Disney Princess or Cult Leader?
My daughter has decided to idolize Sleeping Beauty. The Disney Corporation has launched far too much propaganda in the form of Halloween costumes, fruit snacks, and lame picture books--and it's eating my daughter's brain! Who has more influence: me or Walt D? I don't wear make-up, rarely style or even comb my hair. I wear jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt with comfortable shoes almost every day. Where did my daughter get the idea that she needs a ball gown and flowing hair?
I started my podcast project for Digital Writing intending to record my husband creating a sports talk show (his secret fantasy job). We didn't have enough time to pull together research for that one, so I decided to record my family talking on Sunday afternoon and see what I could make of it. Of course, Sophie wanted to talk about the Disney Princesses while coloring a picture of them.
I'm going to discuss my process and teaching applications in another post. For this one, just enjoy Sophia's little outlook on life as a new follower of the very old Cult of Domesticity (and pray with me that it doesn't last).
Credits
The following audio files (in order of their use) were included in this podcast for educational purposes:
"Someday My Prince Will Come." (sample) Carlos Franzetti Trio. Retrieved from <<http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/1607215>> 11 Nov 2007.
"Someday My Prince Will Come." (midi) Retrieved from <<http://www.freewebtown.com/bce30082/CW_Post.mp3>> 11 Nov 2007.
Jordan, Barbara. "1976 Keynote Address to the Democratic National Convention." (excerpt) Retrieved from <<http://www.americanrhetoric.com/mp3clips/politicalspeeches/barbarajordan1976dnc1997.mp3>> 11 Nov 2007.
Clinton, Hillary. "Commencement Address at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University." Retrieved from <<http://www.freewebtown.com/bce30082/CW_Post.mp3>> 11 Nov 2007.
Hill, Anita. "Opening Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Clarence Thomas." (excerpt) Retrieved from <<http://www.americanrhetoric.com/mp3clips/speeches/anitahill.mp3>> 11 Nov 2007.
Anthony, Susan B. "Speech on Women's Right to Vote." (excerpt) Retrieved from <<http://www.learnoutloud.com/
Free-Audio-Video/Social-Sciences/Gender-Studies/Speech-on-Womens-Right-to-Vote/22919#>> 11 Nov 2007.
Canterbury, Sue. "Georgia O'Keeffe: Circling Around Abstraction." (excerpt) Retrieved from <<http://www.artsmia.org/circling-around-abstraction/>> 11 Nov 2007.
Dickinson, Emily. "Hope Is a Thing with Feathers." (excerpt) Becky Miller, rdr. Retrieved from <<http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22444>> 11 Nov 2007.
"Someday My Prince Will Come." (sample) Stay Awake: Various Interpretations Of Music From Vintage Disney Films Sinead O'Connor. Retrieved from <<http://www.artsmia.org/circling-around-abstraction/>> 11 Nov 2007.
Transcript (created in Celtx)
Disney Princess or Cult Leader?
SOUND: "someday my prince will come" (jazz version)
VOICE: (Mom) Sophie, when you grow up do you want to be a princess?
VOICE: VOICE: (SOPHIE) I WANT TO BE SLEEPING BEAUTY.
VOICE: (mom) Why do you want to be sleeping beauty?
VOICE: (sophie) cause she's my favorite!
VOICE: (mom)When I was little, I wanted to be encyclopedia brown or maybe jane pauley.
VOICE: (mom) Why is she your favorite?
VOICE: (sophie)She has all the things I want to be.
SOUND: change to midi version of "someday my prince will come"
VOICE: (MOM) WHY IS SHE YOUR FAVORITE?
VOICE: (sophie) she has all the things I want to be.
VOICE: (mom) like what?
VOICE: (sophie)like her dress, her necklace, her hair, her crown...
MUSIC: transition
VOICE: (MOM) I grew up in the 1970's i guess i just had different role models.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (barbara jordan) What is different, what is special? I, barbara jordan, am a keynote speaker.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (MOM) what does cinderella do after she has babies?
VOICE: (SOPHIE) have babies.
VOICE: (MOM we haven't done that ending in a while, have we? Remeber how I used to say she goes to college and gets a job?
VOICE: (SOPHIE) uh-huh.
VOICE: (MOM) do you like that when I say that?
VOICE: Voice: (sophie) no. she doesn't go to college when she gets old.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE:(hillary clinton) my mother had never gone to college and she very much wanted me to do that.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (mom)do you think sleeping beauty is smart, sophie?
VOICE: (sophie) she says...she's not smart. because she thought the owl was her handsome prince but it's not.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (anita hill) what happened next, and telling
the world about it are the two most difficult things, uh, experiences
of my life.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (MOM) do you think sleeping beauty has a job?
VOICE: (sophie) she has a job to work.
VOICE: (MOM)work where? doing what?
VOICE: (sophie) work at her house.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (actor/ susan b. anthony) not we the white male citizens or we the male citizens, but we the whole people...
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (MOM) would you like to be an astronaut?
VOICE: (sophie) no.
VOICE: (mom) would you like to be a teacher like mommy?
VOICE: (sophie) uh-uh.
VOICE: (MOM) would you like to be a singer?
VOICE: (sophie) uh-uh. uh-uh.
VOICE: (MOM) would you like to be a princess?
VOICE: (sophie) uh-huh.
VOICE: (MOM) would you like to be someone's mommy?
VOICE: (sophie)I wanna be sleeping beauty!
VOICE: (mom) do you want to marry a handsome prince?
VOICE: (sophie)yeah, sleeping beauty's handsome prince!
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (curator) o'keeffe was always an abstractionist. the difference though from any of her contemporaries though is she always kept her subject matter grounded.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (MOM) what else do you want to be besides sleeping beauty?
VOICE: (sophie) that's all I wanna be.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (reader/Emily dickinson) hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.
MUSIC: TRANSITION
VOICE: (mom) maybe it's not about role models. maybe
it's not about a generational divide. maybe it's about how i wasn't
stalked when I was a child by media giants leveraging their licensed
characters across everything i see, hear, and touch.
MUSIC: "Someday My prince will come" sinead o'connor
Comments
At least three of my subjects for my dissertation study actually had been Disney employees. One was a hair stylist and make up artist for films and radio Disney. One had produced several Disney movies, and one had been a Disney Radio exec and work as a manager on designing the look and feel of the Animal Kingdom and other properties in Florida and Anaheim. They all cited Disney as an edutainment pioneer and also cited the Disney influence as extremely powerful on kids. One participant actually said that once you get up the Mickey Mouse kingdom, you are a fan for life. Don't worry Hanna Montana will take over soon! I have a teenager who wants to be the next Special Victims Detective. Oh joy! Hang in there!
Chris