Stereotypes in Disney and other Kids Programs - Research Paper Example

Module Module ID: Stereotypes in Disney and other Kids Programs The present paper looks for exploring the nature and types of the characters presented in the movies and cartoons developed for the recreation and entertainment of the children. Main objective behind elucidating the topic under consideration includes the exploration of the reasons behind the presentation of various characters in a stereotyped way in the media programs meant for the children in a traditional and conventional way, in the light of the personal views the writers, promoters and directors maintain with regard to the people belonging to the divergent ethnic, racial, regional and religious groups, and communities, as well as the members of both the genders at large. The paper will also elaborate the impact of these stereotyped characters on the children and adults, and its consequences on their future life. The paper will be supported with the Utilitarian Theory articulated by J.S. Mills while investigating into the affects and influences of the recreational programs developed and telecasted with the aim of providing entertainment to the children. The paper will also elucidate the remedies essential for discouraging the trends of promoting bias and hatred among the individuals coming of different ethno-racial and religious backgrounds, as well as between both the genders that had been in vogue for the last several decades in various regions of the globe. The Paper: By critically investigating into the history of the cultures and civilizations of the globe at large, it appears a reality that the individuals, groups and societies had been in conflict with one another since ever (Ember & Ember 68). These clashes and conflicts occurred on the basis of their differences with regards to food collection, belief system, political rivalries, physical appearances, socioeconomic characteristics and gender identities etc. These differences have not only played the dynamic role in respect of increasing the gulf between the people and civilizations, but also led to the battles, war and bloodshed in the wake of the divergences in views and opinions on the one side, and interests and appearances on the other (Macionis 255). The ethno-racial clashes that had been taken place in the wake of the prejudices the humans observed against the members of out-groups in one way or the other were also staged and administered because of the lust of the communities to dominate over others with the help of political, social, economic and strategic supremacy (Ritzer 91). Consequently, the Africans had been the target of the hatred witnessed by the members of white Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASP), as the whites considered them to be the descendants of their slaves, and refuted to grant them the right associated with the white members of the American society (Desmond & Emirbayer 334). Hence, the blacks remained at risk of experiencing a number of acute racism reactions, and biased behavior that left adverse affects of ethno-racial victimizations on them both sentimental and psychological viewpoints. The people belonging to various ethno-racial groups did not confine their biased behavior to one specific field or zone only; on the contrary, the reflections of hatred in the name of religion and race made their sure headway in economic institutions, political activities, art, literature, and even amusement and recreational activities. It is therefore the literary pieces including poetry, novels and short stories, and the recreational sources i.e. films, movies and theatre also presented the ideas and images displaying one specific race and gender to be sober, gentle, law-abiding and peace-seeking, while the rival groups as the representatives of evil, malevolence and violence. As a result, women were portrayed and presented to be evil and monsters through films and movies on the one side (Jensen & Oster 10), and the blacks were depicted to be quarrelsome, violent and aggressive on the other. The same images of hatred and prejudice found their way in the children fiction and entertainment programs, including cartoons, video games and films produced for the entertainment of the innocent minds. The tradition of presenting different characters in their stereotype roles at the electronic media has been in vogue since the popularity of movie and TV programs by the second quarter of twentieth century. It was the era when apartheid and conflicts in the name of race and ethnicity were at their climax point. On the one side, the blacks looked launching their Harlem movement in order to obtain the rights equivalent to the white people, and on the other side, women appeared to be organizing demonstrations for winning the social status attributed to males. It has aptly been observed that the communities in power and authority always exploit their positions in their favors and against their rivals; the same could pertinently be observed in the animated characters in cartoons and video games, predominantly in Disney videos. The Disney Network presents the characters in stereotype roles, which may develop some specific images in the minds of the children about the entire race, member of which has been depicted to be good or bad. Taking the example of the character of merchant in one of the Arabian Nights tales with the title Aladdin’s Lamp, the children find the merchant from Afro-Arab origin as an extremely avaricious, cruel, vindictive and revengeful character, which cunningly deceits Aladdin’s wife with the purpose of obtaining the magic lamp, and deprives the couple of all their belongings eventually (The Arabian