Princess Like Me: Questions Raised By Disney's 'Princess And The Frog'
Posted by meredith on 04-29-2009Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board comes from Megan Reid who weighs in on some of the recent debates sparked by Disney's upcoming "Princess and the Frog." Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com…or just leave a comment.
Princess Like Me: Questions Raised By Disney's 'Princess And The Frog'
I'm personally really excited about "The Princess and the Frog." Like most little girls in the nineties, I grew up with Disney classics like "Bambi" and "The Little Mermaid." Honestly, Disney is doing SO many things right with this movie: Anika Noni Rose, of "Dreamgirls" is voicing Tiana, the lead, Randy Newman is doing the music, and they even got Oprah involved! I think it's awesome that Tiana has a goal—opening her own restaurant—and isn't just sitting around waiting to be saved. Plus, tween girls of all races already are already looking up to Sasha and Malia Obama as "real-life" princess role models
Disney is not just trying to be politically correct with the release of "The Princess and the Frog." It's not just about the Obamas being in the White House, and it's certainly not because there's no racism in our country, or that people have "gotten over" our distinctly rocky past. Disney is a company, and it, too, needs to make money. It's definitely filling a unique niche in kid's entertainment.
But based on the company's past history with other "ethnic" princesses, I'm a little nervous about what cultural faux-pas it's bound to create with "The Princess and the Frog." For examples of what I mean, look at the "barbaric" image of the Middle East in "Aladdin." Or, check out their treatment of Native religions in "Pocahontas." Eek!
Speaking of which, Tiana is from New Orleans, but she's not the first American princess as some have mistakenly claimed. Pocahontas is. And, in fact, is probably the "truest" American princess there could be. It's true that Tiana is the first one to wear a long poufy dress and a tiara, but keep in mind: not that much about the other Disney Princesses, even their accents, is noticeably "un-American." The fact that Sleeping Beauty is from a fairy land isn't going to alienate young viewers any more than the fact that Tiana is from New Orleans will necessarily make her any more endearing.
A couple elements of the storyline already have made me cringe (the "voodoo" doctor villain, for one), but the thing that disturbed me most about the trailer for this movie wasn't Tiana's hairstyle, name, or skin color (all of which have been debated extensively in blog posts, message boards, and in the press. It was the firefly. As "Enchanted" so hilariously parodied, EVERY Disney Princess needs cute talking animal sidekicks. But the buck-toothed, grizzled-looking firefly the trailer introduced is a far cry from Gus and Jacques, or even Sebastian the crab. Several bloggers have come out about this, too, wondering if Disney means to evoke a "dumb slave" stereotype with the character's hick accent. I'm not sure, but I do wonder at Disney’s choice. No little girl I know would want a stuffed animal of that sitting on her bed.
While I'd like to dismiss the comments of people who say that having Tiana's Prince Naveen (who hails from a fictional foreign country) have light skin and features that are decidedly NOT African American is somehow an insult, there is another more complex issue at stake. I applaud Disney for validating interracial relationships, and I'm all for having a black princess fall in love with whomever she chooses. But when are we going to have a black Prince Charming? There are plenty of black male figures in the media, but whether they're sports stars or the president, I can't think of many black male characters in kid-aimed entertainment that are heroic romantic leads, or even serious crushes, for black OR white tweens.
Yes, Disney consulted with leaders in the African American community while making "The Princess and the Frog," and yes, I know it's "just a movie." It's great that black girls like me will be able to dress up like a princess that actually looks like them come Halloween, or can have a pretty darker-skinned doll to join Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and the rest. But I hope that that isn't at the expense of the other important issues. My question is, what will the response from the rest of America be? I'm fairly sure "The Princess and the Frog" will be a marketing success, but maybe I'll be best able to judge the impact this film has had when I see my cute blonde nine-year old neighbor come trick-or-treating as Tiana.
About Meg
Megan is a college student, freelancer and hardcore bookworm. She began writing fashion articles for her hometown newspaper at age 15, and her work has since appeared in publications like Boston magazine, Mountain Living and CosmoGirl. Meg also loves theatre and the arts, and when she's not sending postcards, devouring YA novels, or reading up on 19th-century cultural studies, she's probably dragging someone along on a late-night ice cream/Starbucks run. Meg has lived in three (soon to be four) countries and five states, though she currently resides in Arizona.
