The New Disney Princess

[huedell]

You know, Megara in Disney's Hercules was pretty much a hooker.

Whatever you choose to call her, Meg DID indeed appear to me to be a very, VERY naughty girl.

I had just seen Mad Dog And Glory around the time I saw I Hercules. and I was like "Geez, Meg is just a more deliberately conniving version of Thurman's Glory character."

[huedell]

I just don't see that big of a difference between the before and after....I could see if it was a fat or ugly girl and then they changed her..but she was already cute..will girls even really notice the difference ??

SOMEbody's noticing it... and I'm in the "I don't blame them for being affected by it" camp.

The Disney Princesses already have a bad reputation for being "questionable role models" for young girls, in that you could make a case for many Disney heroines being weak women overall (and many HAVE done that. Google it!). So, this new quirk in the system is to be that much more expected. People have their eye on Disney's moves in this context.

I find it amusing that so many in this thread have no problem with superhero geeks dissecting the bejeeezus out of superheros and how they are marketed, yet once it gets put in the "girl/Disney" context, it's like "What crybabies!"

Hey, let the women/other fans of Disney have their voice. They've earned it.

Or, as Hardy Girl might say, Disney DESERVES it

[The Toyroom]

You know, Megara in Disney's Hercules was pretty much a hooker.

I don't know if you can even go there, considering EVERYONE in Greek mythology slept with EVERYBODY and EVERYONE....including their mother!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Are kids really going to look at this and say "Hey, they changed Merida! They made her all girly!" No, they're going to say "It's Merida!" and remember the tough, "Brave" character she was.

If Disney put her in a crown, long gloves and an ornate ball gown, I could see the uproar. But this seems pretty nitpicky to me. The photo shown displays a brassy, confident character, as opposed to the very demure, somewhat aloof princesses that stroll around Disney World for the most part.

She did hate that dress, but almost every piece of merchandise had her in it...and the new design still keeps some of the "rips" in the design, where she busted out of it just by breathing.

Chris

[HardyGirl]

Thank you, Hugh! If you guys really thought this was "no big deal", there wouldn't be 4 pages of replies on this topic. I know it isn't as important to you as your superheroes are, (and just let someone change Superman's or Batman colors, or costume or concept, and you'd have something to say!), but I consider myself a fairly strong woman. When I was a kid, I had role models like The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, and so forth. What do little girls have today? Princesses. And I played princess when I was little too, but I knew there was more out there. I've taught after school care w/ grade schoolers, and I teach pre-school now, and I watch the way these girls play. They go from princesses, to Barbie to Bratz (or something like them). Disney had a winner w/ Brave. I myself saw the movie and really enjoyed it. There was no Prince saving the fair maiden. This was something really different. Well if Disney cared enough to create this strong woman, they should care enough to maintain the integrity of the character, warts and all. Not every Disney leading lady becomes a princess. If Disney is going to bestow this honor on Merida, then it should be the way she is. Even at the end of the movie, Merida's mother accepted her for who she was and was grateful her daughter had the strength to save her. Can't Disney accept her too? That's all I'm saying.

I find it amusing that so many in this thread have no problem with superhero geeks dissecting the bejeeezus out of superheros and how they are marketed, yet once it gets put in the "girl/Disney" context, it's like "What crybabies!"

Hey, let the women/other fans of Disney have their voice. They've earned it.

Or, as Hardy Girl might say, Disney DESERVES it

[toys2cool]

Hey, let the women/other fans of Disney have their voice. They've earned it.

They've earned what? no one's earned anything, it's an opinion which everyone has a right to..you don't need to earn that.

The problem i see, is that it's not the little girls with the problem..It's the parents, the kids would'nt have even noticed it..I could careless if they change any super heroes costume...look at how many times the batman sign has changed and the style of costume(and many times for the better) and you don't see people opening petitions to have it go back to the original first one...It's Disney's character and their right to change it as they see fit, if you don't like the change then just don't buy the merchandize and move on..Keep on watching the original movie and you won't have this problem because the change hadn't occurred

[jimsmegos]

Holding out for Leia.

[sprytel]

Are kids really going to look at this and say "Hey, they changed Merida! They made her all girly!" No, they're going to say "It's Merida!" and remember the tough, "Brave" character she was.

Kids may not be able to articulate it, but they definitely pick up on these things. Ever tried to give a kid a knock-off toy? Kids are often more perceptive of the little changes than their parents.

I just don't see that big of a difference between the before and after....I could see if it was a fat or ugly girl and then they changed her..but she was already cute..will girls even really notice the difference ??

That's precisely why this is troubling. In the movie she isn't fat or ugly, she simply looks like a "regular girl". What sort of message does it send to young girls when Disney says a normal, healthy girl is not thin enough and not pretty enough?

