We love Disney movies but they do have their problems when we look back at the messages they taught us in hindsight. Considering many children as well as adults enjoy Disney movies, these messages can reach us when we’re especially young and susceptible, teaching us to normalize red flags. Here are five of the most problematic Disney movies of all time that aged terribly.
Ariel the Mermaid is only 16 years old when she marries the Prince of her dreams and exchanges her voice just for a chance to be human. Ursula who takes her voice tells her silence is what ultimately keeps a man, saying, “They dote and swoon and fawn on a lady who’s withdrawn. It’s she who holds her tongue who gets her man.” Not exactly the healthiest message for young women or girls growing up.
At its surface, Beauty and the Beast is all about finding love beyond just appearances, but the plot is a bit problematic when we think about it. Belle is forced to be held hostage by the Beast in exchange for her father’s safety. This kind of traumatic situation seems like quite the stressful one and not at all conducive to a healthy organic love that transpires in regular circumstances.
Pocahontas has been widely criticized by Native Americans for its inaccuracies and erasure of real life events and for good reason. Disney definitely took liberties with revising the real life history and trauma of Pocahontas who was actually just a child when she was kidnapped, assaulted and married off to a much older man, and the Disney movie romanticized her life, turning her into a woman and inventing a romance that likely never existed as the real life Pocahontas was only 11 years old when she met John Smith.
Peter kidnaps children and stalks Wendy, watching her sleep every night. Creepy, much? Wendy also occupies a more stereotypically submissive role in Neverland despite her leadership qualities, often serving as the mother figure to the other characters. Wendy and Tinkerbell and other female characters notably dislike each other and compete for Peter’s attention. Peter Pan has also been scrutinized for its racially biased depiction of Native Americans.
We fawned over the love’s first kiss that awakened Snow White from her sleep from the Queen’s poisoned apple and certainly are grateful the Prince saved her, but some viewers maintain that the kiss was not consensual. In addition, messages of women being “the fairest of them all” certainly carries with it racially charged implications that don’t bode well in a world of beautiful diversity.
