“Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us: Critiquing Cartoons and Society” Quotes option

This was one of the most engaging and interesting texts chosen so far! I think this is because it is very relatable. Written by Christensen, this article is about “secret education” being outpoured through cartoons, literature, and many other aspects of life. Like many of the other articles we have read, this connects to “The Silence Dialogue” as it included references to one single power represented in our culture that was better than the rest (found in books, movies, tv).Taking a seminar on the ideology of the Disney brand, this article makes a lot of sense. The class I took was basically the same as the one described in the article, except our biggest assignment was a paper, not a hands on project. This article focused on how through movies, songs, books, and advertisements, we are being fed certain truths that affect all of who we are. The sad thing is that many of us will either deny this or ignore it as we continue to live loving Disney, Nike, Barbie, and the like.

The first quote from the article which impacted me was, “True death equals a generation living by rules and attitudes they never questioned and producing more children who do the same.” I don’t know if that is actually equatable to death, but it is a dangerous thing to blindly trust and base our ideas off of products created for us by greedy people. This is proved as the company says, “We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective” (Internal Memo, Michael Eisner, CEO, The Walt Disney Co.). This comment from Michael Eisner proves the purpose of the current Disney empire.  Yet, the companies we are surrounded by have so much power over culture, it is seemingly impossible to escape them. If the purpose of a company is to make money, it may not be the smartest idea to raise our kids under all of these companies beliefs.

The second quote comes from the author who is also a teacher. Christensen says, “I don’t want students to believe that change can be bought at the mall, nor do I want them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman’s life is an “I do” that supposedly leads them to a ‘happy ever after'”. We all know that Disney princesses or media in general can paint girls as completely dependent on men. I personally think this can be twisted, but I don’t see anything wrong in the desire to marry or have children. The biggest problem I see in this part of the industry is pitting women against each other. We are convinced that we need to buy more products to look good, and even our social media can look like a competitive pool of selfies to gain affirmation that we too can fit society’s standard. This is found in Disney, but unfortunately is found in pretty much any advertisement on our screens. It’s important that we can see the lies behind these things and teach others the truths in our identities.

The last quote that I picked from the article is found in the end. It says, “Instead of leaving students full of bile, standing around with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads about how bad the world is, I provided them the opportunity to make a difference.” I really admire the way this teacher inspired students to take to action what they learned about our culture. I wish my professor did that for me when I was thinking about these things. I think it is true that if can inspire the people we know to change the way they look at what we are fed, instead of just ignorantly accepting them, then we can bring about some real changes.

Below is a video displaying the standards of beauty in our culture through mass media, an article depicting Barbie, and some pictures from Disney culture:

 

 

https://studybreaks.com/2016/02/11/plastic-pressure-barbies-impractical-beauty-standards-over-the-years/