Allison Hull recently wrote on the Federalist, an article titled "Why Does Disney Hate Boys So Much?"
http://thefederalist.com/2017/01/05/disney-hate-boys-much-male-characters-losers/
In her article she makes the claim that Disney has taken a swift turn against its male characters, and takes especial aim against Frozen's Kristoff.
My wife and I took a lot of issues with this article. There does seem to be a definite trend against positive male role models in popular movies and TV shows lately. The bumbling dad/husband has been an on and off staple of entertainment since the Honeymooners and Berenstein Bears, maybe earlier, but most especially since the late 90's.
But Disney and Pixar have not been too much a part of this trend. I'd argue that Pixar hasn't been a part of it at all (but I'm a biased guy that way). Allison Hull thinks very little of Disney's male characters, especially in the princess movies. I'll address the problem with Disney's princess counterparts later, but Disney does put out movies geared towards guys with admirable, strong characters. A lot of them. Even since the 90's. The Lion King, Hunchback of Notre Dame (though not a "guy movie" it is a male-led cast), Hercules, The Emporer's New Groove, Treasure Planet, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, Wreck It Ralph, and Big Hero 6. There's other movies in there. Atlantis might fit the bill, but it's been a while since I've seen it.
A trend I've noticed with just about all Disney movies (and Pixar as well) is that movies geared towards boys almost always involve personal growth, gaining of experience, and self-reformation of some kind. Whether it's King Arthur/Wart learning from Merlin, Lewis Robinson learning to "Keep Moving Forward", or Hiro learning to cope with loss. Boys seem to be easily able to project themselves as aliens, robots, animals, and more. This is a bit opposite to girls who see themselves as Princesses and Ladies, or as the clumsy but very capable Tom-boy. Self-improvement is a key element that's played up big-time in the boy movies, but not so much in the girl movies.
I think this is an awesome thing. Some guys out there see themselves as the weak, picked-on-nerds trying to find respect and honor in life, whether they might in actuality be a super-strong demi-God like Hercules, or a brilliant kid who can't seem to figure things out like Lewis Robinson. The other half of guys already think of themselves as awesome and need some sort of humbling experience to show them they are not, but that they can become awesome still, like Bolt, Emporer Cusco, or Hiro. I love that Disney portrays both sides well, and shows boys that problems can be conquered with determination and fixing themselves.
On the flip-side, Disney's princesses, usually, are out to fix other people or circumstances, not themselves. They may grow along the way, but that's always just a side-effect. Is this because girls, don't often see the need for improvement in themselves, or is it because Disney isn't allowed to insinuate that young women need fixing?
Allison pines for the John Waynes of a by-gone era while condemning Moana's stern father. She relents the weak male characters of the new Star Wars movies, even though the mostly male characters of Rogue One made the ultimate sacrifice, showing true bravery.
She especially doesn't like men that need fixing. She takes particular issue with the character Kristoff in Frozen. She writes, "He’s smelly, dirty, eats food with his reindeer, and has no other friends....When Kristoff finally realizes he loves Anna, he tries to rescue her but can’t. Opposite to the Beast, he doesn’t sacrifice himself but watches her sacrifice for her sister. In the end, he’s just comedic fodder to two charismatic princesses. While Kristoff is not a bad role model, Anna walks all over him, and I’m not sure that’s something I want for my sons. Strong women, yes, but weak men who in the end don’t do anything? No."
First off, Kristoff is a supportive role. He's not the hero of the story, Anna is. Technically, he's been hired by Anna as a servant or guide and he does a great job keeping it professional, and going above and beyond his duties and pay. And secondly, Kristoff might be the most admirable male role model Disney has ever created. Not only is this orphan-from-a-young-age tall, well-built, and blond, he's also hard-working, responsible, assertive, gentle, he's not impressed by money or wealth, he's financially responsible, he's self-employed and entrepeneurial, he's creative and resourceful, he thinks decisively and quickly, he's quick to forgive, he loves and respects his family and respects their advice while trusting himself, he's good with kids, he's honest, he fights off wolves, he is chivalrous, he's emotionally intelligent, he values health over appearance, and he never drools over Anna for her appearance (I'm looking at you Milo from Atlantis!). And every time that Anna "walks all over him" he ends up being in the right and she looks silly and air-headed. And while he does start to love her, he never loses control of himself or takes advantage of her.