[toys2cool]

Kids may not be able to articulate it, but they definitely pick up on these things. Ever tried to give a kid a knock-off toy? Kids are often more perceptive of the little changes than their parents.



That's precisely why this is troubling. In the movie she isn't fat or ugly, she simply looks like a "regular girl". What sort of message does it send to young girls when Disney says a normal, healthy girl is not thin enough and not pretty enough?

I totally get that, if they made her super hot and sexy i could see why maybe some would be upset..but when you can hardly tell the difference..I don't get it

[VintageMike]

There's really not that much difference between the two images...it's not like one's a nun and the other is a hooker...Geez

What he said. No drastic difference and nothing to sound the alarms about.

[Werewolf]

No drastic difference and nothing to sound the alarms about.

Maybe not to you. The redesign shrunk her waist, increased her bust and lowered her neckline. I can see why those changes could be seen as troubling or a mixed message.

[PNGwynne]

On showing her the Merida revamp, my 4-year old niece wanted to know why Merida didn't have her bow.

I gave her the dvd for Christmas & she loves it, pantomines archery all the time.

In my honest opinion, this thread is dismissive and a little sexist.

I mean, in "Comics", we debate in contentiuous, minute detail every nuance of a character we love--but here this is generally perceived as "no big deal", over-reacting.

I do think Disney's commercialism downplays more assertive princesses--where's Mulan?

[RickD]

Kids wouldn't know the difference when they looked at this picture. It is only adults that make the issues of this because their bored.

If people used half the energy they put into things like this, for actual issues that mattered, the world might be a better and safer place to live.

[jwyblejr]

How come there is never this kind of uproar when they change Mickey? Or Minnie or Daisy or whoever?

[huedell]

In my honest opinion, this thread is dismissive and a little sexist.

I agree. A comment like this:

Kids wouldn't know the difference when they looked at this picture. It is only adults that make the issues of this because their bored.
If people used half the energy they put into things like this, for actual issues that mattered, the world might be a better and safer place to live.

Begs your question/statement:

I mean, in "Comics", we debate in contentiuous, minute detail every nuance of a character we love--but here this is generally perceived as "no big deal", over-reacting.

80stoyman might as well be slamming this entire board in my opinion, without literally doing that.

And then, statements like this:

How come there is never this kind of uproar when they change Mickey? Or Minnie or Daisy or whoever?

make me think that if people are this confused over the impact of this kind of issue on your typical hardcore Disney fan, then there's no explaining it to them. Why take the effort if a question like this is asked in the first place? I mean, even if you don't agree with the criticism, to not recognize the source of why this is an issue with this particular kind of character... well, I say it's a lost cause to give further explanation.

Altho', scenarios such as:

I mean, in "Comics", we debate in contentiuous, minute detail every nuance of a character we love--but here this is generally perceived as "no big deal", over-reacting.
I do think Disney's commercialism downplays more assertive princesses--where's Mulan?

that you mention are pretty self-explanatory to thie aforementioned point.

Thank you, Hugh! If you guys really thought this was "no big deal", there wouldn't be 4 pages of replies on this topic. I know it isn't as important to you as your superheroes are, (and just let someone change Superman's or Batman colors, or costume or concept, and you'd have something to say... Merida's mother accepted her for who she was and was grateful her daughter had the strength to save her. Can't Disney accept her too? That's all I'm saying.

And when HardyGirl understands that we (PNGwyne et al) understand her own POV, and then goes on to explain exactly why she feels that way, ending with the bit about Merida's Mother's acceptance of the character and it's story significance... I mean, how clear can ya get?

They've earned what? no one's earned anything, it's an opinion which everyone has a right to..you don't need to earn that.

And t2cool... I GET that... but I was just riffing on what HardyGirl had said about being a fan that's put in their cash... and, to me, that makes it that much MORE justified to have an opinion. But of course, that's just my.... um... "opinion"

The problem i see, is that it's not the little girls with the problem..It's the parents, the kids would'nt have even noticed it..I could careless if they change any super heroes costume...look at how many times the batman sign has changed and the style of costume(and many times for the better) and you don't see people opening petitions to have it go back to the original first one...It's Disney's character and their right to change it as they see fit, if you don't like the change then just don't buy the merchandize and move on..Keep on watching the original movie and you won't have this problem because the change hadn't occurred

What t2cool dismisses in the above paragraph is the fact that even if a person pretends the change didn't exist, it still doesn't affect what the criticizers see as the problem: A bad impact on society and the women within it.

It's obvious t2cool isn't getting that though because he brings up costume changes for Batman as if there's any connection between the two. Well, it should be obvious that in THIS context, there ISN'T a connection to that.