There's something so damn cool about settling in on a Saturday afternoon for a movie and a bowl of popcorn. I could spend entire weekends this way if given a chance.
Today offered such an opportunity, in the form of "Peter Pan." It was my daughter's choice, and I trust her taste about as well as I do my own. So, with popcorn in hand (popcorn we actually cooked ourselves, mind you), we hunkered down on the coach and proceeded to watch.
I've seen "Peter Pan" numerous times over the years, but I guess I wasn't anticipating and I had put out of my mind just how disturbing it is on a couple of fronts. First, Peter isn't all that kind to Wendy. In fact, he's pretty demeaning on a couple occasions, and he makes no bones about flirting with other girls right in front of her. He definitely has a problem with women in general, and he isn't shy about treating them inferior and putting them in their place.
Second, Tinkerbell is way out of line and in need of some anger management therapy. She flat out attempts to put Wendy 6 feet under at least once and nearly gets Peter and the rest of the gang blown up. Beyond that, she doesn't so much character when forks over the goods to Captain Hook without much of a fuss. There's jealously, and then there's Tinkerbell. She makes no attempt to hide her contempt for the chick moving in on her would-be man (Peter), and she has no problem getting others to do her dirty work.
What's really disturbing and even appalling about "Peter Pan," however, is the way Disney choose to represent Native Americans. Now, anyone who has watched a Disney flick or two knows Walt didn't go to great lengths to cover up his prejudices, and Peter Pan is no different. First, there's Captain Hook referring to the Natives Americans living on Neverland as those "redskins." Then there's the Lost Boys referring to them as "injuns" over and over in the cute little song they sing. Worse of all, though, is how the Disney animators chose to draw the "redskins," obviously working in every stereotype imaginable.
I try not to get too bent out of shape about these things. It was a different time and place and ignorance was the name of the game when "Peter Pan" was released. Racism was prevalent. Old white guys were at the head of every movie studio, just like about every other organization. It's not all that surprising that Disney movies would be distasteful and outright offensive by today's standards.
I'm only glad that such things go right over the head of a four-year-old. Well, mostly. There was the moment when my daughter asked, "What is an Indian?" and I had to explain but first give a lesson in proper terms, which I'm sure just confused her. There was also that moment when she said, "Why does Tinkerbell hate Wendy so much. That's not nice." Or the scene that caused her to say, "Those mermaids are pretty much naked and really coming on to Peter, aren't they?" Well, she didn't say that last thing, but heaven knows she very well could have been thinking it given how little those mermaids really did have on and just how they were throwing themselves at Peter without so much of a blush.
At any rate, at least my kid now knows what an "Indian" is and what the proper term is that we should use. She knows that murder isn't the solution to a problem, even if you can convince someone else to do it for you. And most of all, she knows that just because a boy can fly, that doesn't give him any right to treat a girl like dirt.
Today offered such an opportunity, in the form of "Peter Pan." It was my daughter's choice, and I trust her taste about as well as I do my own. So, with popcorn in hand (popcorn we actually cooked ourselves, mind you), we hunkered down on the coach and proceeded to watch.
I've seen "Peter Pan" numerous times over the years, but I guess I wasn't anticipating and I had put out of my mind just how disturbing it is on a couple of fronts. First, Peter isn't all that kind to Wendy. In fact, he's pretty demeaning on a couple occasions, and he makes no bones about flirting with other girls right in front of her. He definitely has a problem with women in general, and he isn't shy about treating them inferior and putting them in their place.
Second, Tinkerbell is way out of line and in need of some anger management therapy. She flat out attempts to put Wendy 6 feet under at least once and nearly gets Peter and the rest of the gang blown up. Beyond that, she doesn't so much character when forks over the goods to Captain Hook without much of a fuss. There's jealously, and then there's Tinkerbell. She makes no attempt to hide her contempt for the chick moving in on her would-be man (Peter), and she has no problem getting others to do her dirty work.
What's really disturbing and even appalling about "Peter Pan," however, is the way Disney choose to represent Native Americans. Now, anyone who has watched a Disney flick or two knows Walt didn't go to great lengths to cover up his prejudices, and Peter Pan is no different. First, there's Captain Hook referring to the Natives Americans living on Neverland as those "redskins." Then there's the Lost Boys referring to them as "injuns" over and over in the cute little song they sing. Worse of all, though, is how the Disney animators chose to draw the "redskins," obviously working in every stereotype imaginable.
I try not to get too bent out of shape about these things. It was a different time and place and ignorance was the name of the game when "Peter Pan" was released. Racism was prevalent. Old white guys were at the head of every movie studio, just like about every other organization. It's not all that surprising that Disney movies would be distasteful and outright offensive by today's standards.
I'm only glad that such things go right over the head of a four-year-old. Well, mostly. There was the moment when my daughter asked, "What is an Indian?" and I had to explain but first give a lesson in proper terms, which I'm sure just confused her. There was also that moment when she said, "Why does Tinkerbell hate Wendy so much. That's not nice." Or the scene that caused her to say, "Those mermaids are pretty much naked and really coming on to Peter, aren't they?" Well, she didn't say that last thing, but heaven knows she very well could have been thinking it given how little those mermaids really did have on and just how they were throwing themselves at Peter without so much of a blush.
At any rate, at least my kid now knows what an "Indian" is and what the proper term is that we should use. She knows that murder isn't the solution to a problem, even if you can convince someone else to do it for you. And most of all, she knows that just because a boy can fly, that doesn't give him any right to treat a girl like dirt.
No comments:
Post a Comment