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Fairy Tales

Villains through Different Lenses: An Exploration of Female Antagonists in Literature and Theater

By June Lee

Female villains have always been an exciting subject in literature and general theater. The female antagonists’ character development and manipulation strategies, ranging from evil stepmothers in fairy tales to femme fatales in Shakespearean plays, have continued to draw attention throughout the centuries. However, much depends on what is shown through different types of media. This paper examines the effect of media on the interpretation of “Hansel and Gretel” and “Macbeth.” Both stories involve close adversaries who manipulate one another. Nonetheless, they differ in their communication medium – written literature or live stage performance. This analysis will clarify how women are depicted as villains depending on the medium used. It will also contribute to understanding whether there are any specific relations between narratology, gender, and its role within interpretative practice concerning literature and drama.

The antagonist of the fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel,” is an old, wicked witch who deceives and manipulates the children in order to devour them. This story mainly revolves around the ordeal experienced by these young ones. From this device, the readers are mainly meant to identify with the kids and see nothing in the witch but pure evil. In line with this description by the Brothers Grimm, “Just then the door opened, and a very old woman walking on crutches came out” (Brothers 56). Her unnatural appearance is described initially through this image of an older adult who is physically disabled and later enhanced by her tricks and malicious plans. From the story’s detail, one can see how the narrative’s perspective determines what is considered evil. We see her feeding, locking up, and attempting to cook Hansel, whilst overworking little Gretel—all from their point of view, increasing the terror and demonstrating her wickedness (Brothers 63-75). Such kind characters who pretend to offer help but harm you are familiar in fairy tales because they teach children a moral lesson about strangers.

On the contrary, Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is a much more complicated and exciting evil character. This character is considered “witchlike” similarly in the children’s story of Hansel and Gretel. However, this woman cannot be compared with a simple witch because aside from being just wicked, she also has to deal with her deep innermost thoughts: the thought about what she wants and what follows after it. Right away, it becomes clear that she plans something – “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be/ What thou art promised’ (Shakespeare 1. 5). Her manipulation of Macbeth is neither passive nor innocent but very active, well-planned, and leading to his downfall. 

Throughout Shakespeare’s narrative, Lady Macbeth becomes less malicious as she begins to go mad from grief over her many sins. The complexity portrayed here typifies Shakespeare’s morally convoluted world, an environment in which villains are not simply wicked but motivated by pride, ambition, and terror inherent in every person. There are two tales that both have female oppositions who use manipulation to achieve their goals. However, the character of Lady Macbeth is depicted in a complex manner, considering the effects of her drive and manipulation while an outright evil witch is portrayed “Hansel and Gretel.”

The particular form of media employed directly affects how readers or viewers portray and perceive these characters. For instance, within the written story of “Hansel and Gretel,” readers see things only from one side, forming an image of the witch without being offered reasons for or understanding her behavior. On the other hand, the theatrical account of Macbeth reveals a different side to events through navigating the speaking and acting characters of Lady Macbeth and others, with some complexity portraying motivation that leads to the gradual downfall on her part. Comparing these textual portrayals of female villains reveals that the nature of the work—conventional literature compared to stage production—has dramatically impacted how we interpret their persona and lies, insulting simpler interpretations in the former case.

Scholars have examined how female criminals are depicted in literature, especially regarding how and reinforces reading against such backdrops. In her thesis on witches in Literature, Haesler observes that witches are usually described as “simple evil old women” in written texts (Haesler 29). The conventional picture derived from this is inherently limited since it follows some guidelines of the patriarchy, but not all of them, for it does not delve into the characters’ thoughts and motivations.This point by Haesler is evident in the witch’s character in “Hansel and Gretel.” It was noted before that she appears like your typical bad guy who is very controlling and manipulates others while always showing her true colors and evil plans for them both. Unlike Lady Macbeth, this portrayal results primarily from a single viewpoint the text adopts within a conventional fairytale framework.

Theater provides an avenue through which one can know the complexity of a character since, in drama, sometimes a variety of different things are done or said by various people (McCall 187). A good case study for this is the character of Lady Macbeth. McCall’s paper analyzes the reasons behind this statement. By analyzing other witches first before comparing them to Lady Macbeth, one can conclude that her evil nature encompasses many factors, such as relentless determination towards her goals, which causes so much harm or even death, always feeling troubled deep down inside because she cannot control everything like she used to, and finally, tragedy occurs.

