What exactly is “too much” for a young audience? How do we possibly figure out what could be too sensitive to viewers of a movie or television show? I guess there isn’t any particular test to measure just how many people would find a certain piece of media offensive or triggering. As a company, business or even an individual, it is essential to keep in mind whether your content could have aspects…
With the recent releases of EncantoandTurning Red, I’m realizing that Disney (and Disney/Pixar) films seem to be moving into a “let’s explore intergenerational trauma” trend, and I am very much here for it. But I want to talk about an intriguing reaction I’ve noticed people having to both of these movies. It’s an intriguing kind of negative reaction, even from people who say they liked the movie overall.
Since the reaction is to the way these two movies end, I’m going to put the rest of this post under a Read More and a spoiler warning.
EncantoandTurning Red are both movies in which a young girl is put under a destructive amount of pressure by an elder female family member. For Mirabel Madrigal, the pressure comes from her abuela, Alma; for Meilin Lee, the pressure comes from her mother, Ming. Both Mirabel and Mei feel that they will never be good enough for their family, no matter how hard they try. And both Alma and Ming’s behavior is a response to their own trauma. Alma is still suffering from the loss of her home and her husband, and Ming not only suffered from the same expectations she puts on her daughter from her own mother, but she also has terrible memories of the day she lost control and injured her mother.
By the end of both movies, the girl and the matriarch come to an understanding. Mirabel and Mei learn why their respective family members are the way they are, and Alma and Ming apologize for the harm they’ve unintentionally caused to a child they love. Mirabel and Mei ultimately forgive Alma and Ming, and the movies portray both families as happy and loving in the end.
I keep seeing people react to these movies with an interesting kind of negativity. They don’t like that Mirabel and Mei forgive Alma and Ming. They see this as harmful – that these antagonistic matriarchs should not be portrayed as deserving of love or capable of growth and change.
There are lots of stories – lots of Disney and Disney/Pixar movies – in which villains are unforgivable and incapable of growth and change. And still, for these villains, there’s always a fandom. There’s always someone who will claim that a villain who never apologies or changes, a character whose film portrays as undeserving of love, is actually misunderstood. I won’t bother giving examples here, because I know you already have one in your head.
I see nothing wrong with being a fan of a villain (though I do think it’s a little silly when people try to pretend that their favorite villain did nothing wrong when their behavior in-story includes things like, you know, murder. If you’re gonna like a villain, own it!).
What I find interesting is that the kind of grace people give to antagonists with no redeemable qualities is not being given to these antagonists who apologized. I find it interesting that people see a character learning from their mistakes as harmful.
Is it harmful to say, “people can hurt you without meaning to?” Is it harmful to say, “sometimes people can learn from their mistakes?” Is it harmful to say, “the pain we feel can cause us to hurt the people we love, and that doesn’t make you an inherently bad person, but it does mean that you should be careful not to hurt other people and make amends when you do hurt them?”
I don’t think it’s harmful to say this. In fact, I think it’s more harmful to say the opposite.
If we only ever portray harmful behaviors as a thing that an irredeemable villain would do, we miss out on the vast majority of real-life harmful behaviors. We make it impossible to look at ourselves and our impact on other people with a critical eye. We encourage the belief that if you are a good person, then you must be incapable of causing harm, so anyone who comes to you and says, “You hurt me,” must be lying. We also encourage the belief that if you do anything wrong, ever, then you must be a terrible person, forever.
Yes, irredeemable villains exist in real life. Yes, there are abusive parents and grandparents who never learn or change and therefore do not deserve forgiveness. But there are also people who CAN learn and change. Both are true.
The stories we tell shape the way we’re able to think about and talk about the world. I find it very encouraging that we’re less and less likely these days to see an irredeemable villain in a Disney or Pixar movie. By encouraging empathy, by allowing us to relate to and live through someone fictional for a little while, the stories we tell really do shape our society, and I’m all for encouraging people to see the world as a place where people can improve, where we can acknowledge and fix the harm we’ve caused, and where love wins in the end.
Can I just quickly address the fact, that Disney already did photorealistic movie with characters who were showing emotions (i’ve collected pics from different site, so please don’t kick me).
I present you the “Dinosaur”.
If my memory serves me right it was the very first Disney’s attempt to make a CGI movie, and what? It looked fantastic.
It wasn’t the best storywise, but the effects, surroundings, voice action, animation, all of that was amazing. But I’m not here to talk about all above, I’m here to talk about emotions. These pre-historic fellas had amazing emotions.
It never even looked uncanny or creepy.
Sadness, happiness, love, fear. All included! Even the dinosaurs who NEVER talked throughout the entire movie had emotions.
Even characters who appeared for a couple of minutes. I mean, look at this adotable fella!
Still in doubt? Look at the animation.
It was fantastic, it was amazing! So now is my question.
WHY DOES THE MOVIE FROM 2000 WHICH WAS THE VERY FIRST DISNEY’S CGI EXPERIENCE LOOKS MORE EMOTIONAL THAN A 2019 CGI REMAKE OF THE LION KING???
This was one of my favorite movies I had on VHS as a kid (I’m old lol)
So I watched Moana for the first time ever and I am so glad because her body type isn’t just real, but IT’S JUST LIKE MINE AND I AM SO HAPPY… I watch Disney movies since ever and loved all the princesses and everything… but I never could look at one and say “wow, I look like her”. The closest of me was Pocahontas, but just in skin color. (I am not a native, though, but lots of brazilian people have a tanned skin in a color between white and black) Moana is short, has curly dark hair, thick legs… I know it’s her tribe’s body type, but for the first time, I watched a Disney movie and felt represented. I felt like a kid, even though I’m 20, but it doesn’t matter because I know the 7 years old me would go totally like I AM MOANA ♥
I like to imagine Jasper sneaking and swiping some expensive makeup, like lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner etc., just for Estella (Cruella) cause he knows its her favorite and she always runs out of it.
“Oh-It’s for the-um- heist- yeah, I figured it would be great for your disguise!” He would try to lie to hide just how flustered he really is (also to get Horace to stop laughing at just how awkward he is around her)
Estella, ofcourse, is thrilled, nonetheless. Him being an adorable mess is just a bonus. ❤️
PS: Jasper and Cruella are TOTALLY the classic “alt gf and emotional support bf”
Day 13: Tangled. My version of Rapunzel as a witch! Stay tunned because I will do my fave Disney girls as witches too, you can probably guess who they are
Day 12: Anastasia and Dimitri. This feels like a follow up to my previous Anya/Dimitri illustration, this was such a sweet moment in the movie ❤️ Hope you like it :D
