My love/hate relationship with Disney Movies

March 17, 2016
With Andrew back at work after a nice long three weeks of paternity leave (THANK YOU FIDELITY!!!) I'm trying to figure out this whole three-kids thing. It hasn't been too bad, but it hasn't exactly been pretty either. Haha! Movies are my lifesaver and of course the number one picks are Disney movies. Pocahontas is the favorite around here, but we've also watched Bambi, 101 Dalmatians (the cartoon), Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Snow White in the last 72 hours.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Disney movies! They're so magical and imaginative and have such good messages with them, but the more I watch these movies, the more I find myself cringing inside.

I don't think of myself as a "hidden-Disney-messages-analyst," because, c'mon. They're Disney movies. Just enjoy the show, allow yourself an hour and a half of childhood magic, then get on with  your life. No, it's not the hidden messages that I get into. It's the parenting.

Just think about it. Which Disney movies can you think of that paint the parent as a bad guy? I'd say number one is The Little Mermaid. Her dad totally obliterates her most prized possessions! And then they briefly show his sorry face as he swims out of the room. Cue cringing.

"Totally," you might say. "He is really portraying poor parenting there." No, that's not why I'm cringing. I'm cringing because although I haven't ripped Chelsea's embarrassingly dirty, practically-torn-to-rags blanket to shreds, but because I can't say that I've never yelled at my children and made some poor parenting decisions myself because I was totally at a loss of how to get through to them. I can relate to the poor guy.

And what about Cinderella? I have to admit, I've been pretty step-mother-ish to Chelsea before. Raise your hand if you've ever locked your child in their room.


Now, The Beast isn't a parent, but I cannot tell you how many times I've yelled "THEN GO AHEAD AND STARVE!!!!" (in my head) at dinner-time!

As for Elsa's mom and dad? Maybe locking their kid up in the castle and denying her of all social contact wasn't the best idea, but how many of us can say we've done exactly the right thing in every situation in regards to our kids?

If you really think about it, with all of Disney's magic and whimsy, they're actually pretty realistic when it comes to the characters.

So here I am, sitting through yet another Disney movie with my little kiddos, sinking further and further into my sofa as I relate to the characters and admit to making their mistakes before, until I remember.

THIS IS A DISNEY MOVIE! EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC THEN MOVE ON!

And try not to yell back at Chelsea when she passionately declares that she simply will not wear that shirt! Nobody's perfect, right?

Are there any other Disney movies you have a love/hate relationship with? Leave a comment!

And don't get me started on all the lines Chelsea's picked up on from these movies!

P.S. I'm on snapchat! Come and find me - suesnews

2 comments

  1. You should watch A Goofy Movie! Haha this is totally random and silly, but when I was little I watched that movie and Max is SO MEAN to Goofy, I remember feeling so sad that he would be so mean to his dad. So I decided I would never be mean to my parents, and you can ask them, I never was! In the end, Max and Goofy have a really good relationship, so yeah, I really like that one. Didn't really answer your question, but there you have it!

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    1. Oh my gosh! It's SO TRUE! I watched that like a year ago and had the same thought! Haha! What a sweet little girl you were! Thanks for commenting!

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