A Loose Connection Between Watergate and Disney World

I came across an article today with the headline, "Nixon, Watergate and Walt Disney World? There is a connection." This intrigued me. I really didn't think it could be the case. So I read on. I was really hoping for some huge new scandal, opening a story about how some Disney executive was helping cover up the story. Unfortunately (well maybe it's a good thing), the connection is that Nixon's infamous "I am not a crook" line was said at a Q&A at Disney. I guess that is something, but I doubt anyone really cares and it won't circulate back around on national news.

Is Disney all we know about the world?

I love this song called Baba Yetu. It is an extremely interesting Swahili composition for orchestra and choir by Christopher Tin. The lyrics are the Lords Prayer in Swahili. I showed it to my roommates and one of them goes, "This reminds me of The Lion King" and then the other one agreed. And my response was, "yeah cause it's African and that is all we know about Africa often." While yes, the landscape for The Lion King is East African, and so is the Swahili language, it really made me think about the impact of Disney and how much we take it as a truth.

EPCOT

At my last visit to Disney World, which was my junior year of high school, I found EPCOT to be the most enjoyable of the parks. My favorite ride is an Animal Kingdom, but the "World Showcase" I found so fun. Now, a lot of people can get on board with the racism in some Disney films like Aladdin or even The Lion King (based primarily on the appearance of the villains compared with that of the heroes). I figured there must be more to the Disney racism though, so I thought maybe EPCOT. Maybe there is nothing to this, maybe it is just a cool cultural exhibit that allows people to briefly explore different parts of the world.

The iconic Spaceship Earth sphere at EPCOT

I never knew the original concept for EPCOT though. The concept was that, rather than amusement park, EPCOT would be a real city that pushed forward urban living. It would have real laboratory facilities filled by American corporations called "Industrial Park." According to Wikipedia, "this would stimulate people to return to their own communities and encourage technological growth where they live." This concept clearly never came to be, as after Walt's death they instead made it into a theme park with the two components of "World Showcase" and "Future World." Had it existed though, considering Walt's supremacist tendencies, I feel that it would have turned into a Walt trying to idealize a very specific style of living, probably typical of upper-middle class WASPs. By doing this, it would inherently indicate that other living styles are not as positive. After Walt's death though, despite his brother's best efforts, the EPCOT city did not come to exist.

The overhead original plan for EPCOT

Instead, EPCOT opened as a Disney World theme park with two main sections: Future World and World Showcase. Future World is an attraction featuring technological innovations that imagine the future.  World Showcase is sometimes called a "permanent world's fair" with 11 different areas themed to countries (Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada).

Future World

World Showcase from across the lake

At EPCOT, often they have employees actually from the country, with the accent and knowing the language and culture. The French area's restaurants are actually run but a French restaurant group! The water for the dough in the Italy area is imported (some say from Italy, some say from Philadelphia, though). The Canadian stop seems very cool, considering people in America do not generally think about Canadian culture and food (aside from poutine maybe). The head of the Mexican restaurant San Angel Inn is actually one of the owners from the real San Angel Inn in Mexico.

The France Exhibit

Conversely, the Canadian kitchen is run by an American, a lot of the alcoholic beverages offered at the British stop was not from Britain (and apparently it isn't even very good), and the Chinese food is extremely bland and Americanized. Additionally, causing some uproar, the Norway spot is being largely repurposed as a Frozen spectacle. Thus, Disney is commercializing the culture and changing its features just for the purpose of furthering their attractions (I can't blame them for this...). And finally apparently the American station offers terrible food that isn't representative of American food. (All of these reviews are from here.) In Future World, in Spaceship Earth, some of the facts presented just aren't true about human development, but that side of the park isn't worth getting into for now.

The China Exhibit

EPCOT may use stereotypes to create the atmospheres. However, after looking at sources (including this one that compares architecture at EPCOT to the things they are based on), there is a fair deal of accuracy in the architecture, clothing, and food in each stop that it comes off more as an overview of a cultural experience. To me, though, EPCOT seems to be rooted more in the history of the countries, showing colonial American architecture, ancient Mexican civilization's buildings, and in general more traditional, castle-like buildings. Nowadays, a lot of architecture around the world is standardized, especially in the populous urban areas. Some people may not like that EPCOT pulls mostly from the most popular, tourist-y aspects of countries (i.e. the Eiffel Tower or the Leaning Tower of Pisa) rather than the typical, actual culture. I take some issue with this, but it does make for the best attraction and provides a fair amount of education.

