and the role continues

Giroux’s article “Are Disney movies good for your kids?” criticized the Disney company based on its depictions of certain ethnicities and of genders in its children’s films, as well as the consumerism encouraged through the Disney theme parks, and countless products and toys. Giroux claims that Disney is insensitive in the way it portrays individuals of various races in the films. Aladdin is based in the Middle East, Pocahontas represents a Native American woman and her tribe, and The Jungle Book takes place in India. Disney films use a variety of characters in their films, but Giroux argues that most include offensive racial stereotypes. In addition to race, Giroux focuses on the roles that women play in Disney films. In general, he recognizes that female characters all hold a single objective, which is to win the affections of a prince or other man so that they may become his wife.

Giroux’s point about the depiction of women in Disney movies is particularly easy to see in countless popular films. Every Disney movie that first comes to my mind includes the “fairy tale ending” which includes the marriage of the male and female main characters. This is true in the final scene of The Little Mermaid, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plfn52bPbi0
As well as in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tarzan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and the list goes on.

There are lots of examples of this same plotline in movies that target children, as well as ones that target older audiences. In Disney’s Pirates of the Carribean, a film that many different ages can enjoy and that is not necessarily recognized as being Disney, there is a typical “boy falls in love with girl” ending. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbkKpjgnMVE
The whole plot is not based around Elizabeth’s desire to be married, but her interest in Will and her engagement to Norrington is a major sub-plot. Even without the animated princess story of many Disney movies, this film still holds many of the same characteristics. Although Elizabeth is portrayed as a strong-willed individual, she is still in the role of a female who needs to be rescued by a male (her future husband). And of course, she is tall and beautiful. Despite the complexity of the plot and the focus on some other characters, I believe a number of viewers would have been terribly disappointed if Elizabeth and Will hadn’t become a couple by the end of the movie.