Yes, he's definitely an easy-going bachelor, and lives that lifestyle up in the way that a good guy would/should. Taking a bath and learning a few dinner manners isn't a big deal.
I would hope my sons want to be like Kristoff and my daughters find someone like him (or at least as good as him). He's the most well-rounded, balanced male character Disney has probably ever portrayed. And for some reason, of all the male Disney characters, he's the guy the gets the entire song devoted to him being a "fixer upper"!
Now, lets look at the Disney "Princes" and romantic male counterparts to the Disney princesses. Long ago, we had Lady falling for the Tramp and somehow winning him over to domestication and around the same time Dutchess managed to snag Thomas O'Malley the Alley Cat in Aristocats. Both pampered well-to-do house pets who were able to reform rogues into gentlemen, but that was it for that dangerous idea.
Ever since the good-natured Bernard found some courage in himself to save the day AND propose to Miss Bianca in The Rescuers Down Under, we've just about nothing but Disney's women falling for scoundrels. First, the Beast: a spoiled, ill-tempered young brat. Immediately after comes Aladdin, a homeless thief, then John Smith, the wild and adventurous explorer who has a thing for innocent young girls. Then comes Stitch, the endlessly destructive alien. A few years later you get Prince Naveen from Princess and the Frog, a philandering, openly-womanizing, irresponsible, party animal. We can't forget everyone's FAVORITE scoundrel ever, Flynn Rider -a professional thief and shameless charmer- followed by street hustler, Nick Wilde, from Zootopia. Most recently, Maui from Moana.
While women are so much more than their partners, we need to acknowledge that a partner in life can be a huge asset, or an overwhelming dead-weight. Settling for someone with a real shady past and no sign of real change except a one time sacrifice or momentary professing of love, is a recipe for disastrous relationships.
So, to be fair to Allison, yes, the male counterparts to the strong Disney Women for the past 20 years, are scoundrels. But as a guy worried about my sons, this doesn't phase me or worry me. Disney gives plenty of time to good guys and in all the right ways, we just need more moms to show those guy movies to their sons. It's the ideas that Disney gives girls that worries me.
What does this teach girls? That a one time sacrifice makes someone worthy of a life-time commitment? That their amazing qualities and ambition and determination can reform just about any type of bad-boy? That's what it seems like the lesson is. Or that they need to settle for guys who are their inferior, or at best a really bad match?
Other than the odd exception, the women don't have to undergo any major changes to themselves, except seeing some bit of good in an otherwise jerk. Actually, the only women in Disney that undergo some major personal reformation are Anna and Elsa. The rest learn to stop doubting themselves and go big for their dreams, sure, but that's not quite the same thing.
Allison picks and chooses which guys are admirable, mostly -it seems- based on whether they have domineering, bold, personalities. The conquer-the-earth types. There's plenty of those in the non-scoundrel form, even in the past 20 years. Phoebus, Jim Hawkins, Tarzan, Kenai, Bolt, Hiro, and more. There's even plenty of the down-to-earth good guys. The kind that make excellent partners in life. Maybe we've just forgotten what they look like.
I'll tell you what good guys look like, they look like Kristoff, or Bernard from the Rescuers, or Lewis/Cornelius Robinson from Meet the Robinsons, Tadashi from Big Hero Six, Pacha from Emporer's New Groove, and Li Shang from Mulan. They look like Kenai, Koda, and Sitka from Brother Bear, or Mufasa from Lion King. We just need more Moms who can promote those characters to their sons.
I love that Allison and so many others are noticing and pointing out the trend against men and boys and hope she keeps up that fight. It seems that my parents' generation tried their best to snuff out male chauvinism, but perhaps the pendulum swung too far against it and now it needs to come back and hopefully settle somewhere where we can praise strong men and women. Let's just preserve our girls in that process.
Disney doesn't hate boys even while so much of other mainstream media does, but it hasn't been doing any favors to girls with these empowered strong female leads it's created recently. For the past 20 years, it's been showing them that they don't need to work on improving themselves, they need to fix everyone else. While it's true that the only "fixer-upper fixer that can fix a fixer-upper is true love," I want my daughters to learn that they should work hard on themselves first and then find someone to match. Disney has failed at this as much as everyone else, but I have hope for the future: Anna and Elsa were a great start.
