Beauty and the Beast

The film that I chose to critique is Beauty and the Beast and it was released in the year 1991. As I began to watch this movie I noticed immediately that the story line began with a young white male being punished because he was rich, spoiled and selfish. Because of his unpleasant behaviors he was turned into a beast.  I immediately thought about the boys who watch this movie and the message they receive from this movie, especially the ones who are more affluent.  As I continue to watch the movie I also noticed that Belle enjoyed reading and lived vicariously through her reading, however in her small hometown everyone thought she was odd and silly and peculiar because she prefer to read a book.  I was shocked because we do want to encourage young girls to read and learn and it was giving the message that if you read a book you will be made fun of.  Then a handsome, tall, strong man appears, his name is Gastan, and he tells Belle “not right for a woman to read, get ideas, it’s time for you to think about other things like me.” This is a typical stereotype that a woman should be at home caring for everyday household chores and putting the books to the side.  I also noticed that everyone was brown eye and brown hair except for the prince who had blue eyes and blonde hair. My thoughts were about this was that if you have blue eyes you should live in a castle and have money, but you are at risk for being turned into a beast and if you have brown eyes your just ordinary. The last thing I noticed was that Gastan had made up his mind that he was going to marry Belle.  He arrives at her home and he tells her that he wants to marry her because her job is to massage his feet, take care of the boys that they will have.  This is another reminder of the stereotype that women should stay home and care for the children and the household chores.

I didn’t get the opportunity to see the movie as a child, but when I did see the film as a young adult the message that I received was that if you are rich, Caucasian and spoiled if you treat others in a rude manner you can become ugly in the inside and outside, like a beast.

I have two toddlers and I had them watch this movie with me. There was a scene in the movie when Belle leaves the castle to be with her father but on the way to see her father she encounters wolfs; my children were telling me that “the doggies were scary”.  There was a scene in the movie where Gastan and the beast were fighting, my boy were scared of the scene and told me that “boys not nice, love, love mommy.”  I’m not capable of determining whether my children have learned anything from the movie as they were perhaps too young for it, but I know that they knew the difference between right and wrong.

As I began to surf the web I typed the word “racism” and I found the following statements “Most Disney animated films have portrayed stereotypical gender roles and racial bias. For example, men are generally depicted as masculine and strong whereas women are shown as sensible, weak, and dependent of a male figure. Regarding racial bias, Disney has shown a moderate progress in ethnic heroes and heroines”.

http://disneyandmovies.pbworks.com/w/page/17905683/FrontPagencluding

Then I typed the word “stereotypes” and I came across this writer who stated the following in regards to the movie that I’m critiquing in an article written by Kathy Maio, a feminist journalist from Boston stated the following:  “ The company decided to create a Beast with a ‘very serious problem’. Disney’s Beast terrifies his household and frightens Belle, his prisoner. The Beast does not attach Belle, but the threat of physical violence is present.  The movie says, if a young woman is pretty and sweet-natured, she can change an abusive man into a kind and gentle man. In other words, it is a woman’s fault if her man abuses her.  This is another dangerous message for young girls because it is not true: if Belle lived in the real world, she would almost certainly become a battered wife.”

www.newint.org/easier-english/Disney/diswomen.html#beautybeast

I was reading the notes that some have that the racism is subtle and I agree.  I find that most of the racism I‘m seeing in the movie is because I’m looking for it for this project.  If I wasn’t thinking of the fact there may or may not be racism in this movie, I would not have noticed much. 

Book Analysis-Chocolate Me!

The book I chose to read is called “Chocolate me!”, the author is Taye Diggs and the illustrator is Shane W. Evans, the year of the original publication 2011.

 A boy is teased for looking different. His skin color is dark, his hair is curlier, smile is brighter and his nose is bigger than others. The boy is African American and he wishes he looked like the other kids in the book who are Caucasian. For everyone who has felt different, who has wishes to be someone else, this book celebrates how sweet, lovely and delicious you are being you are.

