Deconstructing Disney: Part Deux

Taylor shared this on my facebook wall. It's hilarious.

Homo-cidal Maniacs


Laterrr,
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Civil War Women

Since the beginning of the summer I've been working on this project off and on and really need to buckle down and get something on paper. I figure by informing my public of this (all 23 of my followers... haha) it will hold me accountable in some way, shape, or form.

SO. In early June I was hanging out at the library (like I do) and doing some research on Sally Bush Johnston (Abraham Lincoln's HOT stepmother, who I'm playing this summer) and I stumbled upon (like literally stumbled upon, not using the newfangled internet time waster which has kept me entertained many-a-day here in southern Indiana: stumbleupon.com) this book called They Fought Like Demons.

They Fought Like Demons presents the stories of women who fought in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. I WAS BAFFLED. I had never even thought of women in the military before the second half of the 20th century (Although women could legally be employed by the armed services in 1948 after President Truman passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, it wasn't until 1992 that it became legal in the US military for women to be pilots for on navy and air force planes, 1993 is when women were legally able to serve on combatant ships, and 1994 is when women were able to join ground-combat forces)

These women risked everything by dressing like men and running into combat. Each of the 500+ women had their reasons for joining the war; reasons which were rarely documented and mostly hear-say from friends and relatives, which is what interests me. What were these women thinking? Was it the only way for them to escape the social constraints put on their sex in the Victorian era? Was it a monetary? (You could make a lot more $$$ enlisting in the military than being a domestic servant, which is what most single women of the time worked as) Was the military heroine a romanticized idea from stories read to them as children?

The stories are phenomenal and have rarely been told, so I'm working on writing a play-type-thing that somehow tells their story. The details are few and far between right now but I'm excited about it. Yup.

In other news, we only have 18 performances left of Lincoln: Upon the Altar of Freedom.

Byez!
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Go Away Jay-Z... Empire State of Mind

Dear Alica Keys,

Don't let Jay-Z mess up another one of your songs.

Sincerely,
Sally Cade Holmes

It's official...

True Blood's Pam is my hero.

Oh, and I bought my one-way ticket to NYC for August 13! Yes, that's a Friday the 13th, which my mother pointed out after twas purchased... oh well! See y'all in the city soon!

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Deconstructing Disney

So we all know Disney owns the world. (In case you didn't know Disney owns ABC, ESPN, Buena Vista Records, Miramax Films, Pixar, History Channel, Lifetime, Marvel Comics, just to name a few.) Seeing as Disney is so far-reaching it's a bit alarming to look at how human fear of the un-categorized influences their films.

As TayBay and I were cruisin' down the road on the way to his sacrifice, upon the altar of freedom, (he went to see Lincoln yesterday) he brought up something that I have been aware of but never realized the enormity of: many of Disney's villains do not fit into a stereotypical gender. There is gender-ambiguity among the ranks of the characters that children, and adults for that matter, love to hate. I'm sure that case study after case study has been written on this but I just discovered this conundrum... What are the implications?

Doctor Facilier from The Princess and the Frog. This guy... is wearing a belly shirt. He is thin, curvy, wearing jewelry. Need I say more?

Jafar's affected speech pattern and flamboyant appearance suggests something other than heroic masculinity.

Other than those phallic tentacles... Ursula is rocking a short haircut, raspy voice, and is definitely not anywhere near the shape of the "ideal" woman... as a matter of fact, she's more of a blob with a voice if you compare her to the shape of Ariel.

And it just keeps going.... I don't think the creators of these movies were specifically thinking "We shall make the villains more androgynous than the heroes" but I think this is evidence of a subconscious fear of the unknown. Things that can't fit into categories freak humans out. So villains often cross the borders of gender and don't necessarily fit into "norms." 

So really, I just want someone to write a case study on Deconstructing Disney: The Implications of Gender in Popular Media. GO.

In other news, it's been a crazy weekend in which I met people whose names are all over my house and all over UE Theatre lore. Hoorah alumni coming into town for weddings.

Until later,

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BP Coffee Spill

Truth.