The Mexico Exhibit

All of this said, taking into account the positives and negatives, I would say EPCOT is generally a good thing. It provides a generally well-rounded experience all in one place. I think it's pretty funny though that some countries (like Norway) have paid for their country to be displayed at EPCOT. Although it is overall a positive experience, it is wise for people to take into account the negative aspects when visiting.

The America Exhibit

Another Touching Disney Story

According to an article from ABC, a family from Sao Paulo, Brazil recently travelled to Disney. Their 21 year old son is blind and has been since age 9. When the tourist group he was a part of went to meet Mickey, Mickey guided his hands and spoke to him in Portuguese! They hugged afterward and then the man's mother joined in, hugging Mickey as well. This moment brought much of the rest of the tour group to tears. 

The Flawless Disney Image

Disney will do anything to make itself appear flawless to the guests. Its employees (named Cast members at Disney) are a whole other world though. The Orlando Sentinel published an article today about how one of the employee dining halls had a roach problem. There is no way this sort of issue would ever exist in a public space at Disney. Walt would probably turn over in his grave if a guest saw a roach in a Disney eatery.

Reading Response to Putnam's "Mean Ladies"

Amanda Putnam, in her essay "Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films," offers great insight about gender and sexuality portrayals in Disney films and how those tie to villainy. Putnam's opening anecdote about her daughter's observations of this topic immediately show the huge effect that Disney has on children. Her daughter calls the more masculine women villains the "mean ladies," but it's not just them! She also calls the effeminate men the "mean ladies!" Many people question the deep effect of Disney on children. They believe that children won't see the overt and offensive negative portrayals of race, gender, and sexuality in Disney. They believe that children just enjoy the songs and the colors, but her opening anecdote shows that this is not true and that children are influenced, strengthening and validating her argument that she makes later.

Putnam observed that, "many of the villains display transgendered attributes - depicted as women with either strong masculine qualities or as strangely de-feminized, while the male bad guys are portrayed as effeminate" (147,148). Putnam points out that inclusion of seemingly transgendered characters would be a good inclusion in Disney films, except that they are always the villain. Conversely, Putnam details the heteronormativity of the protagonists, particularly the princesses. While I'd like to believe that clothes are an arbitrary form of self-expression, not indicative of any gender or sexuality markers, Putnam explains that their form-fitting, cleavage-revealing clothes that most of the princesses sport indicates strong, heterosexuality.

Putnam brings up the argument that the skills and interests of villains vs. protagonists is also indicative of gender roles. I never considered how the princesses like to (or have to) dance, work with food, do house work, and be around animals and the masculine princesses sail, use swords, and hunt. Because of societal heteronormativity, these traits just seemed so normal that I never brought any skepticism to their indications. Her example of this for villains that break typical gender roles is simply that the villains seem less interested in marriage and having children. This feels like a weak counterexample, but I do still believe in this argument.

One aspect about this essay that I did not like so much was that Putnam often seemed to use gender and sexuality as near interchangeable. While the terms often have related connotations, they are separate and should not be mistaken for each other.

Another aspect about the essay that I disagreed with was when she claimed that the scene in Cinderella (1950) where Lady Tremaine and her daughters take many items from/off Cinderella is a "pseudo-rape scene." First, this seems like a stretch. Additionally, she uses this to claim that Lady Tremaine and the step-sisters are more masculine. While she concedes it is not a masculine activity in the footnote, this claim seems out of place.

Additionally, when Putnam uses the line from The Lion King (1994) where Scar says, "I'll practice my curtsy" to show that he is more feminine seems like a stretch. Every time I have watched the film (which is an absurd amount by now), that line just seems sarcastic. I never saw any gender connotations from it, and I still don't buy into that.

A Major Disney World Success

Succumbing to click-bait yet again, I clicked on an article called, "These 2 Sisters Posed For a Photo at Disney World, Now Look Closely at Minnie Mouse's Hands!" No clue what to expect, I read it and was thoroughly touched. One of the sisters in the photo is deaf. In the photo we can see her signing to Minnie. The woman in the Minnie suit decided to start learning ASL (American Sign Language) so that she could communicate with deaf people at Disney World. I can imagine this was extremely exciting for this little girl. I'm sure she did not expect to be able to communicate with the characters, so this must have been such a joyous surprise.

