Is this Disney costume racist?

Hey everybody! There has been a lot of buzz lately about a new Halloween costume that Disney has recently announced! Disney created a costume to allow kids to dress up as Maui from their upcoming movie "Moana." In case you haven't heard of Moana, it is a movie featuring a dark-skinned Polynesian princess named Moana who goes on a quest with a dark-skinned Polynesian demigod named Maui. At this point, you must be thinking "YES! All of the children will watch the movie with a hero that has brown skin and then they will dress up as him for Halloween!" Well, that is not exactly the way the public has reacted. I am sure you will be able to tell what the public's concern with the costume is after seeing a picture of it. 
Any guesses of what the uproar is about? The public has been discontent with the fact that the costume includes a brown skin element. There is a plethora of people who are speaking out against this, siting that "Brown skin is not a costume" (article at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/20/brown-skin-is-not-a-costume-disney-takes-heat-for-moana-halloween-costume/) This costume has caused criticism from all races alike, not just Polynesian or just white.
In my opinion, I do not think Disney is attempting to be racist in this situation. Let's take a second to look at Disney's possible options in this situation as they are illustrated by Madeleine Chapman (article at http://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/20-09-2016/disneys-lose-lose-battle-with-making-a-maui-costume/).

Ultimately, there is no easy choice for Disney in this scenario. If Disney did not include the skin, then the tattoos would be missing. The tattoos appear to be an essential part of Maui's character; therefore, removing the tattoos would be extensively altering the character and his significance. Another option the company had was to lighten the skin color of the costume. Actually, scratch that. That was not a feasible option from the start because that would lead to a large scale meltdown by the entire public. Finally, possibly the most demeaning option of all would be to not release a Maui costume. This would have been seen as incredibly racist because all of the white heroes have had Halloween costumes, but the first Polynesian hero would not have. This would imply that the Polynesian hero is in some way insignificant and inferior when compared to the white heroes. In a way, I honestly feel bad for Disney. Disney would not choose to be blatantly racist, as this would hurt their public relations and have a negative impact on the company. In fact, I believe that the company put a great amount of thought into the designing of this costume in order to choose the least offensive option. Disney in the past has been highlighted as a fairly racist company that idealizes white middle-class life over any other cultures, and this costume will likely be used as evidence in future arguments about the image of Disney. In this case, I don't really believe that there was a way for Disney to avoid offending anyone.

On a personal note, this uproar has reminded me that I must examine situations more thoroughly before casting any judgement. At first when I had seen the costume, I immediately jumped on the public bandwagon that the costume is racist and disgusting. Instantly, all I could think about was the moral insensitivity that would be illustrated through wearing this type of costume. To me, it almost seems like making a game out of having brown skin, which is demeaning and demoralizing to those who have brown skin because it seems as if people with brown skin are not being taken seriously. Then, upon reading some of the valid points that Chapman had raised, I found myself not being so angry at Disney, because I understood the difficulty of the situation they had put themselves in by creating a movie with a Polynesian protagonist covered in tattoos. One of the main goals of Disney is to incorporate more diversity into the culture in a positive manner, which will be accomplished by the release of the movie. However, there will be some sort of shadow cast over the message of the movie because of this Halloween costume. In the future, I will be more inclined to analyze how Disney and other companies could be misunderstood in situations where they are presented as racists.
Also, on another note, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE.

Giroux Piece

Today, I found myself submersed in an article titled “How Disney Magic and the Corporate Media Shape Youth Identity in the Digital Age” by Henry A. Giroux. In this article, Giroux discusses how marketers, specifically Disney, take advantage of the influence that children have in the purchases that are made by their parents. Giroux discusses how disgusting it is that these companies go as far as hiring psychologists to determine new ways to turn children into consumers and seduce them into buying their products. Now, Disney only took the brunt of Giroux’s criticism because he believes that, since Disney creates a wholesome image for themselves, they are especially disgusting. However, he does mention that Disney and every other company have the same exact goal in mind: profit. What many people forget about Disney is that they are a business, so of course their main goal will be to make a profit. I do believe that Disney occasionally takes things too far to make money. It really was disgusting when Disney attempted to make Washington University retract a study that proved that their Little Einstein DVD’s did not actually improve cognitive ability and attempted to discredit it. However, I also understand that Disney may have logic behind many of their practices that Giroux deems as questionable. Giroux attacks Disney for the use of its motto that “to be a successful company, ‘You have to start with the kids themselves,’” (Giroux 6). However, this motto is quite possibly less disgusting that Giroux makes it seem. Giroux illustrates Disney as money hungry and miserly; however, Giroux fails to recognize that a large profit generally signifies high customer satisfaction. Even if Disney is solely after profit, by starting with the kids themselves, Disney must be serving content customers or their products would not be selling well. Hiring child psychologists to help with advertisements and products is allowing Disney to distribute products that children want to buy. While profits increase, this is still simply a result of a better quality product and advertisement being created. In addition, I felt like there were points in Giroux’s argument where he was grasping at straws to demerit Disney. For example, when the Baby Einstein website cited a study where “’in a typical day, 68% of all children under two use screen media,’” (Giroux 8). Giroux interprets this statement as Disney telling parents to accept this into their culture. However, there are a multitude of reasons why this statistic could have been included on the website. The statistic could have been included to show the growing prevalence of technology in children’s lives in modern times. Giroux has no way of knowing exactly why this statistic was included on the webpage.

