Alex Barnett thinks it’s time for Disney to “let go” of institutional biases against people of color and embrace the rising number of minority and multiracial people.
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My wife and I have a 3 year-old son. This means we have watched Frozen a lot. We’ve watched it so often that I now become very passionate when I describe the differences in the versions of “Let It Go” sung by Idina Menzel and Demi Lovato.
Interestingly, sometime during one of our many viewings of Frozen, I noticed that there aren’t any people of color in the movie. I think there may be one (there’s a character in an early scene at the coronation ball, but the character’s face is unseen, so it’s hard to tell).
Why did I notice? Maybe – probably — it’s because we are an interracial family (my wife is Black, I’m White, and our son is Biracial), and I’m sensitized to issues of race. In fact, I’m sure that’s it. As the White dad of a boy who some (or many) do or will consider to be Black (even though he is light-skinned), I think about issues of race quite a bit. In particular, I wonder often whether I, as a White person, will ever be able to help my son navigate issues of race and racism that may be awaiting him in the future.
So, I start from a point of at least some heightened sensitivity. I grant you that. Still, even without that, I think I might have had the same reaction, which was simply this: “Hey, am I imagining things, or is every character in this movie White, except maybe Sven the Reindeer? Even Olaf the Snowman is White (though for obvious reasons, snow almost always being White, except for the kind that gathers curbside in New York City, several days after a snowstorm).”
Now, again, I grant you that my perspective is that of a person who’s interested and concerned about race and how depictions of race in popular culture may affect my child. So I have some skin in this game, if you’ll excuse the expression. And, I thought, “well how come they don’t have characters of color in the movie?”
But, then I thought I was being silly. I thought to myself: “this is a movie based on a story by Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, about a land in Scandinavia where people are basically all White. Of course the characters are White.” Within moments though, I remembered the age-old criticism of Disney that it does not adequately represent people of color in its kids’ movies, and I thought: “You know what – the movie has a talking snowman, a giant snow monster, rock trolls who talk, and a lead character who can shoot ice from her fingers. They’re taking liberties with reality already, so could it really hurt to throw in a Biracial kid or a Black kid or an Asian kid or a Hispanic kid or how about a few of them? It’s not a documentary. I don’t think having a Black citizen of the City of Arendelle is really going to be the thing that keeps the picture from being nominated for an award by the Danish Historical Society for best depiction of the actual realities of Danish life.”
Out of curiosity, I did a Google search about characters of color in Frozen. And, guess what? Turns out, I’m not the only one who had questions or concerns about the lack of color in the movie. There were quite a few posts with lengthy analyses. And, then voilà — I stumbled upon a rendering of Elsa, done by a fan of the film, in which the character Elsa (the Snow Queen) is depicted as a Black woman. It was awesome (think Halle Berry as Storm in X-Men, but with long hair and the prototypical Disney female character doe-eyes).
Having found this, I was curious to see what others thought about all this. So I posted about all the issue on my Facebook page with a comment saying I was disappointed that there weren’t more characters of color in Frozen. Now, mind you, I didn’t say I was enraged that Elsa or Anna weren’t depicted as Black girls or that Disney should be ashamed for not portraying interracial love. I just said, with a hint of sarcasm, that I was amazed by the number of characters of color in the movie.
The post went viral. As of the writing of this, the post has reached 3.7 million people. And, it’s received more than fifty thousand likes, more than seven thousand comments and more than five thousand shares. I like to think that I have a fan base for my stand-up comedy and writing career, but my usual posts do not garner numbers like those.
More important than the metrics, though, were the reactions engendered. With more than seven thousand comments, I cannot possibly summarize all of them here for you. But, in very broad categories, there seemed to be four general themes: (1) people of color (usually Black or mixed-race) who agreed that portrayals of characters of color in children’s media is important because kids like and need to see people who look like themselves in popular culture and Disney continues to lag and disturbingly so in meeting this need; (2) people of color (usually Black) who felt that too much was being made of this and that bringing up issues of race really did more to pit people against one another than do any good; (3) people of all races who seemed annoyed that I would make this observation considering the fact that it was historically accurate to have only White characters in the movie (to which I would say “and was it historically accurate to have a talking snowman and rock trolls?); and (4) White people (unaware, apparently, of our country’s history) who felt like this was another instance of Black people getting carried away about race without cause and that they (Black people) ought to quit making such a fuss already (of course, these people seemed to forget that the Facebook post was by me, a White guy).
I have to say I was a little surprised by the number of people who fell into category two. And, I was amused by the people who fell into category three, the ones who seemed unaware of the inconsistency in their own reactions. But, mostly I was really disappointed by the number of people who fell into category four. And, I was horrified by the vitriol spewed by some. I saw enough hate speech and N-Word usage to actually make me wonder whether I had traveled back in time to the Deep South of the early 20th Century.
