More Trouble with the Disney Princess Enterprise

The group of ten (now eleven) Disney Princesses are some of the most influential characters in the lives of American girls. Many young girls dream of being a princess so it is no surprise that they learn from these "role models". Disney has been criticized for many things including the race of a princess, as I wrote about in my blogpost Disney Princesses and Diversity, and is now being scrutinized for the gender stereotypes that they are enforcing. This is not a new criticism because the messages of some of the films have always had some backlash. In almost every film, beauty and finding true love are the emphasis but Disney expects the audience to reach beneath the surface and grasp the genuine morals that surround these themes. But, there is no way to escape the reality that beauty is praised in our society.

This summer Pixar, in conjunction with Disney, released Brave that told the story of a yet another princess. Instead, this film was about a Scottish princess named Merida who wanted to go against the princess "norms". Overall, the movie was a success. A few weeks ago, Disney announced that they wanted to include Merida as an official Disney Princesses. I read an article that detailed the makeover she had in order to make her an "official" addition to the Disney group. In the redesign, Disney "tamed her unruly hair, expanded her breasts, shrank her waist, enlarged her eyes, plastered on makeup, pulled her (now glittering) dress off her shoulders, and morphed her defiant posture into a come-hither pose". I also find it interesting that in the Disney redesign, she is not carrying a bow and arrow that could be interpreted as her personal symbol of power.

All of the princess, in some shape or form, have been made over for the Disney Princess website. In this case, critics worry that the redesign is going against the message of the movie and does not accurately represent the attitude that the main character would posses. In an initial review of the film in the Chicago Tribune, a movie critic wrote that, "[Brave] is at heart a story of a daughter and a mother learning to cut through society's expectations".This important message of "cutting through society's expectations" is applauded in one sense but held back by Disney when they plan to remake Merida to fit the norms of a young woman in society. Young girls are turning to the princesses as role models and can be influenced by the way that they look. I think that Disney should not try to alter the appearance of this princess. In fact, they have put out a statement saying that this image will only be used for the princess's "coronation" into the group of current princesses. It is hard to believe this is true considering that their website contains the redesigned images as official ones of the other ten princesses.
Why do you believe that Disney is redesigning this princess to look a certain way? Why can't the morals of a story speak for themselves?

Too Fat to Ride in NY?

In a blog post that I wrote in October called Junk Food in NY Hospitals?, I discussed Mayor Bloomberg of New York City and his goal to ban unhealthy foods in hospitals. As Mayor, he has focused a lot on improving health of citizens including banning soda. One of his newer initiatives is instituting a bike-share program throughout the city that would allow anyone to rent a bike. This seems like a great idea to not only keep people in shape but also does not harm the environment. Overall, I have no problems with this program except for the weight restriction.

I read an article that described the criticism that Bloomberg is receiving for the restrictions on the program. He says that anyone over 260 lb is not allowed to rent a bike. It is strange that he would implement this kind of rule if his main goal is to make the population healthier. To me, it is great that someone who is overweight wants to get healthier by riding a bike. This program is not embracing these types of people and would only be catering to those  that are already more in shape. The restriction would be understandable if it were for safety reasons but according to the article, "several bike-shop owners agreed that the weight limit was bogus". But, safety is the upmost priority within a program that is as widespread as this one so I can understand where the Mayor is coming from. I still think that anyone who want to ride a bike should be allowed to do so and that the program should adapt to people of different sizes.

 Some Americans are known to have obesity problems and politicians are striving to make changes in our society to lessen the reach of the epidemic. As I have mentioned before, Mayor Bloomberg is a prime example of a politician who is doing just this. He is so motivated and willing to make changes but needs to rethink aspects of this program in particular. How can he expect Americans to change if their own motivations are not considered?