Just because I am defending Disney does not mean that I support their actions. I just want to call to attention that at the end of the day, Disney is still just a company like the others. While I agree with Giroux that turning children into consumers is not okay, I know that Disney and the other companies all need to make money to continue operation, and that high profit generally means high customer satisfaction. Many of Disney’s actions seem despicable from an outside point of view; however, just remember that there are two sides to every coin. 

Disney's Polar Effect

I just had an epiphany. Recently, someone asked me how Disney has shaped or affected my beliefs. As someone who did not particularly watch many Disney movies growing up, my first reaction was that there was no possible way that Disney could have had any role in shaping my beliefs. After all, I failed to experience the magical and wild journeys where the heroes always end up in a sticky situation and have to learn a valuable life lesson to make sure that they triumph over their enemies. However, according to the plethora of people who hate Disney, I was also not subjected to the numerous subliminal messages that Disney uses to brainwash children. This surely means that Disney could not have shaped my personal at all, right? Wrong. In today’s society, Disney is such an influential company that I believe it is impossible for Disney to have to impact on your own morals. Whether someone has been immersed in the world of Disney movies or not, Disney and its influence are everywhere. Every time I go to the store, I see Disney themed foods, toys, and costumes. References to Disney movies can be found everywhere, from the internet to magazines. My high school chemistry teacher even called water molecules “Mickey Mouse Molecules” because the polar nature of the bond causes the shape to look like Mickey Mouse’s head. Even though I did not watch many Disney films, I can assure you that it seemed like everyone around me was fascinated with them. Knowing that these people around me watched the movies and absorbed all of the messages they had to offer, I will assume Disney must have had a strong impact in their lives. Since the people around me have had great significance in my life and taught me valuable lessons, I truly believe that Disney has still shaped many of my opinions and mindsets; however, I could not be sure how without seeing the movies. Although I received the lessons secondhand rather than directly from the source, my mind had still been shaped by the Disney-influenced environment around me. To me, it seems like someone would have to literally live in a cave or under a rock throughout his or her entire life to remain isolated from the influence of Disney. 

Picture Credit: http://www.cemag.us/sites/cemag.us/files/legacyfiles/Assets/images/0307/art4fig1.gif

Introduction

Hey everybody! I'm Nathan and I am enrolled as a student in a course at Duke University named "Writing 101: Decoding Disney." To be honest, I am not very knowledgeable about Disney movies. Although, this does not mean that I do not watch any Disney movies. From the small pool of movies that I have watched, Aladdin is easily my favorite movie. How could you not fall in love with Robin Williams as Genie? The first time I watched Aladdin, I deemed it necessary to sit down and watch the two sequels immediately. It was so worth it! Nonetheless, as a child, I took little interest in watching movies and often tried to spend more time outside exploring. I have only recently realized that movies are an essential part of exploring today's society. With this epiphany, I now understand that movie companies, like Disney, have a wealth of influence on the population. A vast majority of people believe that Disney movies teach valuable life lessons to the children who view them, as well as to the adults who enjoy the numerous subliminal jokes that appear in the films. However, as I previously mentioned, Disney holds power influence throughout the world, resulting in skepticism from those who believe that Disney is simply a mechanism for brainwashing the target audience of children. I am interested in exploring how the positive messages that Disney provides weighs against the possible negative subliminal messages that accompany the films. In this class, I am not just trying to experience the bliss of childhood innocence. I hope to investigate questions about how Disney could be promoting poor behavior through their programming. For example, many people believe that Walt Disney was racist and that Disney subliminally promotes racism through its films. Critics have heavily noted that typically the villain in a Disney movie has a noticeably darker complexion, as evidenced by Aladdin, the Lion King, and many more titles. In addition, many of the most popular Disney movies were produced in eras before the Civil Rights Movement. As a result, the children who watch these Disney classics are exposed to the raw discriminatory attitude of the past. To think that these subtle messages found in Disney movies could completely change the outlook of an entire audience is mind-blowing. I believe that due to my lack of experience and nostalgia associated with Disney films, I can provide a fresh and fair prospective when analyzing the messages of Disney films. I do not possess as much bias because I have no reason to fear that my childhood will be ruined or that the happy memories of my past will become tainted. This may be one of the only advantages that come with entering a Disney class with minimal background knowledge. I’m beyond excited to begin this path to discovery! I hope that this class will be my carpet ride to see a whole new world!! (Pardon my cheesy reference)