Nights 256). The character later not only abducts Aladdin’s wife, but also entices her for satisfying his carnal desires. The tale, depicted in the animated videos, also communicates the message that the rule of did not have any implementations in the Arabian regions, and just might is right prevailed at there. In addition, the children belonging to the western and Far East societies could also develop the feelings that the Arabs are not a reliable nation altogether. It is therefore, the Arabs are not only viewed to be racists, dishonest and cruel by the western nations, but also they undergo discriminatory behavior during their visit and stay in the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe (Macionis 570). It is actually due to the image the adults had developed in their minds during their early years while watching the Disney cartoons. The presentation of the Arabs in such an ugly image not only creates some unseen fears and invisible perils in the minds of non-Arabs, but also such stereotype animations create gulf between the members belonging to various ethno-racial backgrounds. The hatred for the blacks, Arabs, whites, women or other communities leads to producing the extremists similar to the terrorist Ben Laden, which results into the clashes between the civilizations in the wake of developing and presenting the stereotype characters during the earliest years of the children. Consequently, the communities remain at daggers drawn against one another, examples of which could be found in the form of clashes between the Palestinians and Israelites on the one side, and between the blacks and whites on the other. It has also been observed that the Disney movies meant for children also present the Jews in a ridiculous and mocking way. Based on the Elizabethan era plays particularly the Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe, Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare and others, the Disney draws out the Jews as the greedy and mean nation, which does not let lose any opportunity regarding extracting the money of others by harming them in any manner. It is therefore, the Christians and Muslims even maintain reservations while entering into the corporate relationships with the Jews. The same feelings develop in children in the wake of getting familiar with these characters belonging to some specific ethnicity through cartoons and animated films. Similarly, the tale of Sebastian from the Little Mermaid narrates an imaginative under water life, where there is peace and harmony all around, though some clashes also appear time and again. The most noticeable aspect claimed by the Sebastian is this that the creatures existing under-water do not have any need to embark upon any financial ventures necessary for the people living on the surface of the earth in order to earn bread for satisfying their hunger, and to lead a comfortable life as well. Such stereotype presentation of various characters not only encourage the children to dream of such a Utopian state where they would not have any need to work hard after spending several hours a day in books and studies, but also they look for discovering easiest possible ways to earning for leading a luxurious life without making much efforts. Consequently, such a trend is sufficient for turning the boys sluggish and easy-going, and may urge them to get involved into crimes for leading the luxurious life out of the easy money they earn by committing the crimes of various types. The Disney’s King Louie from The Jungle Book as well as the Crows from Dumbo also witnessed great criticism from the critics for mocking at the African Americans by ridiculing the Africans because of their dark skin color. Since the crows in the movie series Crows from Dumbo explicitly represent the Africans carrying the traits ridiculously attributed to the black community, which not only hurts the feelings of the entire black community, but also develops the minds of white children for taking the blacks to be inferior racial group, equivalent to the black crows actually (Johnson 18). The animation of the character King Louie i.e. black savage monkey added fuel to fire in respect of the projection and promotion of racism through cartoons. The actions performed by the big black monkey, along with its harsh voice could bring smiles to the children; however, the same portrayal of degrading the black skin color may ignite the feelings of the adolescent and adult Africans, inviting clashes between the races eventually. The stereotypes portrayal of the characters is not confined to racial hatred only; rather, the same images also draw out the gender roles, gender identity and obligations aptly attributed to males and females. Consequently, the females are aptly found performing their tasks and doing various jobs at domestic level that are related to cooking, dishes and clothes washing, feeding and nurturing the children, and submitting to the commands made by the husband, father and sometimes brothers too. Hence, women have been confined to the four walls of their homes, and are rarely depicted as working outside homes as professionals rendering their services in various professions. As a result, the financial responsibilities regarding the fulfillment of the needs and requirements of the family are associated with the male head. It is therefore males enjoy the status that is superior to females because of rendering services for earning bread and fulfilling the financial needs of the entire family. Hence, segregations on the foundations of gender roles have been introduced through the animated films and cartoons including doraemon The supporters of Disney cartoon network and others