translated from Spanish: How Disney movies influence our understanding of the world… for better and worse

If any of these phrases now resonate in your mind, then you’re likely to be a Disney kid, raised with a regular diet of happy stories to keep you busy while your parents took an hour to get to face of their occupations.
The generation that now fills the labor market was fed like no other with a feast of animated films during their growing years.
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“The Little Mermaid” first appeared 30 years ago and less than six months later was released in video format. That was a significant change for Disney, which i usually waited several years before allowing the films to be available on VHS.
From The Little Mermaid to Zootopia, Disney’s characterization of the world of work has changedThe following productions, made in the 1990s, – including “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”, “The Lion King”, “Pocahontas” and the first two films of “Toy Story”- they were also available on video about a year after they reached the cinema.
And then came the DVDs. Disney’s first animated DVD was an edition of The Little Mermaid in 1999. DVDs did not need to be rolled back and were less likely to be damaged after being viewed again and again. They were the perfect electronic nanny.
But did you have that cocktail of morality, stereotypes and Disney magic sparks some lasting impact on this generation of adults who, a while ago, devoured these films as children?
And could it influence how your colleagues behave at work or even your professional future?
“Disney is quite ubiquitous in our modern culture. Home videos exposed the children time and time again to the ideas of the Disney films. If they were watching them from a very young age this could have an impact,” says Martyn Griffin, an expert in cultural perceptions at Durham University in the UK.
At first glance, these cartoons are innocuous entertainment, but some researchers have expressed concern about the subliminal teachings that Disney films may contain.
Perhaps the most common criticism has to do with how genders and racial and cultural stereotypes were portrayed in the past.
A study found that in two-year-old girls exposure to Disney princesses is associated with female behavior much closer to stereotypesWhen it was first released in 1993, the opening song of “Aladdin”, for example, contained in English a phrase that said “they’re going to cut off your ear if they don’t like your face.” Disney then changed the lyrics.
Lasting stereotypes
Some researchers divide in several stages the way the corporation portrays women.
First came the domestic age, when female characters like “Snow White”, “Sleeping Beauty” or “Cinderella” were seen as housewives who were often doing cleaning work and who needed to be rescued by a man.
Then came the rebel phase of Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”, of Princess Jasmine in “Aladdin”, “Pocahontas” and “Mulan”. During this time, Disney women seemed to have gained greater independence and struggled to get rid of social bonds. But Ariel sacrifices her voice so she can be with the man she loves.
The Little Mermaid and the five films that followed showed a worrying trend: female characters start talking less “Here the symbolism is powerful,” Mia Adessa Towbin and her colleagues in the studio department wrote in an investigation Colorado State University (USA). “To win the love of her prince, she must renounce her thoughts and intellect, her independence and identity.”
Although the story was originally written by Hans Christian Andersen, the researchers claim it offers a good metaphor for what happens to many of Disney’s heroines: “nobody hears his words.”
“The Little Mermaid” and the five films that followed also showed another trend: female characters start talking less. Despite having the leading roles, women speak only 32% of the time in “The Little Mermaid”; 24% in “Pocahontas” and 23% in “Mulan”. In “Aladdin”, this figure reaches only 10% of the dialogues.
Carmen Fought and Karen Eisenhauer, linguists at North Carolina State University (USA) whose analyses found these figures, also found that the male characters in these films tend to give many more orders to female women, many more than them to them. And when it was women who used authority, they were more courteous than men.
Snow White, Bella and Cinderella are characters more attached to traditional old roles. Other studies indicate that levels of uncertainty in the dialogues of female characters also increased.
For critics, this sends a strong message to children that reinforces many of the old gender stereotypes. And there is some evidence that this could leave a lasting mark.
A study by Sarah Coyne, a researcher on family life at Brigham Young University, – inspired by her concern for her own daughter’s consumption of Disney films – found that in two-year-old girls exposure to princesses Disney is associated with female behavior much closer to stereotypes and lower body self-esteem a year later.
Demonizing the mentally ill
Disney has also been heavily criticized for the way it treats the mentally ill. 85% of the 34 films made by that company before 2004 contained references to this type of ailments that were often intended to denigrate or detach such characters, according to researchers in psychology from the University of Calgary ( Canada).
Experts warned that this could have “implications for child viewers in terms that they could potentially learn prejudiced attitudes” against people seen as mentally ill.
