Is Disney Racist?

As we turn our discussion from gender to race, I started to think about all the Disney movies I've watched in a new way.  Particularly, the article we read by The Guardian really made me think about racial representation in animated film.

I never thought—and still do not think—that Disney was racist.  Maybe this is because, as a child, I never considered the undertones of stereotypes that were sprinkled in my favorite films.  When I sit and read a list of these stereotypes in the movies (the dark-skinned Arabs in Aladdin, the darker evil lions in The Lion King, the Native Americans' portrayal in Peter Pan, etc.), it becomes so much more clear to me.

In the past, Disney had many more racist hints than it does now.  While not a justification, I believe this was because of the societal environment of the times in which those films were made.  When Peter Pan was created in 1953, for example, Native Americans' rights and identities were not a commonly discussed theme.  Instead, most Americans relied on the red-skinned, uneducated caricature that is portrayed in the film.  The same goes for other Disney productions, from the horrendous Song of the South (1946) to The Jungle Book (1967).  No, I do not believe Disney was outright racist—but I believe they were a lot worse than they are today.

Disney's "racism" today is more with respect to representation.  The article in The Guardian talked a lot about representation of minorities in animated film—something I'd never thought of before, and something that really hit home with me.  It's true: the main characters are always white (with the exception of The Princess and the Frog), with the minority characters playing secondary roles in progressing the protagonist's agenda.

I think part of this has to do with the actors Disney hires to portray their characters.  A lot of times Disney tries to hire bigger names to draw more attention to the film—for example, the company hired Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell for Frozen.  Unfortunately, minorities are underrepresented in Hollywood just as they are in animated film.  Most of the "big name" Hollywood stars (specifically actresses) are white, and minorities are underrepresented.  Thus, when directors are looking to hire a famous actress to attract press for their new film, they are more likely to choose the famous white actor.

Obviously, while Disney's attitude towards race is improving just as its attitude is towards gender (see my previous blog posts), it still has a long way to go.  While movies are not outright racially insensitive anymore—at least to my knowledge—representation is still an issue.  I, however, do not believe that underrepresentation is the same thing as racism, and so I refuse to believe that Disney is racist.

However, in the future, Disney needs to be careful when assigning roles to different races in its films. It needs to break out of the mold of protagonists being white and supporting characters being minorities—it has to keep in mind that it is influencing children of a future generation.  Disney doesn't create racists, but it can create subliminal messages that children process and then apply to society.  Yes, Disney is entertainment, but it is also education—socially, culturally, and intellectually.