Children's Literature: Disney

I found Monday's lecture to be a very interesting topic.  While I've always been a huge fan of Disney movies, it was interesting to analyze the components or consistent themes that the movies are comprised of.  What messages are they really sending kids?  In lecture we discussed their emphasis on happy endings, whiteness, gender roles and heterornormativity.  Specifically, almost every Disney movie centers around and focuses on a heterosexual relationship.  In doing so, however, they portray men as very masculine, buff, and often violent, while women are sexualized and submissive.  In addition to sending skewed messages about masculinity and femininity, they are anything but works of multicultural literature.  They maintain or sometimes create stereotypes, characters especially those varying in color aren't often portrayed positively, and the movies that do have some historical content aren't historically correct.  Furthermore, while the main audience is children, few Disney movies have a child as the protagonist.  Or if there is a child as the main character, they soon grow up and the majority of the plot takes place when they have matured.  So while Disney movies may be entertaining, it is important to keep in mind that they are a large influence in the lives of children and that perhaps the lessons or characteristics they depict outweigh the magic.