Pocahontas (1995) Live Blog

John Smith looks like a strong hero.

The presumed villain looks like a woman.

John Smith saved the guy! What a hero! This rescue scene is just beyond unrealistic though. 

John Smith looks so much more clean and "pretty" than the other crew members.

The only masculine thing about Governor Ratcliffe is his voice.

"If any Indian tries to stop me, I'll blast him." -A crew member. What a great attitude.

The Native American land is so beautiful.

How elegant of a dive off the cliff.

The animals in Disney films are so ridiculous. Makes it feel more childish, might make it easier to brush the movie off as a children's film that couldn't carry much social commentary.

Impressive how the guy went to put the bear claw on the other guy's chest and it just went on with the motion of a normal hand print.

Why are Pocahontas' eyebrows red?

Tries to display that this group of people (This group of Native Americans) have very different values by explaining why Kocoum would make a good husband.

The way she glides through that rainbow on the river. Great and accurate animation right there.

The way she climbed up the tree on the river is incredible. 

Smith called the Native Americans "Savages"

Governor Ratcliffe talks so fast.

How nice of John Smith to give food to the Raccoon. I like how the assumption is that animals can understand words.

Wow those images in the smoke are quite unrealistic. 

This whole film seems to almost satirize and caricature Native American culture. 

"Ravaging the new world" of resources. Does this show that they knew they were taking the resources from people?

Women swoon over Governor Ratcliffe in his song even when his character is portrayed very feminine and also uninterested in women.

Why would John Smith kill Pocahontas right away. Tactically, wouldn't it be smart to communicate first?

So Pocahontas' English and John Smith's Englishes are different? (edit: jk its the same, but why would Pocahontas speak English? Unless I suppose prior colonization.) Also where did John Smith's accent go?

"A man's not a man unless he knows how to shoot." -Governor Ratcliffe. I like how the most feminine man is securing an image of masculinity.

"How to use this land properly." -What white elitism. "We've improved the lives of savages all over the world." -John Smith

"Colors of the Wind" is a pretty song.

Why do they get so much joy killing Native Americans?!

While Ratcliffe definitely appears to be the main villain, it seems like his henchmen are just about as bad. He also doesn't treat his henchmen well so I guess that contributes to his evil image.

I feel like Native Americans probably would industrial-style plant corn...

Why is Pocahontas telling this man he can fit in when he came to kill the people and take the land resources?

The music in this film doesn't seem as contiguous as many other prior Disney films.

"They've got our gold." -Ratcliffe. Why do they believe it is their land?!

The exposition and rising action in Disney movies seems to take so so long.

Wow the sky just turned red during the scene with Kocoum trying to kill John Smith and went back to blue/green once he died.

How are we supposed to feel about Kocoum's death? Certainly bums me out but seems like we should feel mixed.

John Smith's proclamation of his love seems sweet but also they met like 3 times.

John Smith's song rhymes "eyes" with "eyes." Good.

Their love is so unprecedented!

He'll die if he stays?!

Awww even the animals became friends!

Good choice for Pocahontas to stay!

Long-distance seems tough at this time.

Wow this end is kind of sad. Not the typical happy-ever-after. But also sort of happy because they both benefited from each other.

Aladdin (1992) Film Response

This film was ripe with stereotypes and racial-typing. First off, it makes zero sense that Aladdin sounded like an American (particularly midwestern white America). He also looked a little whiter in his features and complexion. Aside from Aladdin, the Genie and Jasmine both had smaller non-American accents. Clearly, these are supposed to be three of the audience's favorite characters. We are supposed to see them as "Us" not "Them" and relate to them, so I suppose Disney does that by making them as much like the stereotypical American as possible for somewhere in the Arabic-speaking part of the world. The characters who exhibited more typical race characteristics for the setting of the film had darker skin, thicker accents, and exhibited more stereotypes. Unfortunately, this feels as though it would isolate and ostracize non-white Americans or even just non-Americans. Jafar, the main villain of this film exhibits heightened racial- and gender-typing. He has darker, pointier features. His skin is almost purple, appearing as if he wears make-up, his speech cadence is more feminine. He is extremely lean (except when he is a genie) with a more feminine figure. This also paints femininity in males as a negative trait associated with villainy or deviance. Additionally, Aladdin seemed so much more fit than the rest of the characters. He also is made the underdog early on. Everyone loves the underdog. He is easy to root for when his situation feels more relatable, than, say, the Sultan's.

