The Gender Roles, Race, and Class Structure within Disney Films

     Disney has been the "go to" for children's movies.  Should this stay that way? There are hidden messages inside of Disney films that could be affecting the way kids think and act in a negative manner.    Disney could be the reason of racism or the idea of a "perfect" happily ever after.  This isn't entirely good for kids to know and start learning.  Yes, Disney is getting better over the years but it takes awhile to change the way that they do their movies.  For example, Snow White, which was made in 1937, is way different from The Little Mermaid, which was made in 1989, is way different from the most modern Disney movie, The Princess and The Frog, which was made in 2009.
     One of the older Disney movies was Snow White.  This movie is totally going against how people should act.  To start with,  Snow White's step-mother feels the need to be the best looking out of all the people.  When she finds out that she isn't she sends her hunter to go and kill the "fairest", which in her case is her own step-daughter.  This movie starts the terrible stereotypes of evil step-mothers.  Also that being so fair skinned makes someone even more beautiful.  Another problem with this movie is Snow's relationship with the prince.  They have met only once but for some reason when he had thought that she was dead he kissed her.  She woke up like nothing had ever happened and rode off into the sunset with him.  Now something like that sounds just way too odd not to mention that its so unrealistic too.  Snow White is someone who fits into the feminine gender role perfectly.  She likes to cook, clean, and just take care of people.  This is teaching kids that thats how girls should act.  This might not be the best role model movie that Disney has, but that means that it can only get better from here.
     Another Disney movie is The Little Mermaid.  This is definitely a step up from Snow White, but it still carries some unwanted themes.  Ariel just looks at Prince Eric once and falls in love with him.  She basically sacrifices everything to be with him.  That isn't entirely the best idea to do in the real world.  Not everything ends up the way that someone might have planned it. Other than that, Ariel is also extremely skinny and very pale.  This is teaching little children that u have to be very thin and very fair to be pretty.  This is simply untrue. Everyone is beautiful.  It shouldn't matter on size or race.
     Disney does get better with kicking out their stereotypes within time.  In 2009 they had come out with The Princess and the Frog.  This movie included a lot of stereotypes about race and gender but instead of embracing them, they are stomping it out.  The main character Tiana was an African American female.  She started out living in a small home with her family.  Her mom worked in a mansion for a rich white family.  As Tiana grew older, she became a waitress.  No one thought that she would amount to anything.  A few people even told her that and some said because it was because of who she is.  Tiana never listened to any of them.  She just kept moving along and working hard to fulfill both her and her father's dream.  This movie sends a good message to young children saying that with hard work, anything is possible.  Disney did a great job with this one.  They made sure that there wasn't anything that could have sent any negative messages to children watching it.
         

Mise-en-scene in Caligari and Edward Scissorhands

          The mise-en-scene of the 1919 film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and the 1990 film, Edward Scissorhands, are very similar.  Each of the movies both have a dark and eerie feel to them.  This is expressed through similar setting, characters, costumes, makeup, lighting, and camera movements.  These are the elements that make up the mise-en-scene of any movie.  They are especially used a lot during these two specific ones.  Without these mise-en-scene elements, the audience might not understand what is going on as well.

      To start out with, the setting itself is a major part in both movies, The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari and Edward Scissorhands.  When looking at the town in The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari from afar, it looks like a piece of artwork with a bunch of angular buildings.  Nothing seems to look normal.   In Edward Scissorhands, Edward lives in an old mansion.  When looking at this mansion from afar, it looks like the town in Caligari.  Both, of which don't look like ideal places to live.  They are dark and scary.  The setting in both movies does not always look this.  When given a closer view of the town, in Caligari, it looks pleasant and even friendly in some ways.  Also, in Scissorhands,  past Edward's mansion is a suburban style area.  These suburbs are very bland.  All of the houses are somewhat the same with the same boring pastel colors as everyone else.  This shows a great contrast between Edwards home and the town below it.

        Each of these movies also have their own unique properties to them too.  In Caligari, the creators of the film changed the tint of the film throughout it.  This is used to represent day and night.  Since movies back then weren't in color yet, they had to work with what they had to make the movie seem as realistic as possible to the audiences.  In Edward Scissorhands, the movie jumps back in time to show Edward's life before he had met the family and everyone else in the town.  This was a great choice made by the makers of this film.  It shows us his story without him having to tell it himself.  These were just two examples of the uniqueness of those two films, but there is plenty more about them than meets the eye. Neither one is just an ordinary film.  They both have very distinct and different mise-en-scene from a lot of other movies out there.