Disney: Pleasure vs. Critique

 I feel like I have to get this out of the way, I am a Disney Adult, there I said it. I only went to Disney World once as a child and it was not the experience I wanted it to be. So when I was graduating college in the middle of the pandemic and I saw that crazy deals Disney was having, I couldn't refuse. So that's just what I did. At the age of 21, I went to Disney world with my fiancé and we had the time of our lives. I won't go too deep into but i will say my childhood was no fairy-tail and when I was at Disney World, I felt like i was healing my inner child. Because of this feeling, I had the privilege of visiting Disney twice more in the same year. So just know that these views are coming from a person who cares very deeply for Disney.

    With that being said, I resonate deeply with this idea of pleasure and critique. Yes I love Disney but that does not mean I am blind to its faults. There is a lot i don't enjoy about Disney. I'm not a fan of its tokenism and how it hasn't been that long since only white characters were featured in their films. I see the problems with how they generate money and don't think twice about the people they are making a profit off of. And I often bring up the fact that Walt Disney himself is probably rolling in his grave to see what Disney became because he himself was a very problematic person. I see all of these things but I also see the good. I see the meaningful lesson these films are trying to teach. Christensen speaks about the "secret education". This can be both good and bad.

At my school we sue the term "both/and". Within Disney there is a whole lot of secret education. Children are learning these racist and prejudice ideas about people of color, and people that are different than us. I think about how most villains are fat and not beautiful, or have big noses (many even resemble drag queens). There is secret education about the role of a women and how she should only care about finding a good man. AND there is secret education about loving yourself for who you are. and standing up for what is right, and embracing difference between people. Both of these things are true. Here is a list of all of the lessons Disney movies can teach not only children but adults as well.

I think there is power in those who take pleasure from Disney always being the ones to critique it. If you don't like Disney, you're probably not seeing the good that is there. To see the good and to continue addressing the bad is very important.