In class, Professor Hepford defined linguistic profiling as the idea that because a person speaks a certain way, it determines certain decisions regarding that persons’ characterization. The Disney study from the article looked at 38 movies, classifying each character by gender, location, archetype, accent, and vocabulary. The author concluded that Disney does convey stereotypes through the portrayal of their characters that consequently exposes children to these views from a very young age. Specifically, older women and people of color are often seen speaking with foreign accents and are given the archetype role of a villain. In addition, another stereotype that the author argues is often portrayed through Disney films is the idea that women are fragile in comparison to men who are given the dominant personalities as ‘saviors.’ In creating these images, Disney is basically showing children that people with accents are frightening while those who speak English are heroes- views which becomes very problematic when these same children grow older.
Lippi Green’s argument regarding Disney teaching children to discriminate is no surprise to me. As a child, I admit, I was initially oblivious to this. Generally speaking, what children see is what they believe and their ability to distinguish what’s wrong must come from their own understanding and beliefs. Because I attended a diverse middle school that brought up the issues of discrimination perpetuated through films, I was exposed to the idea of it from a very young age. Then, I remember also learning about the ‘Doll Test’ in high school where black children were given the choice to choose between white dolls and black dolls. Results from the study revealed that most of them preferred playing with white dolls because they were ‘prettier.’ This negative stereotyping stems from societal definitions that pretty is white and good, consequently leading black children to view people of their own skin color as ‘bad.’ Disney’s discriminatory portrayals, in addition to studies like the Doll Test, both communicate the idea that racism and discrimination is taught. Reflecting back on all of the Disney movies I watched growing up, I agree with Green’s argument that Disney is perpetuating stereotypes that invoke discriminatory views in children. This is clearly evident in the film ‘Aladdin’ where despite the setting of the film being in an Arabic mythical desert kingdom, Jafar, the villain, has a British accent. There is no reason for any character in the film to speak with a British accent, and thus one must assume it is done for an intended effect. Moving forward, if we want children to grow up without stereotypical views, it’s important that parents and educators take on the responsibility to point out what’s wrong with media portrayals of different racial groups.
