Word: cartoons
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That is not the sort of question often asked about Disney cartoons, but Wurfel’s cynicism reflects the indignation of a small but vocal movement against Snow White and her animated peers. Since the animated heroine’s 1937 debut, nearly every Disney cartoon has been accused of sexism or racism. The criticism peaked during the 1990s, when Aladdin and Pocahontas drew the wrath of advocacy groups enraged by the films’ racist stereotyping and revisionist history...
...with good reason: Disney’s cartoon history is riddled with often offensive representations of women and racial minorities. The portrayals are made all the more insidious by their ability to slide under the radar of the Disney’s prime audience: unwitting children...
Pocahontas, the third and final film screened last weekend, requires a somewhat more complex analysis. The 1996 film is unforgivable in its delusional approach to the historical reality of the Algonquian princess Pocahontas. The cartoon Pocahontas continues Disney’s tradition of the scantily clad female lead, and the film almost explicitly suggests that the clash between Native Americans and English colonists was due merely to cultural misunderstandings. The film ends with the settlers sailing back to England—and away from the conquest and genocide that actually took place...
This is not to say that Disney has achieved—or come close to achieving—a cartoon feature that exclusively portrays women and minorities in constructive terms. Yet they are slowly inching in the right direction—a clear indication of the power the American public wields in controlling its culture...
There were some wonderful moments. In place of between-song patter, which most bands make a hash of anyway, Hewlett had cartoon vignettes of the Gorillaz band at play. One segment showed 2-D trying to ramp over the somnolent Russel’s belly on a tiny tricycle, and getting thoroughly pounded for his pains. In an interview with the Harvard Crimson, Nakamura said of the cartoon-character front, “It’s easier to present on the web and on video, but it’s a little more work to present live?...