Dear Mr. Iger, What was once considered to be harmless entertainment by the majority of America is now being rightfully exposed as culturally insensitive. Many of Disney’s old cartoons for children (and even, startlingly, some more recent ones) make jabs at a multitude of races and ethnicities. Perhaps Disney did not intend for its films to perpetuate raciolinguistic stereotypes and standard language ideologies; for the time period in which many of the movies were created, many of these practices were not condemned as being controversial, and people were not overly concerned with being politically correct. I also understand that cartoons are, by nature, exaggerations of reality. However, it is important to recognize the significance of these movies in a modern context and understand the subliminal messaging they contain. People should be aware of the sometimes derogatory depictions of non-whites in these movies before they expose their children to them. One such depiction can be found in the crow characters in the cartoon Dumbo. The lead crow not only speaks with elements of African American Vernacular English and is named Jim Crow (after the controversial Jim Crow laws of the time period that enforced segregation), but also is voiced by a white man. This is basically an animated version of blackface. To make matters worse, the song the crows sing “When I See an Elephant Fly” is not an accurate representation of AAVE. To be fair, the recurring line beginning with “I seen” is a correct usage of auxiliary deletion, a feature of AAVE. However, the recurring line “But I be done seen ‘bout ev’rything” is an incorrect usage of habitual be. In its current state, the line implies that Jim Crow has seen everything on a regular occasion, which does not make sense. Perhaps even more troubling in Dumbo is “Song of the Roustabouts,” which is sung by black workers setting up a circus tent. With lyrics such as “We work all day, we work at night/We never learned to read or write” and “We slave until we’re almost dead/We’re happy-hearted roustabouts,” it is not a stretch to say that Disney is sugarcoating slavery. While some choose to interpret this song as the cheerful anthem of hard-working men, the fact that Disney chose to make all the workers black and put overt references to slavery in the lyrics suggests this song is less innocent than some might perceive it to be. In a similar manner, Lady and the Tramp mocks Asian culture through the twin Siamese cats Si and Am. The cats are animated with stereotypical Asian features, such as buck teeth and slanted eyes. They also speak and sing with accented English, but they are voiced by Peggy Lee, a white woman. Essentially, this is yellowface. All this combined with the cats’ shifty, conniving characters only reinforces Disney’s message to children that people viewed as racial “others” who do not speak standard English are not to be trusted. In Mulan, though several of the voice actors were of Asian descent, none of the major characters possess a Chinese American accent. They all speak Standard English with American accents. A notable exception appears with the character Chi-Fu. A meddlesome and misogynistic advisor to the Emperor, Chi-Fu possesses an Asian accent. This is yet another example of how Disney prescribes accents to unlikeable characters, thereby associating accented English with people who are morally corrupt and “bad.” Disney also uses English proficiency as a tool to make racial minorities appear inferior. This is seen in the song “What Makes the Red Man Red?” in Peter Pan. Disney blatantly labels Native Americans as the racial “other” by drawing attention to their skin color. For the most part, the Indians speak only broken and grammatically incorrect English, making them appear less civilized and intelligent than the white, standard English-speaking Darling children. They are not even given the dignity of speaking a real Native American language, instead speaking nonsense phrases such as “hana mana ganda.” To make matters worse, none of the voice actors were Native American. As a generalization, Disney does not have a great track record when it comes to including non-standard English and non-American accents in their films. Most “hero” characters speak standard English with an American accent, even when that does not match their ethnicity. Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine, for example, would not speak English natively if they were real people; however, they speak Standard American English in their respective movies. It is only characters who are categorized as villainous or uneducated who speak in accented or non-standard English and use elements from their native ethnolinguistic repertoire. Essentially, Disney is sending the message that Western or Anglicized speech is synonymous with goodness and purity, while accented English is associated with depravity, evil, and unintelligence. Standard language ideology is encouraged and put on a pedestal; non-standard English is reserved for the criminals, villains, and lowlifes who plague society. This is a subtle form of language subordination as described by Rosina Lippi-Green in her book English with an Accent. By presenting non-standard English as the speech of “bad” characters, Disney subtly reinforces the social order that Standard English is superior to non-standard varieties. It is not a stretch to say that, by extension, Disney is encouraging the homogenization of language. While the mistakes of the past are irreversible, Disney can take certain measures to build a more equal and inclusive future. A more diverse staff could be organized to create the movies, as having people of various backgrounds and experiences would add more dimension to a film. When a film focuses on a specific racial or ethnic group, members of that group should be leading the creative process of the film. They have a valid perspective to contribute, and they can give real life experiences to make the movie more authentic. For voice acting roles for characters of a certain race or ethnicity, actors of that same race or ethnicity should be hired. Finally, when making a movie that includes non-white characters, the creators should be sure not to racialize those characters. It is important to include a diversity of characters on screen as normal, everyday people, not just as romanticized, exaggerated typifications of their culture. This way, children are exposed to other cultures as more than just an archetype. Sincerely, Chloe Kuka Student, University of Southern California
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