Sample Disney Digital Final Project
You Can't Sail Away from Class Systems---
A Marxist Analysis of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006)
Introduction
In the first two minutes of this Disney film, a many-masted sailing ship eerily enters and envelops the misty frame. A young girl sings softly to herself from the bow, which prompts a sailor to come forward and hush the child, Elizabeth Swann. Her father, the Governor, appears; the sailor mutters about having a female on board. An officer states, “Any man who flies under a pirate flag will get what he deserves.” Soon, pirates kidnap the girl, but they don't realize she's in possession of a valuable coin that is linked to a curse, and the curse has transformed a number of other pirates into the undead. A noble blacksmith in love with Elizabeth allies with an outlaw pirate named Jack Sparrow in pursuit of Elizabeth and her captors.
Argument
In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Disney calls to a distant period of history in order to reproduce socioeconomic class distinctions for today's film audience. In doing so, Disney perpetuates the illusion that social constructs of power, domination, and hegemony within social strata are "normal" and inevitable parts of the Western world in which we live.
Research to Support My Interpretation
The Disney empire is the essence of capitalism, with it vast corporate umbrella and influence on national and international trade and commerce. Thus, while some may say that Disney texts infuse society with a sense of calm and well-being, they, actually, have as their primary focus to produce more capital for shareholders.
"...late-monopoly capitalism and free trade requires of capital no allegiance except to the accumulation of more capital” (Phillips & Wojcik-Andrews 83).
Phillips, Jerry and Wojcik-Andrews, Ian. (1996). “Telling Tales to Children: The Pedagogy of Empire in MGM‟s Kim and Disney‟s Aladdin.” Web of Science. 20.1 : 66-89.
Hegemonic forces at play within the highest levels of the Disney infrastructure hold and want to maintain power, and these forces are largely controlled by conservative white males. Subliminal messages about the necessity of social classes instill audiences with dreamlike hopes rather than suggestions for social class transcendence.
"Social class is shown in these movies by categorizing characters into two categories: the haves and the have-nots. Those who have not are shown struggling to get in to the top because that is where happiness lies. "
Ewert, J. (2014). A Tale as Old as Time - An analysis of negative stereotypes in Disney Princess Movies. Montana State University. Thesis.
Identity formation is at the core of all literature, and Disney's depictions of identity are intertwined with dominant ideologies that prescribe particular messages to children --- and adults ---- about aspirations versus realities.
"Disney films combine enchantment and innocence in narrating stories that help children understand who they are, what societies are about and what it means to construct a world of play and fantasy in an adult environment" (Giroux, 84).
By creating a female lead, Elizabeth Swann, who needs to be saved, Disney reinforces social constructions of gender which categorize females as lesser than males, in need of males, and dependent on males. The message is that a young, handsome savior will rescue a female if she waits long enough and demurs to social standards.
"Girls who watch Disney films are "strongly positioned to believe, in the end, that desire, choice and empowerment are closely linked to catching a handsome man" (99).
Giroux, Henry A. (2008). “Children’s Culture and Disney’s Animated Films.” From Inquiry to Academic Writing. Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky, eds. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.
Disney not only follows a formulaic approach to narrative structure but, also, embeds within its narratives a particular set of morals and values that are related to happy endings; not everyone who reads/ views/ listens to a Disney narrative will have the same worldview, but Disney rarely addresses non-Western morality.
Disney "established a moral background which draws the child down the proper ethical and aesthetic path" (Durham & Kellner, 124).
Durham, Meenakshi and Douglas Kellner. (1983). Media and Cultural Studies: Keywords. New York: Oxford University Press.
Steinberg and Kincheloe wrote well before the ubiquity of the internet, but their vision about "artificially reproduced" reality was prescient and consistent with a Disney representation of life that is, more often than not, quite distinct from the ordinary existences of its audience.
"Such a media omnipresence produces a hyperreality that positions the real as something no longer simply given but artifically reproduced as well" (Steinberg & Kincheloe, 45).
Steinberg, Shirley and Joe Kincheloe. (1997). Kinderculture: The Corporate Construction of Childhood." Colorado: Westview Press.
Patterns
Paradoxes exist in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in which upper class (aristocrats), middle class (soldiers), and lower class (tradesmen) move separately through society. We can extend these same structures to today's U.S. society, in which people receive different opportunities for success and satisfaction, based on their socioeconomic class.
In many popular culture texts --- House of Cards, Downton Abbey, The Good Wife, Gotham ---the people who are interesting to the audience and who are having the most fun are upper class citizens. Others in these same popular culture texts are seen either striving to obtain upper class status or rife with problem as they falter within lower classes.
In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow is a poor but appealing individualist. Individuality, though, is seen in this film as desirable only through a disregard for rules, including non-conformist and often illegal behavior. If persons in real life were to follow his example, they'd be incarcerated.
What would transformation look like in a Disney text?
Uys, Jamie. 1980. The Gods Must Be Crazy. Culver City, CA: Columbia TriStar HomeEntertainment.
In The Gods Must Be Crazy, an empty Coke bottle drops from the sky near Xixo, and an African San hunter tries to return the bottle to the gods that must have dropped it. This film embodies the premise that good deeds and spirituality should triumph over the desire to seek material wealth and class affiliations. It is a good example of a fun film that's appropriate for teens and which does not reproduce materialism.
“There must exist a paradigm, a practical model for social change that includes an understanding of ways
to transform consciousness that are linked to efforts to transform structures.”
Here's a link to a web page called "An Introduction to Sociology" that has many suggestions for films that look at socioeconomic class in new and illuminating ways. From this web page, you'll see film representations a variety of real people who have stood up against social equities, especially socioeconomic class distinctions, and how their actions benefit all humans.
Disney has an opportunity in the 21st century to recast its characters similarly so that they rise up to the betterment of all individuals. The protagonists should be able to move across social classes based on their work ethic, good morals, skills, and talents. People in Disney films should be depicted as humans first and as class-based individuals second. In that way, no one would be categorized based on social constructions. Then Disney could depict individuality as a good thing when individuals stand up to dominant systems, institutions, and structures in society.