However, even though she is evil, some scholars view Lady Macbeth’s character is that of a strong feminist. The character is an evil woman full of ambition and intelligence, contradicting the conventional gender theories about Macbeth or the stereotype of women only utilizing sex appeal to achieve their goals. From these scholarly opinions on other female villains, we can see how stories have been influenced by what we see or read about women and their mischief in media forms.

The witch is portrayed as entirely wicked in “Hansel and Gretel” because of the simple narrative point of view adopted in most children’s literature and societal norms; however, this could not work with theatre script, which took another approach into considering several issues concerning motivation and conflicts within Lady Macbeth. It illustrates that different forms of media can significantly shape how people perceive and analyze female villains’ nature, whether they are considered evil characters or pitied for the tragic fate they bring upon themselves. Thus, analyzing the primary written materials alongside some additional guidelines reveals one crucial fact – women evildoers cannot be similarly seen in all classical books or plays due to formatting in literature.

Apart from analyzing written materials closely and integrating other authors’ opinions, examining visual media may also show the impact of such media on the interpretation of female villains in “Hansel and Gretel” and “Macbeth” primary texts. 

Diverse portrayals become apparent when analyzing different pictures portraying the evil female characters in these stories. For example, in most illustrated versions of “Hansel and Gretel,” the witch appears as a repulsive old woman with highly emphasized ugly characteristics that create terror and disgust and emphasize her as an utterly lousy character. These images reinforce how the text presents the identity of the witch, like every other, who is feared because of her difference – seen mainly through the innocent eyes of some children. For instance, an animated version would show the witch “as a scary old hag, with her nose covered in warts and heinous look on her face” (Brothers Grimm, Animated Film). This standard portrayal strengthens the idea that witches are pure forms of evil that lack any positive attributes.

However, the way Lady Macbeth appears in different theatre performances tells a different story altogether because it is not easy to determine the character of Lady Macbeth due to the immoral nature found in most of Shakespeare’s work. Liverpool Everyman Playhouse’s production portrays her as an intelligent temptress, showing hints of royalty behind an attire that spells sophistication. This portrayal is inconsistent with other productions, where Lady Macbeth comes off as callous and insensitive. The costume, lighting, and setting details bring out another aspect of change in character whereby she changes from being just ambitious like any other woman into someone now haunted by guilt and going insane with madness. For example, when she manipulates Macbeth in one of the scenes, her courage and ambition are brought up through intense soliloquy while highlighting the emotional chores she engages in herself. Stage-wise, it portrays how cunning she can be (Digital Theatre+, “Macbeth,” Act 1, Scene 7).

In addition, the physicality depicted when Lady Macbeth is in action brings out interesting details on her state of mind and motivation that otherwise would have given a straightforward picture. For example, in one production, there were long pauses, grimaces, and trembling fits, in this case rightly taken to imply that she is mad with guilt and has come to pieces (Digital Theatre+, “Macbeth”, Act 5, Scene 1).

Visual media dramatically influences people’s views and opinions about evil women characters from books or plays. It depends on what kind of media was taken – did they prefer stills from a comic book about “Hansel Gretel,” or maybe they used special effects during their work on “Macbeth” which could not convey everything by words alone but provided additional information for better understanding of the role? All these differences depend on specific properties inherent to the mediums through which female villains are represented and determine complex audience reactions ranging from fear/hatred towards the witch character in “Hansel and Gretel” to admiration/pity for Lady Macbeth herself. 

In conclusion, the portrayal of evil women in drama and fiction depends much upon what kind of media is used. This essay has investigated how different factors such as narrative mode, stagecraft, and iconography affect our understanding when comparing two classic texts – “Hansel and Gretel” and “Macbeth”. It follows that written literature most times uses a very plain linear female villain character. Stage performances on the other hand can avail to the development of complex female villains. Additionally, this is enhanced by visual media that reveal more about these characters’ nature through numerous symbolic representations. These results are important for understanding the ways through which media constructs gender and morality in literature and art. In conclusion, one must take into account the communication channel employed in a given story so as to understand and judge correctly the role and character of female villains therein depicted.

