The table of binary opposites above clearly illustrates how Disney makes a definition between its good and evil characters. The name Snow White is very symbolic as it connotes an idea of innocence and purity. The film shows a very negative attitude towards the relationship between Snow White and her stepmother. The relationships between the two characters abide by the audiences expectations of that time, as second marriages and stepmothers were not readily accepted at that time. The Queen is portrayed as being evil because this is what the audience in the 1930s would have expected from a stepmother and daughter’s relationship. Disney relates its production to its target audience and their expectations.
Snow White is a very traditional woman, as the establishing shot that introduces Snow White in domestic chores. This shows us the cultural ideologies of the people in the 1930’s as Disney have represented her as a typical housewife. Snow White does not possess any really useful character traits that would allow her to survive on her own, she is quite dependant on men, as when she sees the prince she feels the necessity of a man in her life. She is portrayed as a weak and naive person. Whenever in trouble, she simply solves all her problems by singing a song and asking the assistance of the forest creatures. Disney did not intend to make Snow White a strong character whatsoever but made her out to be just like what America thought every young girl should be; obedient and kind. The clothing that Snow White wears is very revealing which in a way display Snow White almost as a sex icon. She is shown as a typical American woman of the 1930’s as she has a curvy, full figure. This was what the women were expected to conform to in the 1930’s. Snow White is shown to be the ‘perfect woman’ as she has all the typical characteristics of a housewife. The film is targeted at women and children from working class backgrounds due to the domestic duties implied. It is also evident that the film is targeted at children as the scenes that show Snow White eating the poisonous apple and the Queen dying have been edited so that the audience are not shown the events but the following shot reveals the event, such as the bitten apple drops to the floor and vultures fly towards the place where the Queen’s body supposedly lies.
A typical scene in the film that shows the stereotypical characteristics of Snow White is when she first comes to the dwarves’ home. As soon as she enters the house she is shocked by the untidiness and immediately starts to clean up. While she lives there she starts to take on the role of a mother figure to the dwarves. This again shows the Disney’s typical attitude towards women. She is shown to be a typical Christian, as in one scene she and the dwarves sit and pray to God. The film shows women to have three main responsibilities, to look after the family, to cook and clean and to be obedient and religious.
On the other hand, ‘Mulan’ is a more modern film that illustrates the modern cultural ideologies about women. Disney’s changing attitude is clearly shown in these two films, this is because ‘Snow White’ is based on white women, whereas ‘Mulan’ focuses on Asian women. This shows the changing representations of women and different cultures. Mulan is quite opposite to Snow White as she is very slim, darker in colour, independent. The film focuses on her trying to uphold the family honour. The establishing shot shows her being dressed up to look like a traditional Chinese women to impress the guests who have come for her marriage proposal. She does not fit the typical characteristics of what a Chinese woman should be like because she is thin, independent and doesn’t have a very feminine attitude. She is against all the norms of society that tell us what a woman should be like, therefore being in total contrast to Snow White. She isn’t like the typical women of the 1930’s that do not make themselves heard, she feels equal to men and is not afraid to vouch her opinion, this shows her as the ‘modern women’.
She is very slim and according to the normal Chinese women she is not very attractive. She isn’t very beautiful but her simplicity brings out the beauty in her. ‘Mulan’ sends out the ideological message that beauty is on the inside not the outside. She dresses different to all the other women and is very casual, when she changes her outward appearance to join the army immediately she cuts off her long hair straight away. This is symbolic as it is trying to say that Mulan is breaking away from the norms of society and she appears to be more comfortable with her new look. This film also follows Todorov’s theory of narrative structure, this is shown below:
The male characters in the film such as the soldiers are portrayed as typical men with typical ideologies of women and look for qualities like good appearance and obedience in women. However the female character Mulan is opposite to male expectations and isn't waiting for her ‘prince to come’ but when he does arrive, having known her primarily as a man, and he having learned to admire her for her deeper qualities, the romance is muted and subtle. Whereas, Snow White waits for her prince to come as there is a song in the film that mentions this. This shows the difference between the two characters but they do have some similarities. It can be said that although Mulan is self-dependant, the end of the film implies that no matter what, a women still needs a man for companionship. Mulan is given an active role which is quite ‘heroic’. This film is again targeted at an audience of women and children, from working class backgrounds due to the narrative and humour. ‘Mulan’ deals with emotions more than ‘Snow White’ as it makes the audience empathise with Mulan as she is such a disappointment to her family. When the problems are resolved one would feel very happy on behalf of Mulan. ‘Snow White’ does not
appeal to our emotions as the film’s narrative is very basic and inexpressive.
The two characters are similar in the fact that they are both able to overcome their troubles and live up to the typical expectations of the people around them, Snow White goes to be the typical housewife and Mulan returns to uphold her family’s honour. From these two films it can be said that as the years have gone by the roles of women have changed, from being dependant on others, to being more dominant. Disney films have now given much modern and active outlook to women, but still uphold the traditional values. At the end of both films the film is resolved by ‘good winning over evil’, this is to relate to audience expectations. Following the trend set by the culture at the time they were created, the female characters in Disney come to possess more and more of the qualities Americans now consider being the norm for women. Disney films reflect the social attitudes of the time when they were made and therefore the character representations are acceptable. Disney has changed its portrayal of women so that it relates to current media output.
REPORT FOR PRODUCTION ASSIGNMENT
INTRODUCTION
My Media Studies assignment required me to produce a production piece that would relate to current Media output. I chose to produce a print based medium production. I thought it would be a great advantage to explore the advertising and marketing world of media. It would help me to gain an understanding of many processes involved in magazine productions. My production work is a Fanzine Asian music magazine, as it revolves only around one genre of music which is Indian. The magazine is a mainstream niche market production amongst the Asian audience.
Currently there are no Asian magazines that are dedicated to Asian music, so I thought it would be challenging to create a new music magazine. The audience that I’ve selected, to target my product at are teenagers from working class backgrounds of both genders. This is because; the genre of music that I have chosen to be the content of the magazine would appeal to teenagers rather than adults. I have targeted it at working class children because of the informal language used and style of music. The most important decision is to find out about the target audience as it involves researching, marketing and advertising to that particular audience.
RESEARCH
One of the main things that I would need to consider is the cost of producing my magazine. Money would need to be spent on the cost of printing the magazine and the cost for using famous celebrities. I would also have to refer to the Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) to ensure that the articles featured in my magazine are legal, decent, honest and truthful.
Before producing my magazine cover it was important for me to conduct some research. The first thing that I did was conduct a questionnaire to see what my audience’s expectations were and whether my product would relate to current media output
- Fig 1 illustrates the results I received from one of the questions that I asked.