strictly turn down the allegations made by the critics on cartoons portraying stereotype characters, and presenting the people of some specific gender as inferiors, treacherous, cruel and stupid ones etc (Smith 9). They cite utilitarian theory in support of their claim that allows the individuals to get involved into recreational activities just for the sake of obtaining happiness and joy. Renowned 19th century British philosopher and theorist J S Mill has articulated his utilitarianism approach (1859), where he has advocated the concept of pleasure seeking without harming or hurting the other members of society. Mill explains in the light of his belief regarding morality that the actions could be viewed to be right or wrong on the basis of their generating happiness and reverse to happiness respectively (5). Utilitarianism strongly advocates the doctrine that the act performed by every human should generate maximum pleasure to others (without discrimination). Consequently, Mill looks for the qualitative division of happiness by declaring moral and intellectual pleasure highly superior to the actions that produce physical pleasures. The greatest happiness principle, Mill submits, has had a large share in forming the moral doctrines even of those who even more scornfully reject its authority (11). Nevertheless, pleasure seeking is not one and the same for every human; on the contrary, individuals observe divergent levels and forms of seeking pleasure. Since a significant proportion of the people do not take moral values of pleasure into slightest consideration, pleasures are frequently taken to be the physical delights and satisfaction at large (27). Such type of pleasure seeking could be harmful to mental and physical health, though it creates great satisfaction for the person seeking the same. In other words, Mill’s utilitarianism refuses to accept such sources of joys and happiness that could create mental or physical harms to the person seeking the same as well as the other members of society (Turner 311). Since creating the characters and images that appear to be targeting the others in one way or the other, do not fall under the category of recreation and amusement altogether. Though Disney has successfully provided wide-ranged recreational opportunities to the children through the latest IT devices and techniques, yet its products existing in the form of animated films, cartoon movies and songs are both consciously and unconsciously responsible for hurting the members of non-white races. To conclude, it becomes evident that the Disney cartoons and films may do harm to several non-Arab races as well as females through their animated videos and films, which is strictly against the doctrine of utilitarianism. These animated pictures sometimes appear to be targeting the black community, and sometimes look to ridicule the Muslims and Arabs. Similarly, the Japanese and Germans, the WWII rivals of the Allies, are also mocked at through these animated materials in the name of recreation, which not only has turned out to be destructive one for maintaining peace and harmony in societies, but also leading the world towards conflicts and clashes through these video games and cartoons. There is an urgent need for producing the video games and animated movies that could depict the members of all communities working under one and the same environment for the progress and prosperity of the social establishment. Otherwise, targeting the skin color, appearances, belief systems and traditional dressing of the people belonging to different cultures could create the situation similar to that of 1910s and 1930s, paving the way towards another great war, or the disaster similar to the 9/11 catastrophe. The cartoons and animated movies can display the characters making joint efforts to explore the realities of life as well as the mysteries of the universe with the help of science fictions, world literatures and the narratives have been created on the topics related to the IT field. Furthermore, since the women have been rendering their services in all areas in the contemporary times for the last many decades in all parts of the globe, the Disney and other organizations must introduce the new roles, statuses and positions of women according to the changing world scenario, instead of keep on sticking to the stereotype characters, by confining the new generations to the magical stories or cartoons promoting prejudice, ethno-racial discrimination and non-tolerance in the wake of them. Works Cited Desmond, Matthew & Emirbayer, Mustafa. What is Racial Domination? W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research Du Bois Review, 6:2 2009 Retrieved from http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mdesmond/files/what_is_racial_domination.pdf Ember, Carol R. & Ember, Melvin R. Anthropology Prentice Hall 2004. Print. Jensen, Robert & Oster, Emily. The Power Of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University and NBER 2007 1-11 Retrieved from http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/emily.oster/papers/tvwomen.pdf Johnson, Allan G. Privilege, Power and Difference. New York: McGraw-Hill, University of Michigan, 2007. Print. Macionis, John J. Sociology: a Global Introduction. New York: Prentice-Hall. 2008. Print. Ritzer, George. Sociological Theory. 3rd Edition New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print. Turner, Jonathan H. The Structure of Sociological Theory. The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois. 1978. Print. The Arabian Nights Alif Laila: A selection of stories from Alif laila wa laila: the Arabian nights' entertainment University of Michigan 2007 247-89 Read More