Oh, Disney...

A few days ago I met with my friends in a cozy bar in Poznań and among many of the topics that have emerged in the conversation, came the most popular: men and the problems they ''cause'' in our lives. We began to share experiences about our first loves that never came to see the light of day, our disappointments and everything related to the failure of first love. Sharing my experience made me think about the reason for all these disappointments and about those expectations that never came to pass.

          

Have you ever been totally convinced that something was going to happen and when it finally did not happen, you started to feel angry about wasting time and energy in believing that it was going to happen? I spent many years convinced that a boy with whom I had no relation, someday, for some reason, was going to end up being with me. I was totally convinced of  that so I didn’t even do anything to hasten this process, I was just waiting the destiny to do its job at the most appropriate time. Isn't that how it is in the lives of our favorite Disney princesses? 

Let's see, the princess likes the prince, they do not know each other but one day they stumble on a staircase and fall in love with each other. And that’s it. How could it not happen to me as well as to the biggest idols of my childhood? How big was my disappointment when I finally reconsider and accept that I am not a princess, we don't live in a perfect world, where your wishes are fulfilled by magic and that my prince will not stumble on me on any ladder, or if he does, he will apologize and disappear immediately. The day I understood the huge difference between me and the Disney characters was one of the hardest days of my childhood. All the movies ended up in a box, which finally ended up saved under the bed. I could not stop thinking about how cheated I felt by my own films, disappointed by each of the princesses, who went through life singing about her state of mind and selling me a false reality... Reflecting now on my big frustration of that moment, I wonder if Disney, in fact, is the best option for children. Are these princesses really who we want them to "teach" about the first image of what life and love look like? According to the author of the blog 'Feministadas' the story of most Disney movies is very similar. Quoting the author "at the end, in one way or another, they conquer their handsome prince without much effort, due to her pretty face." I must admit that I also came to this conclusion a few years ago, however, today Disney films still occupy a large part of my DVD collection. Despite the disappointment that I took in the years of my childhood, I can't deny that all these movies, also have a certain variety of messages that transmit us the most important values. I agree with María Jardón, who in her article “10 good things we learned from Disney” presents the other side of the movies and their princesses, in most cases, which is not related to the theme of the love. According to the author, Disney, among many other things, teaches us to be sincere and always talk about our feelings and problems, to respect other cultures, to live in harmony with nature and animals, to forgive, and finally to fight for our dreams.

To sum up, we can see that the works of Disney, like many others have its good side and its negative side. However, they are still a big part of children's childhood and nowadays new films are still being made. In most of the recent productions, it is not hard to see, that the image of the princess is a little bit different from that of the 90s, which I think is very accurate. If I had to put a Disney movie to my son/daughter, I would do it with pleasure, but this time I would try to make a subtle comment, by which, the child could understand that what happens in the magical world of Disney, actually, it will not always happen in real life.

And you? Would you allow your son/daughter to foolishly immerse themselves in the world of Disney or maybe you would try to prepare it in advance for the clash with reality that, let's be honest, sooner or later, will come...

To finish my reflection on Disney I attached the links to the articles mentioned above (both in Spanish)

http://feministadas.blogspot.com/2014/08/lo-que-disney-nunca-te-debio-ensenar_23.html

https://mujeresymadresmagazine.com/10-cosas-buenas-que-aprendimos-de-disney-maria/

Have a nice day,

Natalia