     Reply
    prismatism was starred prismatism was unstarred
    Image of prismatism prismatism
    03:20 AM

    @FizzyGood: I think that Aladdin and Jasmine look pretty distinctly Middle Eastern, in as much as anyone can "look Middle Eastern" at all. They definitely don't look like Jennifer Connelly and Tom Cruise to me, but at the same time, I have seen Middle Eastern people who do.

    They played up the "ethnic"-ness of Jafar's features, and those of the other bad guys, which is offensive. But it isn't offensive to think that a Middle Eastern person would look like Jafar, or that they'd look like Jennifer Connelly; they can look like both, or neither.
     Reply
    prismatism was starred prismatism was unstarred
    Image of FizzyGood FizzyGood
    05:00 AM

    @prismatism: I guess I wasn't very clear. My objection is that both Aladdin and Jasmine have more stereotypically caucasian feautures, and are paler-skinned, than Jafar - i.e. 'good guys' = more caucasian-looking, 'bad guys' = more "ethnic-looking". I don't think there's any reason to think that middle eastern people CAN'T look like white people or vice versa, but there are stereotypes associated with the appearance of both ethnic groups and I think the design of the characters plays with those stereotypes in an offensive way - or a way that makes me uncomfortable, at the very least.
     Reply
    Edited by FizzyGood at 12/01/09 5:02 AM FizzyGood was starred FizzyGood was unstarred
    Image of prismatism prismatism
    09:30 AM

    @FizzyGood: Definitely. They were also designed by different people. But of course there is a history of "ethnic" = villain in animation. And it's really gross.
     Reply
    prismatism was starred prismatism was unstarred
    Image of sybann sybann
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Oh please - Pete Campbell saw the potential of marketing to persons of color back in the early 60s.

    This guy is reaching.
     Reply
    sybann was starred sybann was unstarred
    Image of meritxell: an erotic life meritxell: an erotic life
    11/30/09

    @sybann: Hee! That was the first thing I thought of too. /Mad Men withdrawal
     Reply
    Edited by meritxell: an erotic life at 11/30/09 10:28 PM meritxell: an erotic life was starred meritxell: an erotic life was unstarred
    Image of nyc-caribbean-ragazza nyc-caribbean-ragazza
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    So wrong on so many levels.

    Black people are not a trend.

    Clearly this writer doesn't understand how long film development (especially animated films) takes.
     Reply
    nyc-caribbean-ragazza was starred nyc-caribbean-ragazza was unstarred
    Image of MissBuckyC MissBuckyC
    11/30/09

    @nyc-caribbean-ragazza: What do you mean by "Black people are not a trend"? I've been keeping mine in the closet since 1989, hoping they'll come back in style. Oh, darn it! I'll never get these trendy fads right!
     Reply
    prismatism promoted this comment MissBuckyC was starred MissBuckyC was unstarred
    Image of MerryLilly MerryLilly
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    (deleted) .. this was suppose to be a reply to another post, sorry!
     Reply
    Edited by MerryLilly at 11/30/09 3:48 PM MerryLilly was starred MerryLilly was unstarred
    Image of BlondeGoddess BlondeGoddess
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Someone is bound to make the connection between Princess Tiana and Princess Diana.

    Uhm.

    Is Mitchell a professor at the Cass Business School of Crazy?

    Just as black American first ladies have a finite period of office, so, too, will Tiana.

    Another winner. And this was published in The Times?!
     Reply
    BlondeGoddess was starred BlondeGoddess was unstarred
    Image of Maggita Maggita
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    The Tiana/Diana connection is like Malvolio's logic about the forged love letter from Olivia in Twelfth Night: "M,--Malvolio; M,--why, that begins my name..." Channeling clueless Shakespeare characters with faulty logic: Ur doin it rite akshully.
     Reply
    Dodai promoted this comment Maggita was starred Maggita was unstarred
    Image of morninggloria morninggloria
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Don't drink and opine.
     Reply
    morninggloria was starred morninggloria was unstarred
    Image of token_illiterate_commenter token_illiterate_commenter
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Does he realize that this "niche market" in the U.S. is almost as large as the population of England?
     Reply
    token_illiterate_commenter was starred token_illiterate_commenter was unstarred
    Image of FrankiTheB FrankiTheB
    11/30/09

    @token_illiterate_commenter: Please, everyone knows we're only a third of that number, because Negro = 1/3 of a person.
     Reply
    token_illiterate_commenter promoted this comment FrankiTheB was starred FrankiTheB was unstarred
    Image of MerryLilly MerryLilly
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    What about Toy Story and Bugs?? what were their niches?? What were they trying to capitalize on?! Please I need to know ASAP!
     Reply
    Edited by MerryLilly at 11/30/09 3:25 PM MerryLilly was starred MerryLilly was unstarred
    Image of jairip jairip
    11/30/09

    @MerryLilly: They capitalize on the parents of BOYS.
     Reply
    MerryLilly promoted this comment jairip was starred jairip was unstarred
    Image of MerryLilly MerryLilly
    11/30/09

    @jairip: Boys? why?

