05 11 / 2018

I want to chime in on the criticism of Keira’s and her opinion  that Disney princess movies are damaging.

I grew up outside of the US, in a different culture, and I didn’t watch Disney movies until I was pretty much an adult. And …. I found them boring, silly and irrelevant. I do think they can be damaging to a young child who cannot process them critically.

Speaking specifically about Hans Andersen’s fairy tales, my favorite one is about the Ice Queen, Hans and Gerda. Gerda is the young girl who embarks on a journey through tundra and  through unknown lands to save Hans from the Ice Queen, and  when she finds him , she melts his frozen heart with love. This is a wonderful story where a girl has agency, she is brave, strong, capable and loving. She gets to ride a polar bear, how cool is that? ))) I wonder why Disney never thought of animating it?

Women who say that they grew up with Disney and  they turned out fine, in my opinion, don’t fully understand how young children learn. Children absorb what they see as sponges and what they see is  “normal” to them. You can’t really have critical conversations about  pros and cons with young children.  Sure, it is possible to overcome those messages we received as young children, but  why do it if  it is possible to avoid damaging messages?  As I said, I didn’t watch Disney as a child and I think I am better for it. So, I am with Keira on this one.

  1. bannedfromcelebitchy posted this