Editorial: Disney and Diversity

Editorial: Disney and Diversity

This article is aimed for any Disney followers whether it is from the famous Mickey Mouse to the movies from Beauty and the Beast to the Snow White films. The article explains how Disney has created these questions for viewers to think about gender, race, and disability. As little girls grow up to become women they fantasize about their future and about their husbands, marriage, house, and family. It’s overwhelming for girls to think about and this article explains how Disney movies can give the wrong impression. Meaning, some Disney movies can give false hope about finding your prince charming and it being so easy as it is in most movies. The article quotes, “…they have also defined the romantic and romanticized worldviews of several generations of girls as well, establishing female gender identity and relationship roles that often create artificial and unreasonable expectations regarding love and marriage”  (Hoppenstand, 2013.)

This article provides an example of how Disney takes their icon, Mickey Mouse, very seriously and will threaten lawsuits to protect their “brand”. In some cases, children would create art work in school of Mickey Mouse and teachers would hang the children’s art work in the hallway for classmates, parents, and teaching staff to see but the school would get threats of a lawsuit by the media and theme-park giant stating that Disney is protecting its “brand” and to remove the art work (Hoppenstand, 2013.) Disney is continuing to work on their diversity in films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan are some of the great examples of diversity.

I agree with the author that some Disney movies give young girls the wrong image of marriage, husbands, and family because in real life marriage, husbands, and families struggle and in Disney movies everything appears to be happy and easy going. I can see where it would be difficult for girls to go from dreaming of being treated like a princess and having everything is perfect to a real life situation. However, I do think that it gives girls expectations of what marriage, husbands, and families can be like when and after they work out their real life struggles. I was surprised to see that Disney would threaten a lawsuit on schools because the teachers would hang up the children’s artwork, it makes sense on the business side but I feel that it is also honoring that children are so fascinated with Mickey Mouse. It is very important and life changing to see Disney create films with different races and diversity as it shows all of society that all races are beautiful and deserve to be treated equal.

I believe that this article is important as helps to open the eyes to the audience what Disney is about. I think that it is good for parents to read that Disney movies can portray this perfect life of happily ever after and parents can explain to their children that you can find your prince charming but there will also be stumbles along the way. I grew up watching Disney movies and I still watch them to this day, I love how they portray families and what marriage should be like. This article is also important as it gives examples of how Disney has included different races and diversity, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan are great examples. 

References

Hoppenstand, G. (2013). Editorial: Disney and diversity. The Journal of Popular Culture, 26(2),

241-242. Retrieved from http://journals.ohiolink.edu/ejc/pdf...ticle=241_edad

Heroes and The Cult of the Celebrity

When I watch Duck Dynasty and think of a hero Phil Robertson (the dad) comes to my mind. Phil was not only an amazing athlete when it came to football he also started the duck call company. However, Phil did not want to deal with the workload of owning a large growing, successful company as he wanted to enjoy what he does best, hunt and kill for Ms. Kay to cook meals for the family. Willie, who is one of Phil’s and Ms. Kay’s sons, completed his college degree and took over as the COE of the Duck Commander Company. Phil is a hero to some viewers because of his football talent and to others because he is so successful. One of Phil’s best qualities is when he became successful he continued to keep all of his family traditions and stayed true to who he was as in individual, husband, father, and grandfather. If you watch interviews, the show, or videos of Phil when discussing his role on the show and he says that God, Family, then duck calls are the order of importance. He makes it known that God is number one and that is how his family has become so successful and how they are happy with life and each other in the process.

The cult of the celebrity is different when watching this show as Duck Dynasty has steadily rose to the top. Each of the cast members have a different personality, goal, and stereotype which makes it great for marketing purposes as the viewers can relate to at least one if not more of the cast members. I remember a year ago when the show was known, but now a year later you walk in the store and you see Duck Dynasty shirts, coffee cups, duck calls, shot glasses, hats, etc. The show has grown rapidly and society is helping by following Duck Dynasty on every social media aspect as well as continuing to watch the show on A & E. As the cult of the celebrity is described, Duck Dynasty is a great example because the show has gone uphill on the charts since it first aired and setting trends and fads to society. You see children dressed up like the Duck Dynasty clan for Halloween and you see people quoting lines from Uncle Si and Phil; there is no doubt that this show is great success. 

Duck Dynasty: Rituals and Stereotypes

The theories that apply to Duck Dynasty’s rituals would be the prayer that Phil leads every night before their family dinner. Another ritual the Duck Dynasty clan participates in is always killing their food and how hunting is their way of living. In addition to the rituals, Duck Dynasty has proven many stereotypes to be wrong.

The show portrays the stereotype of a redneck; the Robinson family started out in life as a lower class family and after their successful business of duck calls they are now millionaires. However, even though they are wealthy now they continue to keep the traditions and activities that they used to do to this day. One of the stereotypes that I found interesting, especially with how society is today is the gender roles. In all of the episodes the men go have fun, kill the dinner, and work outside and the wife(s) stay inside to cook and clean. However, the men always obey the women and are very respectful by always saying “miss” before their first name.

The insights that I gain from applying these theories to my popular culture topic, Duck Dynasty would be my morals and values. I really love the fact that the men respect the women and it shows on each and every episode. I feel as the times have changed that men don’t respect women as much and I don’t know if it is because women are way more independent today more than they used to be or if along the generations respect got lost for women.  

