Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Disney movie in review

I am not sure how to label it correctly, but I am becoming a Disney pro, at least with regards to their movies, uhm, specifically the girlie ones, sadly.

Yes, there are days wherein we watch Beauty and the Beast or Little Mermaid 3 times in one day. Good thing the themes aren't suicide in those movies. But, I am at odds with The Little Mermaid. What a terrible motive it drives; disobey your parent, make a deal with the witch in order to get yourself in a better position with a guy who doesn't have a problem with statutory issues (Ariel being 16 and all...). Not only that, but then mortgaging your dad's soul only to have your new boyfriend kill your enemy, and then have daddy grant your misguided wish in the end. Hate it.

As it was pointed out to me earlier this week, Disney certainly has issues with putting mothers in their movies. Please note that Ariel, Belle, Snow White, Jasmine, Lilo (and Stitch) and Cinderella do not have moms. Others would be Nemo and Bambi who have mom's that are voiolently killed. Pinocchio is, uh, I guess it doesn't matter -- Jiminy Cricket is his mom in a way. There are a few with moms, but they play very minor roles; Mulan, Sleeping Beauty (aka, Aurora, Briar Rose), thankfully the Incredibles have a mom that is prominent. There are a some movies where having a mother is not so important; Toy Story, WALL-E, and perhaps even Simba of the Lion King. (I need to watch this one again.)

I suppose in a way it is to have us connect more quickly with a sympathetic bond to the character, but overall, I mean, these stories could have been avoided with a good mother having NOT been killed off by malicious Disney writers. I mean, maybe Ariel would have made it to her 17th birthday unwed had she been reared by a caring mother. (Although she is a head-strong redhead -- hard to say.) At the same time, I could cite King Triton as culpable as he CLEARLY engaged in polygamy looking at all the closely aged daughters he has. And no son to speak of... slow swimmers I guess. Stay out of the hot tub buddy.

Belle has class and grace, so I imagine her mother died not too long ago since in the beginning Belle sings of having recently moved to this "provincial town." Creating a back story, I reckon her father moved out of the loving house he and his wife had built, to a place that didn't remind him of her. Coincidentally, I feel Gaston has a back story of knowing about the beast and the castle he lives in which he all-of-a-sudden mentions during his song. I've already put together a pretty good story for that.

Cinderella's mom died early on, as the beginning says as much. Of course, she gets that wicked step-mother who does not have much foresight. Look, your daughters get uglier with age, so bank on Cinderella making it big and taking care of the whole family later on. She really messed up, and if I had been Cinderella in a non-gay way, those step-family members would find their respective heads on chopping blocks.

Jasmine is probably the product of a drunken sultan and a full harem. Arabian nights for sure... nuff said. But that lack of mothering led her into the arms of a common thief. Sure, in the end he pretends to be a good guy, but I bet he turned to thievery because he didn't have a caring mom either.

I don't like Snow White. Any chick that digs living with 7 dwarves is NOT my kind of woman and should seek counseling for such fetishes. And those seven dwarves are idiots, not lovable as they obviously have no clue for managing finances. They work every day in a mine replete with gems and diamonds, and yet live in a one bedroom cottage. I don't buy it. They must be using that filthy lucre for other devious methods, such as crack-cocaine addiction or monthly membership dues to NAMBLA. A mother could have steered Snow White clear of such devises.

Lilo is set up to be an obvious match for a maniacal escape alien convict on the run. And because I like Stitch, I'll let this motherless duo slide. But, again, had a mother been involved, Stitch would have been booted out for reasons any human would; it's a friggin' alien!

So I wonder if the overall message from Disney is to show us just how important mothers really are. By giving us these motherless stories, they demonstrate just how bad it can be without a mom in the life of a child. Because clearly these father-only families are just not cutting it.

My regards to Nemo and Bambi, but I am sure your respective mothers were tasty. Actually, haven eaten a Bambi mother myself, I can vouch for that. And yes, I'd do it again even if it provoked another motherless Disney movie.

10 comments:

Allanna said...

This was both well-thought out and hilarious.

Maybe you should look into writing a social-commentary kind of blog?

But I seriously laughed out loud in regards to Ariel's family make-up.
(I suppose that maybe her mother was just VERY fertile, dropping Irish twins pretty regularly ... and maybe some conventional twins?)

Rebecca said...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this! Keep up the good work! Good stuff!

Marlies said...

So I have to say that of the last three posts that I just read I was completely entertained. I know Kari from HS and Becca told me I had to read this. She was right you are hilarious.

The Hero said...

Neat -- this is the most comments I've ever had.

Uhm, I don't know what a social commentary blog is, so I've got nothing, Allanna.

Thanks everyone (i.e., all three of you).

-Me

Jocelyn said...

I don't know that I appreciate your "head-strong redhead" views, but the rest was pretty funny.

Jessica said...

Yeah, the headstrong redhead thing is annoying, but not because you said it....just because I have found it to be true, and head strong red-headed almost three year olds are a force to be reckoned with.

Brooke Williams said...

this is hilarious, nate. i highly recommend reading roald dahl's "revolting rhymes" if you haven't already [especially the one about Cinderella]. it relates quite well to your passing comment about heads on chopping blocks....

Hayley said...

That was hilarious. To the point, right one actually, and hilarious.

Amanda Davis said...

Love it! Very well thought out! I have wondered a few of those points myself but never really put so much effort into it! Good job!

Melissa Paul said...

I came here by way of Mindy's reading for sanity - very funny. Have you ever considered Mickey Mouse and all his clubhouse friends? I have a strong hunch that there's something going on between Mickey and Daisy Duck, but, well, I will leave that to The Hero to sort out. Maybe it's a mother thing?