JediKermit's Full Review: Henry A. Giroux - The Mouse That Roared: Disney an...
I’ve made the claim, and been accused, of being Anti-Disney. I have problems with the way the entire philosophy of the company is bent on making a buck at the cost of the artistry and integrity of their own characters; and I have issues with their never-ending quest to dominate the media of the U.S. (and eventually the world). These things are just the tip of the iceberg according to Henry A. Giroux, whose excellent book I just finished: “The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence.” Giroux has similar issues with Disney to the ones I have, and backs his up with evidence. He goes a lot farther than I do to, but again, is able to back up his claims with evidence.
“The Mouse That Roared” attacks Disney (more specifically the Walt Disney Company under the reign of Michael Eisner) on five different fronts in five chapters. These are:
1. Disney and the Politics of Public Culture
2. Learning with Disney
3. Children’s Culture and Disney’s Animated Films
4. Memory, Nation, and Family in Disney Films
5. Turning America into a Toy Store
The basic premise of the book is that as a company that provides such a substantial portion of the entertainment American (and other) children consume each year, Disney should be held accountable for that output. Michael Eisner “acknowledges that corporate power uses entertainment as an educational force to shape society in its own interests…(but) refuses to acknowledge responsibility for the role that Disney plays in harnessing children’s identities and desires to an ever-expanding sphere of consumption; for editing public memory to reconstruct an American past in its own image; or for setting limits on democratic public life by virtue of its controlling influence on the media and its increasing presence in the schools.” In summary, according to Eisner, Disney HAS the power, but shouldn’t need to CONTROL it.
According to 1995 numbers:
200 million people a year watch a Disney film
395 million watch a Disney-produced television show each week
212 million listen to or dance to Disney-produced music each week
50 million people a year visit Disney Theme Parks
42 million people a year make a purchase at a Disney Store
A company with this much power is bound to seek more. As Disney makes acquisitions, such as the relatively recent purchase of the ABC television network, it tends to remake those acquisitions in its own image. It’s no secret that people (especially the in the news divisions) left ABC en masse after Disney took the helm of ABC; and there were several very public firings of key personnel who were unwilling to bend their integrity to fit the whims of the Mouse.
Much of the book is dedicated to the pedagogy of Disney—that is, what Disney is teaching your children. Giroux quotes what Theodor Adorno said after Auschwitz, warning against pedagogies that “destroy the particular and the individual together with their power of resistance. With the loss of their identity and power of resistance, people also forfeit those qualities by virtue of which they are able to pit themselves against what at some moment would lure them again to commit atrocity.” Giroux claims that Disney disregards the principles of autonomy, critical self-reflection, and self-determination. The past is purged of subversive elements, and the “Magic Kingdom” is largely a kingdom of WASPs.
One of the most intriguing chapters is about the Disney-owned, Disney-operated town of Celebration, Florida…where you can live in a town run by Disney, owned by Disney, and have your children schooled by Disney. Celebration is exclusive out of “security concerns,” where there will never be street violence, drug trafficking, racial or ethnic tensions, homelessness, or joblessness. So you’ll never have to see someone of a different skin color, never encounter “the poor,” and you’ll have insulation from “unsavory” groups and individuals. This isn’t a unique phenomenon, to be sure, but it’s one of the first times since the “company towns” of the early twentieth century that American citizens have surrendered their rights to this degree to a corporation. When people move out of Celebration, they’re forced to sign legal documents stating they’ll never disclose why they left. What SHOULD be the happiest town on earth is sounding more and more like an “X-Files” episode. The Celebration School has taken more than $18 million from the Osceola County School District, whose other schools “suffer from leaking roofs, faulty wiring, and cramped quarters…” So the school with mostly white upper class children gets most of the funding, and the schools in the same school district with mostly African American and Latino children get the shaft. Again, not something unique in U.S. schools by any means, but it’s one that Disney could have avoided in Celebration.
Much of “The Mouse That Roared” is taken up in education issues, which I found intriguing because I’m working on my teaching certificate. There are other issues that would probably be more interesting to the layperson, and these are the last three chapters of the book. These chapters are about what Disney is really teaching YOUR children—the messages sent by the movie’s they’re watching, the toys they’re buying, and the Happy Meals they’re begging you for. Basically, their childhood is being constructed so they’ll be a consumer. A consumer of Disney products. My son is only eight months old, so I’m not getting all of the hassles for goods yet that you probably are; but I know my day is coming.
The messages of the films aren’t meant just to turn your pups into Disneyholics, but, according to Giroux, have a darker side. In analyzing the animated features from 1987’s “The Little Mermaid” through 1997’s “Hercules,” Giroux finds a legacy of misogyny, sexism, racism, commercialism, and simple stupidity. Some of the worst offenders are the ones that I know most people seem to like the most—“The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” and “The Lion King.” I enjoyed his critique of these films, but think he went too far in some areas. Then again, when films are filled with absent mothers, weak and stupid fathers, and hostile racial stereotypes, what can you say in their defense?
If you’re interested in Disney, or more specifically what Disney is possibly teaching your children, I recommend this book, especially the last few chapters. A fascinating study with pages and pages of references to other works, this book is a gold mine for those who care about what their pups are learning.
Even Giroux admits that he enjoys much of what Disney has done. But he thinks it’s time we reclaim our children. And I agree. A final quote for this too-long, quote-heavy review:
“Corporations such as Disney do not give a high priority to social values, except to manipulate and exploit them. With every product Disney produces, whether for adults or children, there is the accompanying commercial blitzkrieg aimed at excessive consumerism, selfishness, and individualism. This commercial onslaught undermines and displaces the values necessary to define ourselves as active and critical citizens rather than as consumers.”
It’s a good, engaging book, but it’s not perfect. The claims that Giroux makes against Disney could also powerfully be directed against AOL Time-Warner, Microsoft, or any other megacorporation vying for a stranglehold monopoly on us and on our money. The really insidious part, Giroux claims, is that Disney is going for your children. The ones who are the most innocent are the ones buying into the most—and they’re the ones least likely to read this book. Find it if you can—it’s an excellent book, and it made me think a little more about Disney and whether or not I want to be a part of its Magic Kingdom.
The textbook, Mouse That Roared : Disney and the End of Innocence, by Henry A. Giroux, available in Print On Demand. Published by: Rowman & Littlefi...More at Textbooks.com
How are children--and their parents--affected by the world s most influential corporation? Henry A. Giroux explores the surprisingly diverse ways in w...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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