The same research team warned that the high prevalence of references to evil in Disney films could lead children to learn to “demonize people who have behaviors perceived as ‘bad’,” should they watch the films repeatedly.
Disney films could leave a lasting impact on viewers’ worldviewThis is something That Fred Zimmerman, an economist specializing in behavioral issues at the University of California, Los Angeles, agrees that he could contribute to biggest social problems today.
“Disney movies almost always present a battle between Good and Evil,” he says. ‘One can’t help but wonder if this form ‘disnHeyficada‘understanding the world as a battle between good and bad people is part of today’s political problems of polarization and exclusion.”
The hidden positive side
But there are also many potential positive effects on Disney movies. One study showed that watching Disney characters help each other – something that happens often – inspired children to help their own friends.
Another study by Coyne found that Disney films are rich in so-called “prosocial” behavior, such as sharing, helping others, giving them recognition or support.
She and her colleagues found that Disney films contain on average one act of “prosocial” behavior per minute, which approximates the rate recorded in the rest of the children’s programming in the United States.
Zootopia shows a different picture of the world of workGriffin believes that messages that children at an early ages learn from movies can be moved to the workplace and that there is a good chance that some of the beliefs of someone who sit near you in the office have been outlined by Disney.
He has studied how the work is portrayed in Disney films and states that this may have contributed to the resistance among younger people to integrate into traditional job sites.
The millennials they demand much more flexibility from their employers than previous generations, they are more willing to change jobs and companies; and often prefer self-employment to the limitations imposed by full-time contracts.
“In the early ones, the work was always portrayed as this bad, horrible thing,” Griffin says. “You had characters who were often separated from their parents and punished in this world of work, like “Snow White” who had to fill their bucket of water to clean the house and “Cinderella” who had to take on all the labors of the house.”
“Disney’s answer was to say ‘whistle while you’re working’ and everything will be fine because the prince will come to rescue you,” he says. “That went on like this in the movies for years.”
“If you think about that situation in a modern workplace, it’s a dangerous vision: if you’re just going to move on being exploited because you think everything is going to be okay in the end.”
Managers – think of Cinderella’s ugly step-sisters, for example – are also typically characterized as manipulative and horrible.
New versions of Disney’s old animation classics like Aladdin have been well receivedGriffin adds that that may also explain some of the insatisfaction that the millennials -who were children in the late 1990s – have with work.
Disney did not respond directly to the BBC’s repeated requests for an interview or comment on this article.
But in recent films from that company, many researchers have noticed a remarkable change.
Griffin, for example, says that races are shown in a more positive way and as something you can aspire to.
“‘Zootopia’ is a great example of work in Disney movies,” Griffin says.
“There’s a bunny who wants to be a police officer, who they mock, but she decides to test herself. Newer productions also have this idea of getting close to your friends to help you change your identity and workplace. That’s a really positive message.”
Experts do not agree on her assessment of frozen heroinesThe female characters in “Frozen”, “Brave” and “Moana” also represent a new era of independent Disney spirit. They are strong and in control of their own lives and no longer need male characters to save them.
But while “Brave” and “Moana” are seen as characters that really break the mold of Disney princesses, opinions are more divided on the heroines of “Frozen.”
“The company is trying to keep up with the times on issues of gender equality and representation,” says Ingvild Kvale S.renssen, who studies children’s relationships with Disney at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
“How does this (children in the long run) influence? We can’t know, but representation and diversity matter. And being able to dream and imagine that you’re a character just to entertain yourself, it’s not bad,” he adds.
The female characters in Frozen, Brave and Moana also represent a new era of independent spirit at DisneyPer’s best received are new versions of old Disney animation classics like “Aladdin” and the upcoming “Mulan.”
In early August, Disney announced that it was testing singer and actress Halle Bailey for the role of Ariel in the live version of “The Little Mermaid,” a decision that generated a negative response from some fans but was widely applauded.
“The change of actors in the previous Disney era has a strong impact on children of color and global diversity,” says Shearon Roberts, who studied the changing face of Disney’s social consciousness at Xavier University in Louisiana in New Orleans.
“The current Disney decade has offered girls a spectrum to dream beyond castles and to imagine the full reach of their abilities. That’s also a message for the kids. Women and girls are not only objects of their affection, but allies to rid their worlds of evil and build a better world for all,” she concludes.

Original source in Spanish