Aladdin seemed a little less superficial than some of the other Disney princess films. Jasmine's emphasis on wanting independence from the palace and "fighting" for love that is not typical for her social standing shows more free will and genuine-ness than lots of the other films. She was also generally likable, whereas many of the other Disney princesses frustrated me a ton.

On a very unrelated note, Jafar is so mean to Iago! If he is just going to be rude to Iago, I don't understand why he keeps Iago around. I suppose Jafar just likes harming other people/creatures, a characteristic of lowered empathy and associated evil.

The movie was also low-key pretty dark. When Jasmine almost gets her hand cut off in the beginning of the film, I got pretty uncomfortable. First of all, it seemed a bit like a heightened stereotype but mostly, it was just really intense. I didn't recall this detail as a kid (that being said, I don't think I recalled any details of the movie aside from the magic carpet song that I thought was just the whole movie). Later, when Aladdin is shackled to a metal ball and otherwise restricted and dropped into water, that is just so intense. This is a children's film! That is so dark! I was thoroughly freaked out and uncomfortable, how does this not scar children?! 

Also, the protagonists seem to take blame for their actions way more often (I suppose this comes before learning from mistakes). For example, Jasmine took blame for when Aladdin was supposed to be killed for kidnapping the princess and Aladdin took blame for Jafar's rise to power.

Finally, I thought the pet tiger was hilarious. It seemed like just an excuse to make the film more exotic, but I really hope it didn't make any children believe that they could own a tiger.

Rumors of Mulan White-Washing

First and foremost, I cannot wait for the release of the Mulan live-action remake in 2018! I am even happier because Disney squelched the rumors that Mulan could have a white male lead. First of all, without changing the basis for the entire story, how could Mulan possibly have a male lead?! I guess they would have the male play a woman, which could in theory work, but feels like it would undermine the entire premise of the original film's story. Then on top of that, white-washing has "hideously xenophobic implications" showing "Hollywood's insistence on erasing Asian people from their own narratives" (see here). Also, Disney said they would host a "global casting call" for an Asian woman actor. It seems bizarre that they would need to take that broad of a measure to fill the role, showing that maybe Asian women are underrepresented in Hollywood. 

Elsa and Anna Hair Hats

On my first day home from fall break, my friends and I were walking around the area and wandered into Bed, Bath, and Beyond (a surprisingly common occurrence for us). At the end of our lap around the floor, we stumbled across some Elsa and Anna (from Frozen) hats. They had braided hair on them. For whatever reason, this prompted my home friend to put 3 on and swing the hair, asking, "how do girls do long hair?"

High School Musical Reflective Post

I am extremely obsessed with High School Musical. Objectively, it is not a great movie. The antics of the antagonist are ridiculous, the chance meeting of Troy and Gabriella and then that they go to school together is so unlikely, the stereotypes are regressive.  Just the chance that the star basketball player on a championship winning team would also have time to star in a pretty impressive high school production is near impossible. That being said, I could watch High School Musical everyday and still love it. I get mildly fed up every time I watch it for the reasons above as well as so many more, but it is such an enjoyable movie.

(https://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/confessions-from-obsessed-high-school-musical-fans?utm_term=.ueZpz9y8J2#.rtJn8z2gpO)

Maybe part of my love for it is from the memories with it. Traditionally, my closest camp friends and I watch it together whenever we meet up, which does not get to be that often, so those moments are cherished. This summer, one of the last times I got to spend with all of my close-knit friend group, we watched High School Musical, singing and dancing along, mocking it the whole way through. During my senior year, I danced with 19 other people to a High School Musical song in front of a lot of the school. Maybe, though, it is just the irony of loving a movie this awful.

