Most children’s film producers intend to teach
lessons to their audiences by emphasizing an overall message, or set of
messages throughout their films. Moreover, some of these messages are sometimes
misguided; therefore, they are disregarded by the children that the film is
trying to target. Sleeping Beauty is
a Disney Princess film that came out in 1959, and is still being watched by
children across the globe 55 years later. Even though a lot of children enjoyed
watching Sleeping Beauty, most of
them did not comprehend most of the messages that were conveyed throughout the
film.
In Sleeping
Beauty’s opening scene, Princess Aurora is born. The whole kingdom has come
to the palace to see her, including three fairies. The fairies give the newborn
three gifts; the first gift was beauty. Once the fairy gives her the gift of
beauty, an image of a beautiful blonde woman appears, showing what Aurora will
look like when she grows up after having received this gift. This gift may not
mean anything to children when they watch this scene, but what this gift is
really saying is that beauty is a trait that girls should want to have because
it will “improve” them. Furthermore, by showing her as a blonde in the future,
it could make girls think that being blonde makes you more beautiful than being
a brunette or a redhead. This scene could shape children’s interpretations of
beauty erroneously.
Another scene that conveys a negative and
misleading message is the scene in which the fairies try to complete tasks
without using magic. The fairies had to bake a cake, clean the house, and make
a dress without the use of their wands. After giving it a try, the three of
them fail and decide to give up and use magic. This is a misleading message with a negative impact on children
because it not only teaches them that when you can’t do something you should
just give up, but also that “magically” things will be done for you. Children
should be encouraged to keep trying once they have failed, not to give up,
especially because they are beginning to learn how to do things on their own.
Sleeping
Beauty’s happy ending does
not only depict logos and pathos, but is also emphasizes the portrayal of the
typical cliché, “Prince saves the Princess.” The effective use of logos in this
scene is evident because the audience expects to see the Prince and Princess live happily ever after, since
it is the logical outcome of a fairytale. Likewise, by showing that the Prince
and Princess will live happily ever after, the depiction of pathos is apparent
because the audience feels happy and joyful. “You may sometimes want to use
emotions to connect with readers to assure them that you understand their
experiences.” (Lunsford, 51) Utilizing emotions in childrens films is essential
because the goal should be to make them feel happy in the end. Consequently,
this could teach girls a negative message. They could be led to believe that
they need to look for an attractive guy who will not only solve all of their
problems for them, but will also make them live happily ever after. This can
have a negative effect on young girls, because if they believe that this
message is true, they won’t try to achieve things for themselves to become
independent women; they will try to find a man instead.
Sleeping
Beauty has been my
favorite Disney Princess film since I was eight. Naturally, I based my Princess
favoritism on the color of their dress, but now that I watched this film
again, I realized that children’s films have various messages that I
disregarded as a child. Even though Aurora is still my favorite Princess
because her dress is pink, I do not like most of the messages that are conveyed
throughout the film. I give Sleeping
Beauty three slurpies.
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