For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.
Categorized under: Urban, Youth Advisory Board
April 29th, 2009 at 11:52 am
No one can please everyone. So I am sick of over-analysts criticizing. Disney has a black princess, but it is not perfect from every aspect so it is crap. If they are too much like the white princesses, then they aren't being ethnically sensitive, but if they have certain accents or portray certain stereotypes (neg or pos) they are insulting. Some stereotypes are around for a reason. You cite Pocahontas as a poor treatment of Native religions. Disney hired several historians to be true to the culture. Just becasue they are portrayed in a negetive light does not mean it wasn't true. Just because it is another culture does not mean they are all sunshine and roses. Other cultures have done bad things. Like the Middle East. Some women are stoned publicly, even today, for showing off an ankle. I would call that barbaric. If anything, you should fault Disney for showing Princess Jasmine not being executed for showing that much skin, not for portraying a barbaric culture, because guess what – It is/was by our standards. As for the side kick, some people are "hicks". They just are. Are you saying they shouldn't be portrayed on-screen? Isn't that prejudiced against them? That hicks are to negative and ugly to be allowed screentime? Basically, what I take away from this is that all negative aspects of any culture should be hidden, no matter how true, otherwise you deem it stereotypical and wrong. And I think that exact viewpoint is wrong.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
i think this article is really good.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
[...] An excellent article by Meg Reid on the new Disney movie, which features a black princess. [...]
April 29th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Great article, and I, too, am very excited on this new Disney princess addition. (I'm also excited that there's going to be a Disney princess movie for the first time in so many years, lol.)
I loved it when Mulan came out. Princess like me! Glad Disney is branching out.
April 30th, 2009 at 3:37 am
Well-written, Meg.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:53 am
What's not being talked about is the racism on the South Asian / Middle Eastern side. I'm sure a few old school Aunties aren't going to like the fact that Naveen's marrying a "black girl." So even though we don't get our Black Prince, I'm a wee bit glad to see a Brown – Black combination on the big Disney screen.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:35 am
The firefly really bothers me, too. I don't understand why they would choose that as a talking animal sidekick. When Dumbo came out, with the crows, it was considered generally acceptable and normal to be completely racist. It should not be acceptable to promote racism like that today, and yet the firefly looks as bad or possibly worse than the crows as far as the cheerful, dumb, unclean, slave stereotype goes.
That said, I'm glad there's going to be a black princess, and I really hope the movie turns out to have more good than bad things going for it.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Thanks for all the comments.
I definitely agree with both of Mitali's statements, and think they're really good points.
LIke Julia, I think I tried to make the point in this article that although the racist "spin" in old Disney movies is flat-out appalling, it was a tragic consequence of the time. A lot of these old cartoons are very much period pieces…and frankly, looking at some of the characters Disney's produced, I'm VERY thankful for that. Stereotypical depictions of jews, blacks, women, etc aren't something we should ignore (especially when impressionable kids are watching), but that doesn't necessarily negate all the other reasons kids love Disney (Princesses included).
Today, though, I'm not sure Disney's filmmakers have excuses for insensitive, racially-charged lapses. Obviously, none of us have seen the movie, so I can't say all the things that worry me about what we know so far aren't going to be portrayed differently in the actual film. This is all conjecture, based on hearsay and the few press releases and articles that have been zipping around the net this past week. Unlike in the 40s, Disney is a global company with global impact, and if it truly wants to appeal to people the world over (whatever color they are), they CAN'T ignore the implications of some of these easy stereotypes.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:40 am
"Naveen" seems a very South Asian name, to me.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
When will there be a Mexican princess?
February 27th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
why is there so much contrivesey about all this African americans should me proud! i have never seen a mexican princess that little girls look up to! there has only been one insident in the Princess Protection Program Demi Lovato played a hispanic princess but little girls dont reallly watch those kinds of movies they dont see a real princess like how thwey do with Cinderella or Jasmine! there have been mant princesses all of them with different backrounds! Jasmin is form arabia Mulan is from asia and pocahontus is native amerivan but why no mexican rincess if it is money that they are coserned trust me they will make a lot of money i would watchit and im already a grown women!