Mickey Mouse Monopoly Documentary: Representations of Race, Gender, and Class in Disney Movies

I grow up watching many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. While I was kid, I was believing these movies are a pure form of entertainment. However, today I see these movies in a different angle compare to when I was a kid. Also watching Micky Mouse Monopoly documentary, my point of view about Disney changed because there are many hidden messages about gender and race that Disney is creating in the new generation. The experts in the documentary argue that Disney is very political and hides the ideas behind magic and fun.

This documentary opened my eyes for some things I haven’t notice that would have a hidden meaning.

First thing that is stressed out is gender representation, the way that the boy and the girl are presented. One of the themes seen rapidity in these movies is no matter how powerful a female might be, she still needs to be rescued by a male. In Disney movies female not even get to trouble very easily but they luck the ability to rescue themselves. In my opinion, this is present even in nowadays, because girls get into trouble very easy even if is not their fault. They are a target by many boys and to be rescue by a male is very normal. For me this is a normal theme and truly presented because it does not create any misconception about gender.

Another thing that is present id these movies is that female can use their body to achieve what they want. This is very dangerous for young girls because it gives the idea that this is the only way to get to the destination. Using your body to manipulate people especially men is a wrong concept that built in young kids’ mind. Another way that female is represented in these movies is as a person that has to be isolated home and do all the work like cleaning and washing. In my opinion, small things like this need to be changed because they create a bad illusion of how we see the world especially the gender.

Personally, I think arguments in this documentary about gender are subjective and based on a specific movie but not as a whole. Some stereotypes that are created about gender are not created because of the Disney movies but because they still exist in the society. In some countries or society girls have to do all the home work and the man has to work to bring money home. However, in many democratic places both men and women pursue careers and they share the duties at home based on equal contribution. In my point of view, I don’t see anything wrong with the gender representations by Disney.

The second thing the documentary focuses and the most important thing in my opinion is race. A surprisingly fact I heard was that “dark people are always doing bad things”. We all know that this is not true but the way that is presented is wrong. One of the things it can promote is white supremacy. One example is Tarzan film. A bad thing about this movie is that they have eliminated the black people in Africa as well as black people presence. All you can see is white people and you see no African. As Dr. Henry Giroux says in the documentary Tarzan is the most racist film from Disney. I agree with Dr. Henry that these images create a bad impact to African kids if they see this movie if African theatres. He also states that these of course can promote white supremacy to African kids.

After watching this documentary, I never thought that are so many hidden racism ideas in these movies. One sad thing is that you don’t see any black people that does good things. When these images are distributed to millions of kids, this is definitely a thing to consider. Disney should take responsibility because it spread wrong messages all over the world.

In my opinion, the way we look at racism at Disney movies might differ from one person to another. I don’t see it as very big deal because kids are not able to see so deep into these movies. Even though I have seen these movies I never noticed these things. Also, I do not remember any of my friends to notice such things. I think some steps can be taken to improve these movies and make them appear friendlier to every community.

If I had to rate this documentary, I would have given 8 out of 10 because Micky Mouse Monopoly made some good arguments. However, I think it was highly subjective because most of the opinion were personal and based on a specific movie. More studies need to be done to better understand the effects of these movies to young girls and boys. Parents play a huge role in which movie their kids can watch since Disney movies are not forced to watch by any kids. Parents are the only authority that can decide what is right or wrong for their kids. Personally, I like Disney movies and I think they are a great way to have fun. Now, when I think about Disney this documentary is the first thing it comes to my mind. However, it won’t affect the way I think about Disney’s movies.

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