The Visor

Race issues overshadow message in latest Disney film

January 21, 2010

Jessica Contrea

Look mommy, I’m a princess!”

Let’s face it, nearly every girl, my tom-boy child self included, grew up idolizing princesses. It was hard not to, with the popularity of the eight Disney Princesses, a market estimated at $4 billion per year. Well, a new princess has been added to the mix and is making quite a stir – for all the wrong reasons.

Disney’s recently released “Princess and the Frog” started making headlines before its script was even finished. Why? Disney, whose movies have a history of being criticized for racism, was finally creating an African-American princess. Although the storyline was written primarily by a black man, Rob Edwards (who previously wrote scripts for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and was supported by prominent black figures like Oprah Winfrey, critics were quick to attack the racial aspects of the film.

In response, Disney attempted to ease the racial tension. The princess’s name had to be changed from “Maddy,” which was criticized for being too similar to a popular slave name, to “Tiana.” Her original occupation as a maid was replaced with the less stereotypical job of a chef. Yet, the disapproval still flowed as Disney was harassed for setting the film in New Orleans (a largely black community), for the movie’s voodoo theme and for making the prince, whose race is unidentifiable, not African-American as well.

Meanwhile, others praised Disney for “breaking the racial barrier.”

I believe all of this conflict was undeserved. While it is important to recognize the significance of an African-American princess, Disney broke the racial barrier a long time ago, with the creation of a Native American princess, an Asian princess and an Arab princess.

What truly makes Tiana a different kind of princess has nothing to do with her race and is what this movie should be getting attention for.

Unlike those before her, this Princess is a far cry from a damsel in distress.

The three original Disney princesses: Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, spend most of their films helpless, waiting to be saved by men. It wasn’t until “The Little Mermaid” that a princess showed signs of a little freethinking gumption. But, Ariel gave up her voice for a pair of legs so she could be with a man– who of course, rescues her in the end.

Tiana, however, is a beautiful young girl who works two jobs in order to save money to fulfill her dream of opening her own restaurant. After being mistaken for royalty and being kissed by a prince, both she and the prince become frogs. She does not wait to be saved, but goes with the prince on a journey to find the person who can return them to human form. They, of course, fall in love and eventually it is the prince who gives up his chance to become a human again because he loves Tiana too much.

In the end, they marry, become human again and open the restaurant Tiana has worked for. That’s right, she reaches her goal while falling in love and remaining strong and independent.

This message was unfortunately overshadowed by those who, perhaps forgetting that Disney movies are made for kids, were determined to find racial problems in the newest Disney Princess.

Considering that Tiana and her prince spent most of the movie as frogs anyway, do you really think kids are going to come out of “The Princess and the Frog” thinking “Hm, what a good racial lesson I learned today!” No. These princesses become girls’ role models, and I’m thankful that finally we’re seeing a girl who, no matter what race she is, can hold her own and not just in a pair of glass stilettos.

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