So, what does all this mean? Well, for one thing, it means there are TON of people who care deeply about the movie Frozen. It also means that I probably need to find a better way to use my spare time. Googling and Facebooking about Frozen just really aren’t a great use of time for the middle-aged dad of a toddler who already doesn’t get enough sleep. But, most importantly (and, most disturbingly) it means that racism really is still a big problem in society (as if recent events in this country weren’t reminder enough of that).
I used to wonder sometimes if my concerns about race and whether I, a White guy, can properly equip my Biracial son for what may lie in store for him in matters dealing with race, were overblown. Now, I’m not wondering that. Race may be a man-made artificial construct, but the reactions I saw online tell me one thing – racism is sure enough a real thing. So, excuse me if I spend some time worrying about that and whether as a White dad I have the necessary tools to help my Biracial son cope with all the various situations and emotions he may soon have to deal with.
And, finally, it means one more thing: Disney, if you’re listening, it means you really do need to put some more characters of color in your movies. I know you’re not a civil rights organization, but the world is changing and doing the same old thing is not okay. You need to let go of institutional biases against people of color and embrace the rising number of minority and multiracial people. You need to “Let it go. Let it go. Can’t hold it back anymore.”
Photo: JeepersMedia/Flickr
True diversity of color is had in the Caucasian populace.
Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, The Emperor’s New Groove, Lilo and Stitch, Brother Bear, The Princess and the Frog, and Big Hero 6 all have non-white characters. Plus there are all the animal Disney movies that don’t have human characters of any race. I’m guessing the SJWs won’t be satisfied until there are no white characters in Disney movies at all?
Alex, the reason your question garners so much attention is that you’re addressing a valid topic in a rather invalid setting. Noticing that there are no people of color in Frozen is no more profound than noticing no African Americans in Mulan (unless you count Eddie Murphy by some stretch). They are works of fiction but they are reflections of history. Were you to time-travel to Sweden five centuries ago I doubt you’d be marveling at the people of color there. The problem, though, is that you’ve diverted a very good topic into a ditch where it makes no sense.… Read more »
Alex, I also am the father of biracial children and I have also seen Frozen a ba-jillion times. I find your article interesting, but I really couldn’t disagree more about Disney needing to diversify their films. I would argue they are one of the most progressive and diverse studios out there! Over the past several decades we have seen heroes from all different backgrounds and ethnicities: Middle Eastern, black, asian, Native American, Indian and also a whole host of species from the animal kingdom. To depict the characters of a Scandinavian story as exclusively white is perfectly appropriate. It’s exactly… Read more »
Really moronic post. This is a cartoon, just enjoy it. Your son is probably a lot less racist than you, and will enjoy the movie without thinking of race and even though he is a boy, is liking a ‘girls’ movie. I notice from your bio that you are Jewish and your son is being raised that way. So how come if you are looking for diversity, the thought of a Jewish character never entered into your thought process. Disney has a very bad reputation in that respect of poor representations and usually none. Recent studies for example have shown… Read more »
There are no black OR white people in Mulan. There are no French people in Brave. There are no Maori people in Pocahontas. Not a single Aztec in Aladdin. Of course not. Historical racial movement was low – that’s pretty much WHY we have “races”; population groups that don’t move around over generations start to look like alike. Disney loves to make films of Northern European folk/fairy tales. Stories set in feudal Northern Europe are going to have primarily white casts. Let’s look at works by Disney set in modern, or future, settings: Wall-E has humans (okay, gross puffy humans,… Read more »
Gee Aladdin was a whole movie about non white people and it even featured a magic carpet and time traveling genie! Sorry you have no argument. Congratulations you have an opinion just like everyone has an a**hole
The movie either takes place in Norway or uses Norway as its a basis for the setting of the movie. Have you ever been to Norway? There is not a lot of color there. It’s whiter than Sweden, Denmark, and maybe Finland. If I’m watching a movie that’s supposed to be taking place in Norway, I have no expectation of seeing color in the film. Why would anyone expect anything else? Let the filmmakers make their film their way. If you don’t like their film, don’t go.
I too wondered why there was no diversity. They want the diverse dollars. If they didn’t, they would have just showed the movie in Scandinavia. But more importantly, as a person of color, I don’t want just images of “white” people on my walls or in my toybox, because for so long those images, accompanied with American history, have subconsciously lead young people of color to believe white “is” superior. Some of you will never know how deep it goes, and I don’t expect you to understand. I will say stop being shallow thinkers.