In the initial back to school scene, no one is that popular that they get a huge crowd around them, cheering, as they get off the bus. Except maybe Troy Bolton. No one is worried about being "The School's Freaky Genius Girl." Except maybe Gabriella Montez. No teacher at a basketball school would confuse a basketball for a piece of hockey equipment. Except for maybe Ms. Darbus. But this movie is just so ridiculous that it is hysterical. It comes off almost as satire on every high school stereotype that has ever existed. Sharpay Evans is a caricature of the stuck-up, spoiled, entitled, drama queen. If a person like her actually exists, I would pay real money to meet her, but only for around 30 seconds, because she'd make me lose faith in humanity.

The musical aspect of High School Musical strengthens its satirical qualities. In the song "Get Your Head In The Game," the same characters who would mock Troy for joining the musical and singing and dancing, sing and dance on the basketball court. Most of the songs seem to accentuate an aspect of the school. And most of those aspects are themselves stereotypical, fake, or exaggerated. Additionally, the singing voices for the characters are often so different from the actor's voice that I have audibly laughed on many occasions for that sole reason. That being said, as ridiculous as the songs are, they are a huge reason of why I love the movie. Sitting in the library, watching it as I write this, I can't keep my foot from tapping or my head from bouncing. I've almost broken out into singing a few times already. Within the first 35-ish minutes, the realest part, to me, feels like when Kelsi, the composer at the piano, stands up and falls, throwing her papers everywhere. As someone who falls down all the time, that is extremely relatable.

High School Musical may even reinforce negative values. The song "Status Quo" tells people not to branch out and have diverse interests. Some characters act as though it is cool to not do homework. A lot of dialogue and scenes indicate that valuing knowledge should make you an outcast and a nerd. Social strata are reinforced throughout the whole film. (As the come together as the movie progresses, this negative aspect starts to disappear, but it is still reinforced.)

Just like Amanda Putnam discussed in "Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films," seemingly all of the protagonists are heterosexual and adhere to typical gender stereotypes - the men are masculine and the women are feminine. While the main antagonist, Sharpay, is heterosexual and feminine (is it possible Disney attempted to make her hyper-feminine (is that a thing?)?), her brother side-kick, Ryan is coded as homosexual. Between his style choices, interest in the arts, pale skin, lean figure, soft features, and higher voice, he is portrayed with extra femininity. In a movie where hyper-masculinity is desired, it is easy to label Ryan as the "other" for these traits.

(http://www.giantbomb.com/ryan-evans/3005-8587/)

Additionally, the way Troy hides his theatre career - the most feminine of his activities - has been paralleled to someone "in the closet" waiting to come out.

The social phenomenon that is High School Musical is astounding. How a Disney Channel Original Movie rose to such popularity amazes me. This objectively, extremely mediocre movie hold such a special place in the hearts of so many people. The film is strangely popular among people around ages 15-20. I suppose it is the nostalgia and irony of it all.  But what an amazing film.

(https://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/confessions-from-obsessed-high-school-musical-fans?utm_term=.ueZpz9y8J2#.rtJn8z2gpO)

Buzzfeed quiz #2

In another effort to shirk my responsibilities (seems to be a common theme), I browsed Buzzfeed for a fun Disney-related quiz. I found one called, "Which Disney World Treat Are You Based On Your Disney Preferences?" Some choices were really tough, like whether I'm more excited for Toy Story 4 or Incredibles 2, but I must have chose right, because Buzzfeed told me that I am (wondering how I can be it) a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwich. Buzzfeed could not be more correct. At my week long most recent visit to Disney, I probably had 3 of these... Maybe not the best decision but boy are those things delicious.

Disney Fan Theories

I always hear about ridiculous sounding fan theories for Disney movies and they fascinate me.  I think they mainly fascinate me because I would never be able to think of them or find these continuities (or discontinuities) that some people can string together.  The community of people finding and working through these fan theories - Disney and otherwise - is huge, and probably on average one of the smartest groups out there.  Whether or not they are real, each one is extremely interesting and offers a whole new layer to the film(s) involved.  

One that quickly caught my eye was from the Toy Story franchise.  People have theorized that the old owner of the Jessie the cowgirl doll, Emily, wound up being Andy's mother.  This theory is backed up by many pieces of evidence.  One is that Andy's hat is identical to that of Jessie, when we'd expect maybe it would resemble Andy's.  One is that both Jessie's owner and Andy's mother look strikingly similar.  This theory is definitely not foolproof.  It could be coincidences, there could be other motivations for the evidence pieces listed, but I like to believe in these theories.  The Disney magic really is enhanced by the open interpretation from the viewers.