 There are four children, one who is African American, three children who are Caucasian one with yellow hair and the other two children with brown hair.  I feel the African American child who is the outside the mainstream is and individual in this book.  But he feels like a caricature instead of an individual.  

 
The book talks about a young child who is dealing with identity issues, trying to fit in with the rest of the children who are of other cultures. The child wishes that he looked like them, with the straight hair and the light skin color, instead of being African American with dark skin, big nose and curly hair. It talks about how the child cries when he wishes he could be someone else other than himself.

The five year old African American has the power in him.  The nature of the power is for all children of different skin color accept themselves for whom they are. They describe the power by using food as an example, comparing it with skin color. He uses the power to be proud of whom he is which makes him not worry what they think of him. 

In the book, the mother has the wisdom because when the five year old child was crying because he wanted to have lighter hair color, smaller nose and lighter skin tone because he wanted to look like the other kids he played with in his neighborhood. The nature of the wisdom is that we are each different, but we are different in our own special way. Mom uses chocolate cupcakes as an example to describe how his skin tone and features are good in a sweet and gently way.

The three alike children’s inquisitiveness and comments, which may not have been meant to be hurtful, were.  They made the main character question and dislike himself.  Those traits however were rewarded after the mother of the main character used chocolate cupcakes to illustrate to him how he is good and special.  They benefited by receiving the cupcakes the mother made.  I did not see any traits being punished.

 They used food, a chocolate cupcake to describe him as an African American. They used a little bit of slang such as moms, fro (his hair), twisty as corn rolls/braids and how white his teeth were in that they could be used as flashlights. The artistic elements of books have a great representation of the images, for example they have the five year old child in the dark, smiling with his mouth making a beam of light. They also had him on some monkey bars with a close up of his head to display how large his hair was. They illustrated him playing in the dirt, and comparing his skin to dirt. They had a cupcake image to represent him.

 The actor Taye Diggs wrote this book, because he stated that he grew up as an African American in a very affluent, Caucasian neighborhood and when he was younger children were afraid of him and used to taunt him a lot. He stated that he was always being asked about his dark, dark skin. So, when he became a father he wanted to make sure that his son understood that being dark isn’t bad but instead a beautiful thing.  The illustrator is Shane W. Evans who is also African American. He is an award winning-illustrator for various books. He is married and has a daughter. In the book, chocolate me, he states “Now Taye and I are both parents and we want to share with our children that no matter what your obstacles in life, the sweet inside will prevail”. Both the Author and illustrator represent the same group. The group they represent is African American.

In the book the voices being heard is the five year old child and the mother.  The five year old child is narrating the book as he explains what is being said to him by the other children and what his feelings and thoughts are .  The voices of the other children are missing in this book.  

 

To me what this says about these issues is that it can be awkward to be the one who looks different and often those who are alike can be insensitive to the feelings to the person who is different. People might not intent to be cruel, but through pointing out differences and treating them differently they can be. 

 The first illustration of the book, the five year old African American child is sitting on a stoop outside his house, doing nothing just hanging out people watching.  The second illustration of the book, the five year old African American child has his mouth open with a beam of light as he smiles.  Another stereotype illustrated in the book is about how wide his nose is that it over powers his face. 

This story is about a child who gets picked on by three Caucasian children, about his looks, his skin tone and it makes him question who he is. He then begins to wish that he looked like those around him.  He goes home cries to his mother and communicates the issue to his mother. His mom then uses a chocolate cupcake as an example to describe his hair, his nose, and his teeth and helps him gain confidence in himself and face the children who questioned him about his looks.   He then shares cupcakes at the end, as he found to love and accept himself. 

 I would definitely recommend this book to other teachers and parents. I feel that this book is a really simple book that illustrates how a child who is different from other children feels and can be treated. I believe it’s a good way to show parents how they can use something such as food in this case, to illustrate to a child the lesson they are teaching the child.