Horror and Disney Have Ruined Our Lives! Or Have they?!
- C.S. Cab
- Apr 15, 2021
- 5 min read
Question for y'all! Have #disney and the #horror genre affected your life in any way? Personally, they have affected mine. The question is: Has it been in a positive way or a negative one? Ah, the plot thickens!
Disney Comes First
Obviously this is nothing new. For a long time, critics have argued that Disney movies have a negative effect in the lives of the children that grow up watching them. There are different arguments to be made. Some will say that the only characters that show #power in Disney movies are the bad guys or #villains. So much has been said about villains such as #scar from #thelionking or #maleficent from #sleepingbeauty being strong and determined yet evil while the heroes from those stories are weak and practically just victims.
When you think about it, it kind of feels these critics are up to something. When you think of #aurora from Sleeping Beauty or #Simba from The Lion King, well they do not really do much except be victims. If anything, Simba is the one of the two that comes full circle at the end of his adventure and faces against adversity coming out victorious, This in turn takes us to another concern, women in these animated movies are always weak and too young to make up their minds.
In addition to that, women used to always be having trouble with love. As a matter of fact, in most of the original Disney movies, the female characters were in distress because they could not be with their prince. Of course that is a problem all in itself. But then again, women were expected to get married and raise a family and that was the end of it back when some of those movies were produced.
With that being said, there is a question to be raised. Is this a current problem or something of the past? After all, nowadays we have new princesses such as #moana #raya or #elsa. These are new types of heroines who do not need a prince to rescue them as they end up rescuing themselves, they are strong and they are adept at battle. Also, as a bonus, they can finally make up their mind about what they need to do and the risks involved in doing what is right!
Many argue that this Disney problem is a problem of the past. In the past, women were assumed to be evil or bad if they spoke too much or if they acted in their best interest so it stands to reason that their portrayal in animation mainly dominated by male creators would mirror that. Now, however times have changed and women are seen as equal to me. About time if you ask me! So, of course the portrayal of women in media and animation has changed and where before we had weak characters such as #snowwhite waiting to be rescued by some random prince, now we have #raya going after her fate and making things happen on her own instead of waiting for some random guy!
In all honesty, even the #mousehouse has acknowledged their problem and even tried to apologize. Recently, they did so through a movie no less. The release of #wreckitralph2 saw a new kind of princess trying to find some sane distance from the main male character and landing in a place where all the Disney #princesses reside. Once there, the movie makes fun of the mistakes of the past admitting that they were wrong to portray women in a certain light in the past. That is the best part of the movie for sure and definetely shows that the company is aware of what they did in the past. The movie ends with the princesses redeeming themselves and taking action into their own hands to SAVE A GUY! What a change!
Horror is Next
So, yes Disney has been the subject of great discussion. But what about Horror? These two genres blend as stated in previous posts. So, let's talk about how horror has "ruined lives." The first stop when it comes to horror is the quintessential question: Why do people even enjoy this genre? Is there something wrong with those who enjoy seeing characters in #peril? I hope not! haha ;)
So, what is the deal? Is there something wrong with horror? What about female characters in horror movies? Wait let's hold up on that second question because that would take hours to approach. But in short, I would say that is the same as the Disney movies. The female characters in horror have been evolving as their real world counterpart and now we have better and smarter female characters in horror movies as well. Yes, #lauriestrode #jamieleecurtis you are one of the few exceptions who were smart and a survivor since the #1970s. Not many of those by the way. With that being said, it is important to notice that even though she survived many a slasher flicks, she was still dependent on guys to save her whereas in the most recent entry, she was the #badass heroine rescuing other characters. So, again just like with Disney - It goes hand in hand with reality.
So asides from female representation and portrayal, what is the problem with horror and how has it "ruined" people's lives? Many will be quick to point out that these movies affect people's behavior in the real world. But is that a real thing? Well, the point here is that it seems according to many of the studies done that watching a horror movie does not truly affect your health. It will depend more on the kind of person you are and if you enjoy the genre or not. It has been widely accepted that horror movies relax some people while stress others out. What is the difference you may ask?
The difference is simple: People have different #personalities. While some may see these horrors as things they never want to experience and not even see in fictional settings, other people find pleasure in them not because they want to hurt others but because they are learning from the genre and they like experiencing that adrenaline without actually going through those situations themselves. It's been studied how people with anxiety issues end up enjoying the genre more than others as they focus their attention onto someone else experiencing bad things rather than themselves. Hey, I think I am one of those!
Others are also ready to point that binge watching horror could be bad for you but then again binge watching anything can have health repercussions no matter your personality. So, is horror bad? I would say it all depends on who you are and your personality. It is not black and white. There are some grey zones for sure!
So what is the conclusion here?
I think whether you agree or not that these type of movies (Disney or horror) can negatively affect your life comes down to your personality. I personally think that yes in the past certain portrayals were negative but now they are better. Even with that, if you have your personality developed well no matter what you watch on the screen, you will know who you are and what you are capable of tolerating. If you do not enjoy either genre then as easy as not watching it right?
What are your thoughts? Do you agree with these movies "ruining" people's lives or not?
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