Concluding Post

Before this course, I really questioned how anyone could possibly think that Disney is evil.  In my mind, I’ve always associated Disney with goodness, innocence, and pure happiness.  My memories of Disney encompassed the songs, my favorite princesses, my favorite movies, and of course, Disney World.  As a child, I focused on the superficial qualities of the company, not realizing any wrongs committed by the company or faults within the films.  However, now reliving the beloved childhood Disney movies, it’s easy to see how Disney could be considered evil – racism, gender stereotyping, etc.  It is degrading in The Little Mermaid to watch Ariel sacrifice her voice and family to be with a man she just met.  It’s racist in Aladdin to depict the villains with darker skin tones.  It’s rudimentary in Cinderella to portray the idea that the sewing and the cooking should be left to the women.  All of these ideas demonstrated in Disney’s classic films are wrong.  However, I’m not saying that these messages aren’t evil – they definitely are – but I don’t think that there should be so much criticism for these films considering the target audience is comprised of young children who most likely don’t even notice or understand the negative messages. 

On the other hand, I have more problems with the evil within the company itself – the business side.  In the corporate world, Disney’s main goal is to make a profit, like any other company’s goal would be, however, when Disney makes a decision solely based on money, it disappoints me.  As a popular, child-oriented franchise, there should be more of a focus on social responsibility, which can tie into the films produced.  In this aspect, Disney should take more social responsibility and work to portray more positive messages and use its popularity to educate instead of focusing on the most marketable films, characters, and merchandise.  Also, many articles we have read discussed how Disney is devouring the world, and I believe this is true.  I see it happening.  Disney owns so many other branches of entertainment ranging from ESPN to Pixar and so many more.  Although I still love the Disney company, I don’t believe that there should be one company that has a monopoly over the entertainment world.  This immense corporate power is evil in itself.

As for my definition of evil, it has definitely changed as this course has went on.  At first, I judged characters based on appearance – the ones with the fierce eyes, dark cloaks, deep voices, and overly muscular bodies are obviously the bad guys.  In most cases, these characters are the bad guys, but what if they aren’t?  Evaluating the stereotypes of villains throughout this course has made me question whether or not we can actually base the behavior of an individual based on their looks – it seems wrong, and it probably is wrong.  Watching movies like Wreck-It-Ralph prove why we have to get to know characters before we rashly decide who is essentially good or bad.

My transformation in my understanding of evil is seen comparing essay one to essay two.  Although I maintain the same idea that individuals labeled “Heroes” or “Villains” are not trapped within these positions and can act however they choose to act or become whoever they choose to become.  Heroes can become villains and villains can become heroes, as much as ordinary characters can become heroes or villains as well.  At first I argued that evil and goodness were intrinsic qualities that everyone contains, and based on certain events (ex: loss of a loved one), one may give into the villainous characteristics they already contain.  However, in my more recent arguments, I believe that no one is born good or evil, which means that no one has the inherent qualities for heroism or villainy.  Instead, individuals are perceived to possess good or evil based on superficial qualities like appearance and then have the choice whether they commit evil acts or work towards becoming good individuals.