Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us by Linda Christensen

ARGUMENT


Christensen argues that Disney movies and cartoons shape our lives and has manipulated people to believe in stereotypes. She uses many different examples of what she taught in her classrooms. One quote that she used by another author was "The secondhand information we receive has often been distorted, shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete..." The author is saying that in our lives, we are never introduced to many other people that are not part of our family and that we learn about others from movies at a young age, and that the movies teach us a bad lesson.


Christensen is a teacher and constructed her class around watching and investigating old cartoons and Disney movies. At the end of this class, many students said they were never to watch these movies again, or ever let their children watch them. It makes one wonder how much these students found when they investigated these movies.

She says how there are many patterns as you watch the movies. There is racism and other stereotypes concerning the people that are the servants, the buffoon, the lead role, the race, ethnicity, and how people are perceived.

She also argues that "There should be more women of color who play the leads in these white-on-white wedding cake tales." There are very few Disney movies that have none white characters, and there's only one movie that is new with an African American Princess.

I found two links that help support Christensen's case against cartoons and Disney movies.

This first link is of old Disney quotes, pictures, and videos that seem either racist or stereotypical. I was surprised at the length of the list that was given.

http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_9-most-racist-disney-characters.html

This second website gives detailed information of stereotypes in cartoons and advertisments.

http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/01443/gs_media.html

In class, I think it would be a good idea to come up with several different examples of stereotypes in the areas discussed in this article. I think it will help some people realise the fact that Christensen raises. We were all manipulated at a young age to believe in such stereotypes that we still don't even know it.