    I think both boys and girls connect with those two films. Heck, I'm a grown woman now and I still enjoy them!
     Reply
    MerryLilly was starred MerryLilly was unstarred
    Image of jairip jairip
    11/30/09

    @MerryLilly: I enjoy them too.

    When I go to Disneyland my daughter gets her princess costume and because my son doesn't want to be left out when I'm whipping out my Amex, he gets his Woody costume.

    My point being that Disney wants to make money off of both sexes. So for every princess flick (spending opportunity) you'll also get a "boy" flick. Prince of Persia anyone?
     Reply
    jairip was starred jairip was unstarred
    Image of MerryLilly MerryLilly
    11/30/09

    @jairip: Gotcha! :)

    The princess movies are more geared towards girls. However, I think the non-princess ones are geared equally to both boys and girls (Lion King, Dumbo, Bambi, Peter Pan, etc)
     Reply
    MerryLilly was starred MerryLilly was unstarred
    Image of TallyCola TallyCola
    11/30/09

    @jairip: (trying this again!) Prince of Persia is aimed at boys?

    Well, some of them I guess!

    ;-)
     Reply
    prismatism promoted this comment TallyCola was starred TallyCola was unstarred
    Image of prismatism prismatism
    03:41 AM

    @TallyCola: Ah yes, my favorite Persian actor! Jake Gyllenhaal.
     Reply
    prismatism was starred prismatism was unstarred
    Image of Tartan_Tart (formerly Scarletbegonia) Tartan_Tart (formerly Scarletbegonia)
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Was this written by Pete Campbell?
     Reply
    Tartan_Tart (formerly Scarletbegonia) was starred Tartan_Tart (formerly Scarletbegonia) was unstarred
    Image of GreyEminence GreyEminence
    11/30/09

    @Tartan_Tart (formerly Scarletbegonia): The negro market is so hot right now.
     Reply
    TransFat promoted this comment GreyEminence was starred GreyEminence was unstarred
    Image of Jack_Burton Jack_Burton
    11/30/09

    @GreyEminence: YES! Black is the new black!
     Reply
    Jack_Burton was starred Jack_Burton was unstarred
    Image of Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    You forgot Pochahontas!
    Of course, they just glossed right over her smallpox era in that film, though.
     Reply
    Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith was starred Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith was unstarred
    Image of Zack Stentz Zack Stentz
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    A Disney animated film usually takes about seven years from original idea to theatrical release. Which means that The Princess and the Frog in 2002 was obviously trying to capitalize on the career of an obscure member of the Illinois state senate who once wrote a well-reviewed but little-read memoir.
     Reply
    Zack Stentz was starred Zack Stentz was unstarred
    Image of la.donna.pietra la.donna.pietra
    11/30/09

    @Zack Stentz: Hey, it's at least as plausible as the idea that some random people in Hawaii would fake up several newspaper announcements and a birth certificate to ensure that a black guy born (in Kenya) three years before the Civil Rights Act would somehow become President.
     Reply
    la.donna.pietra was starred la.donna.pietra was unstarred
    Image of PaigeTurner PaigeTurner
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    well, most disney films follow huge events in history: aladdin came after the gulf war. the little mermaid succeeded the sweeping american epic splash.
     Reply
    sarah.of.a.lesser.god (aka Mrs. BrutallyHonestHobbit) promoted this comment PaigeTurner was starred PaigeTurner was unstarred
    Image of KLondike5 KLondike5
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Oprah -- was this article written in 1986?

    Mitchell needs a big back catlog of People magazine. At least dating back to 1996, when Denzel was the Sexiest Man Alive 'n such.

    Black people: here to stay, not a trend.

    Also - his 'knowledge' of American film is really embarrassing. Yeah, Disney just whipped this one up after Election Day last year.
     Reply
    thesciencegirl promoted this comment KLondike5 was starred KLondike5 was unstarred
    Image of Dodgergirl Dodgergirl
    11/30/09

    In reply to Writer: Disney's Frog Flick "Capitalizes" On Obama Family
    Well, sure. I see the connection between term limits for the office of the President and how long people will buy merchandise with a Disney Princess on it. I remember reading about how people suddenly stopped buying Beauty & the Beast stuff when Hillary Clinton stopped being First Lady, and who could forget the sudden drop off in sales of Snow White merchandise when FDR died and suddenly Bess Truman was first lady. Market forces at work!
     Reply
    Dodgergirl was starred Dodgergirl was unstarred
    Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

Login

Enter your username and password.

Please enter a username.
Please enter your password.
logging in
Login via Facebook | Sign Up | Forgot Password?

Reset Password

Please enter your email address to have your password reset.

Please enter your email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
requesting password reset

Register

Registering will give you a user profile and the ability to add other users as friends. To become a commenter, however, you need to audition.

Want to know more? Consult the Comment FAQ and legal terms.

Please enter a username.
Please enter a password.
Please confirm your password.
Passwords are not identical.
Please enter a valid email address.
registration sent, waiting for reply

Submit Your Comment

You don't need to login to comment. Just enter your email address below.

See how your address will be displayed in the Comment FAQ.

Please enter a valid email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
logging in

Login with your Facebook or Jezebel account.

Sign up here.



  • Archives
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Legal
  • Help
  • Report a Bug
  • FAQ
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.