Introduction 

       As I was wearily browsing through the numerous sections of Writing 101, I had no idea what I wanted in the class.  Due to my own involvement in music and belief that music has curative powers to my psyche, I initially took interest in the "Music as Medicine" option.  I had recently decided, though, that I did not want any ties between music and academics in an effort to keep music a stress-free activity.  A few other classes caught my eye throughout the initial stages of the process, but I hadn't actually read the descriptions of many of them.

Me with my cousins at Disney World.  Beyond excited.

        I called my brother, a senior here at Duke, stressing about this process.  He told me, "If you can take "Decoding Disney," you take it."  I immediately read the description for this class and realized that it would be a great medium through which I could further my writing skills.  I felt I would be able to gain a lot of analysis skill by examining and studying a topic that has always seemed extremely un-academic.  The topic of this class also just seemed fun and entertaining.  I have always worried about losing interest in writing, but between Disney and the nature of evil, I am not fearful of that for this semester.

Disney World

        My experience with Disney thus far is no more than average.  I have watched many of the movies throughout my life.  I love some and get bored with others, remember some and completely forget others, and watch some countless times and skip over many others.  I have been to Disney World a couple times and Disneyland once.  I always enjoyed meeting the characters, acquiring and trading the pins, and going to the themed meals.  My mom loves to tell me a story about the time I went to a princess dinner at Disneyland when I was six or seven.  I put on a dress, but I considered myself a "tom-boy" and so I was opposed to the overwhelming femininity in the room.  To counteract it, I made a mess with the spaghetti and would only dance in the least feminine way I could think of as a young child.  I dressed up as Jessie the Cowgirl from Toy Story for a few years of Halloween and Tinker Bell for a couple other years and a character from The Incredibles one year.  I have played music from Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean.  I would not call myself a Disney fanatic, but I have enjoyed a lot of what Disney has produced.

Messily eating the pasta at Disneyland.

        I very much look forward to exploring aspects of gender within the villains.  I am curious to know if there is a sweeping difference between male villains and female villains in how they are created, viewed, and how they interact with the other characters.  I also wonder if there is a framework that most or all of the Disney villains follow.  While of course a villain in Monsters Inc. would have a different role as a villain in Frozen, it seems like there must be common threads between all the villains.  I am also excited to learn about the way that the protagonists overcome the villains and also how the villains get revealed to the various other characters.  After reading "The Aesthetic of Evil," I am also interested in why we find villains and evil so appealing and intriguing.

Jessie the Cowgirl costume in 1st grade.

The Incredibles costume in elementary school.

Disney World again with the music program in 11th grade.