On of opposite side of the Fox new spectrum.In context, I am very anti racist. I also aware that there should be more diversity. And I will agree that most of the Disney princesses are white. That being said this writer of the this article seems to ignore past Disney films and last years Big Hero Six. The writer is making greats leaps here. I have seen a couple of articles about Elsa and Anya being black or whatever. Namely because there is no diversity in the in Frozen. Lets face it the original story takes place in Scandinavia. Even… Read more »
This is so sad! Children are naturally color-blind. No, make that color-accepting! They see the differing shades of brown in skin as natural as the differing shades of green in plants. They simply accept these differences . . . that is until the stupid adults around them start pointing them out. The only chance we have of ever getting over the racial divide is for stupid adults to stop looking for these differences and then making a big deal out of it. I’ll wager your un-racial son never paid any attention to the “white-ness” of the people of Arendelle .… Read more »
I believe that the line of reasoning that would insist upon a forced representation of any race in film or other art forms approaches fascism.
Talking about stereotypes, how about a Disney movie where the the female lead weren’t doe-eyed with perfect hair and hourglass-shaped figure? Or any single male that would ever fall outside of either handsome-brave or dorrmat-bumbling-idiot category?
Then again, how would a Mulan set in Africa, or a european Pocahontas have looked?
I think its a little bit of a shame that Disney is allowed to do a Mulan movie without any pressure of have token (other ethnicities) in it because it is a Chinese story, and Pocahontas without any tokenisms, but due to the fact that this was a story with white people in it there is an outcry. I wonder what the value of “throwing in a bi racial child” would have? Are different cultures stories of now value unless they include what we consider to be the appropriate ethnic representation in them? That would be a sad place to… Read more »
Sleeping Beauty (1959) Prince Phillip (name meaning “fond of horses”) enjoys singing and dancing in the forest. He’s depicted as swoon-worthy and handsome. He has no job, but just wanders around with his horse. He wears finely tailored clothes. He is captured, but three female fairies rescue him. He races to rescue Sleeping Beauty, but his cloak gets caught on some bushes and he is stuck! The female fairies cast spells to free his cloak. They give him a magic sword and shield. He tries fighting the dragon and is pathetic; the dragon knocks his shield away (the shield is… Read more »
It makes little to no sense to have a token minority person in a film set in what appears to be 18th or 19th century Scandinavia. Much in the same way that it’ll make little to no sense to have a bunch of white people in the upcoming Polynesian-set Moana.
While a talking snowmen make total sense? Talking snowmen exist in Scandinavia? Didn’t you read the part in the article where the author addressed this?
Did you bother googling Disney’s latest film, Big Hero 6 (or maybe even seeing it?!) It stars an Asian kid with a superhero posse which includes *Gasp* a black man!
There are countless examples of diversity in Disney’s animated films.
Really Patrick? Countless? Can you name these “countless” movies? Sure, there are some. Aladdin, Pocahontas and The Princess and the Frog..but “countless”????? Come on. Denying that minorities are under represented in attempt to make their perspective seem insignificant because you can list one movie is wrong.
A few more movies that have several featured/main characters that are non-white in recent years (20 or so): Lilo & Stitch Hercules The Incredibles Atlantis: The Lost Empire Up Brother Bear Emperors New Groove The Hunchback of Notre Dame Mulan *Big Hero 6 *Princess and the Frog *Pocahontas This represents well over 60% of movies that feature Humans as the main characters (Many family films are about anthrophomorphic creatures, animals and objects with no race) With 78% of America being white, one could make an argument that Minorities are OVERREPRESENTED in Disney animated films in modern times. The fact is… Read more »
You forgot Aladin lol.
You also forgot the Jungle Book
@erin It was only in the 1990’s that Disney started with the ethnic story lines. Before that all were white. But no one talks much about those stories on women waiting for their “prince charming” That is why weddings are all about the beautiful gowns and the carriages, and the waltz with the “handsome prince”. All because of those type of stories. Oh, and don’t forget the $$ for those weddings. Ridiculous. Feminist don’t comment on those things,
While I don’t disagree:
“so could it really hurt to throw in a Biracial kid or a Black kid or an Asian kid or a Hispanic kid or how about a few of them? ”
Would adding a “Token” really be any better?
That begs the question that if a minority group is shown in movie, then they must always be “token”? The only way to avoid being a “token” character is to be more inclusive to diveristy to begin with. As long as all the characters receive the same respect as any character, no child is going to look at characters of a different color and say “Hey that’s just a token character.” Instead, they will nonverbally pick up messages that people of different races can and do co-exist in a healthy society.
You all are nuts.
The Princess Frog – all black
Mulan – all Asian
Cast the appropriate color for the appropriate story
Lion King – all animals
Got it…
Alex, I agree in having a bigger representation of more ethnicities in Disney films would be great – and pretty much everywhere. I have a very good friend who is Indian and trying to find things for her little girl that could be relatable to her, is very hard. Even finding story books where the lead character is a different color is hard. Even finding a greeting card that shows two women who are friends who aren’t white, is hard. Kids especially need to see characters they can identify with in different roles. I will never forget a news report… Read more »