Duck Dynasty: Popular Beliefs, Myths, and Icons

The theories that apply to my culture topic Duck Dynasty would be all three: Popular Beliefs, Myths and Icons. Faith comes to mind when I think of theories and the A&E show Duck Dynasty together. Every episode that is played always ends with the whole Roberston family sitting at the same table saying a prayer. Throughout each of the episodes, Phil, the dad talks about his faith and you see him in clips reading his bible. I personally think that it’s great that a show stays positive and shows their faith especially with the way society is right now. I remember watching an interview Phil had with a lady named Laura and it was regarding his book Happy, Happy, Happy he said the three most important things in his life were Faith, Family, and Ducks and in that order. He talked about Faith has got him where he is today and how it keeps his family together.  Another theory that comes to mind is guns, as guns in society now mean school, Movie Theater, mall shootings and mostly negative publicity. In Duck Dynasty, the guns show a way of living as the Robertsons’ typically kill everything they eat whether it is frogs, ducks, dove, squirrel, you name it and they kill it. They don’t view guns as dangerous and they use them in a proper manner, it’s nice to see that when society is so against guns at this moment in time. I chose Icons because the Robertsons have became Icons to the world with their show and their beliefs, they have been ranked to the top of the charts for popularity and yet they still don’t let fame get to them as they stick strong to their faith in each episode.

 The insights that I gain from applying these theories to my popular culture topic Duck Dynasty is to stay true to yourself. Phil really shows a great example of this as he is shown reading the bible in many episodes and he teaches his grand children faith and how to work for a living. There was an episode where his older grandchildren were playing on their phones inside and saying they were bored so Phil decided to make them work like the did in the old days. He had his grandchildren move hay and clean up in the yard and he told them that they didn’t have phones back then and wasn’t able to sit around and play games, he thought them the meaning of hard work to keep a house running.

3 Contemporary Icons

The three contemporary icons that came to my mind were the different types of smart phones, Starbucks coffee, and The Big Bang Theory. When pop culture comes to my mind the three icons I chose represents publicity in today’s culture. Smart phone technology has increased tremendously and I feel that as soon as you buy one smart phone the next better smart phone comes out. Starbucks has always been well known but lately I notice that their coffee shops are popping up everywhere! The last icon I chose was The Big Bang Theory as this show has become increasingly popular over the last few years.

Smart phones whether it is the newest addition of Apple’s  iPhones, Samsung Galaxy S 4, LG Optimus G Pro, LG/Google Nexus 4, or HTC One technology is increasing and the phones are competing with one another. I walk around Easton mall in Ohio and there are 6 year old's with iPhones, it is insane! I wasn't allowed to have a regular phone that didn't even flip open or have color on the screen till I was in high school and it was only because I played sports and needed to call my parents for a ride. I see children walk around with these expensive phones and they 1) know how to use the phone better than I do 2) don’t understand the importance of the phones 3) take it for granted and 4) play games on their phone rather than go outside and enjoy the weather. I am very impressed with the technology but sometimes I miss the simple phones, but I do appreciate the convenience that they provide for me especially when I’m on the road and don’t have a computer handy.

Starbucks was actually founded in 1971 but lately their name and icon have grown rapidly and has become very popular. I live in Blacklick, Ohio and there are three different Starbucks coffee shops located on the same street! I also have two different Starbucks shops at my work, Nationwide Insurance in downtown Columbus. I walk into church on Sunday morning and even though my church offers free coffee to everyone people still choose to make a trip to Starbucks before church as you see everyone with Starbucks in their hands.

The Big Bang Theory has created quite a , the show began in 2007 and has increasingly became more popular as the years have gone by. The tagline for The Big Bang Theory is “When beauty meets the brains.” Some don’t like the show because it doesn't really have to do with the “Big Bang Theory” even though the show involves two brilliant physicists, they feel that it is misleading and that annoys some viewers. I personally love the show and think it is funny, my husband on the other hand thinks that some episodes aren't worth watching. 

Duck Dynasty and Pop Culture

Popular culture is known as a contemporary lifestyle and items that are well known and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population (“Popular culture,” 2013.)  Personally, I feel that popular culture is the current trend, style, and the “what to do” or “how to do” when going through difference circumstances whether it comes to raising your children or family activities. Reality TV shows have taken over TV and one of the most popular is A&E’s Duck Dynasty, which first aired on March 21, 2012. The one-hour, third season finale (aired on April 24, 2013) tallied 9.6 million viewers (“Duck dynasty,” 2013.)

A&E is launching a social competition to make fans part of Duck Dynasty’s marketing; the viewers will submit their Duck Dynasty fan art via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using “CamoCameo. The fan that gets the most votes on their submission will earn a walk-on role in a Duck Dynasty TV commercial with the Robertsons (Edelsburg, 2013.)

References: 

Duck dynasty. (2013, July 9). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Dynasty

Edelsburg, N. (2013, May 14). A&e launches social competition to make fans part of duck dynasty’s marketing. Retrieved from http://lostremote.com/ae-launches-social-competition-to-make-fans-part-of-duck-dynastys-marketing_b37638

Popular culture. (2013.) Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/popularculture