In Defense of Disney - by Elle Woods, or Cher from Clueless

I spent the weekend on the south coast with my school friends. It was completely fabulous. Especially the ride home. We sang most of Evita and half of the Ultimate Disney Princess CD.

Disney gets a lot flak. It was a solid part of my childhood; the films, the characters, the toys and the theme parks. Yes, the girls all have outrageously huge eyes, tiny waists and a tendency to get hitched at sixteen. They don't go to university, and they usually need their lives saved at least once per movie. Preferably by a really hot guy. I know, I know, it took forever for Disney to consider drawing a non-white princess. And where are the non-heterosexual characters? You know, like in real life?

So Disney may be flawed, but I don't think it's actually evil. The reason the stories have outdated premises and stereotypes is that they are based on fairy tales. They are generated from the old, white, straight Hans Christian Anderson world of good vs evil and ugliness vs beauty. Disney has not evolved these tales very much, but they allow the characters to evolve. Even if it's only to believe in themselves, and let love into their lives. That's something real people often have a problem doing. The reason I still have songs from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Alice in Wonderland on my ipod, is that they were my very first exposure to dreams, to burgeoning womanhood, to real passion (passion for living, not just for the hot guys, although I quite liked Aladdin). I can almost hear you laughing but they really were important to me.

Ok so pretty much all the Disney women find love and their journeys are usually not complete until they have found their mate. So what are Disney films saying? That you can't be happy without love? If Disney is considered a bad influence for this alone, then I have some unfortunate news...the whole of modern life tends to give this message, it didn't start here. And even though when you grow up you learn (hopefully) that there are actually many different kinds of love, and being swept off your feet by a rich, handsome, possible former beast, is usually not the way life rolls, the idea that everything you have or don't have is made better when you experience love is not far from the truth. Loving and being loved is something you have to learn how to accomplish successfully, even if it's so nuanced and intrinsic you don't know you're leaning it as you go along.

It's fine if you'd rather avoid allowing your kids to get obsessed with all that pink plastic princess crap. When I was a kid there was no such thing as a Disney store, there were absolutely no miniature versions of Disney Princess outfits, no sparkly baby heels or fairy wings. It was just the movie plus your imagination. (And if you're really spoilt like I was, trips to Disneyworld and a pair of Minnie ears.)

At work, after J and I had compleetd an under-our-breath rendition of the song about Gaston and his incredibly thick neck, from Beauty and the Beast, J asked me which Disney film was my favourite:
'Alice in Wonderland.' I replied.
'What!? There's no princess! She doesn't fall in love!' said a horrified J.
'She goes on a JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY!' I sort of yelled.
Even though she laughed so hard her cup of tea may have come down her nose, I think that's the essence of why J loves Disney too. I think it's why so many girls love Disney - the protagonist gets to be true to herself, and often gets to be loved for it too.

By a really hot guy.