Works Cited

Brothers Grimm. Hansel and Gretel. BompaCrazy. Com, 1975.

Brewer, David. “Macbeth.” Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres, Everyman&Playhouse, 11 June 2011, www.everymanplayhouse.com/whats-on/macbeth-2011. 

Digital Theatre+. “Macbeth.” Act 1, Scene 7, Act 5, Scene 1. Digital Theatre+, 2018. https://education.digitaltheatreplus.com/he-explore-digital-theatre/shakespeare-early-modern

Haesler, Jóna Kristín Óttarsdóttir. Witches in Literature. The changes of the witch figure throughout history. Diss. 2021.

McCall, Jessica. Monsters and Villains of Movies and Literature. ABC-CLIO, 2019.

Merino Calle, Beatriz. “Disney Witches and Feminism.” The Disney Middle Ages: A Fairytale and Fantasy Past. Ed. Tison Pugh. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2020. 11-23.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth: A Tragedy. Mathews and Leigh, 1807.

Categories
Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales’ Psychological Effects on Readers

Grob, Virginie. Aurora, Belle, and SnowWhite. 2011, Deviant Art.

By: Katelin Dunagan

Fairy tales are so popular because of their similar themes, tropes, and character types. Readers feel comforted knowing who the real heroes and villains are, unlike in the real world. They root for princes to save their passive, delicate maidens and despise evil queens for being wicked. However, these classic fairy tale archetypes can affect more than just a person’s grasp of a story being told. Fairy tales have distinct psychological effects on those who read them; they affect people’s personalities and interactions with others, expectations and expressions of behavior, and even views on social status and class.

Fairy tales affect readers through each story’s characters. These characters maintain roles that are easy to understand. Each character serves a specific purpose to either aid or obstruct the heroine in the story. Russian fairy tale expert, Vladimir Propp, classifies these character types as dramatis personae. The dramatis personae types include the following: a villain, donor or provider, helper, princess (sought-after person), and her father, dispatcher, hero, and false hero. Using the Grimm’s “Cinderella” to demonstrate this model, characters can be organized into their dramatis personae with the main villain being the stepmother, the princess being Cinderella, the donor or provider being Cinderella’s father, the helpers being the birds, the hero being the prince, the dispatcher being the king’s announcement, and the false heroes being the stepsisters (Tatar 160-166). Essentially, every fairy tale contains character types that fit into the dramatis personae framework, and “Cinderella” is just one example of this.

Cinderella. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, RKO Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, 1950.

Propp’s dramatis personae structure is also a just singular representation of the many classifications of fairy tale characters into types. Based upon these different structures of classification, psychologists have been interested in the connections between character roles and human behavior. Psychologist Carl Jung contributed to these ideas, “proposing that it was primarily unconscious fantasies and symbols that steered human actions,” (Moxnes & Moxnes 1522). Inspired by Jung’s archetypal views, Paul and Andreas Moxnes created a study that examined the connection between fairy tale roles and group work. 

Their study involved developing fourteen roles representing, “14 fairy tale characters” (Moxnes & Moxnes 1526). These roles are based upon seven archetypal roles, with a good and bad version of each role. The good and bad versions or “deep roles” are “a subset of seven instinctual archetypal roles split into antithetical components portrayed as four primary family roles plus three supplementary roles, each split into a good and bad part” (Moxnes & Moxnes 1525). For example, under the archetypal role of “Mother,” they created the deep roles of “Queen” and “Witch” (Moxnes & Moxnes 1525). The “Queen” corresponds to the good part of “Mother” and contrasts perfectly with the bad part, the “Witch.” 

Moxnes, Paul & Moxnes, Andreas. “Are We Sucked into Fairy Tale Roles? Role Archetypes in   Imagination and Organization.”Organization Studies, vol. 37, num. 10, 2016, pp. 1519-153.

After developing the fourteen roles, Moxnes & Moxnes had each participant assign everyone in their group to one of the roles. They determined how similar each person’s assignments were to the rest of the group. They found that their “quantitative observations strongly suggest that group members attribute fairy tale roles to fellow group members in a non-random fashion far more often than would be expected by chance alone” (Moxnes & Moxnes 1535). The study surpassed the threshold of chance and found that many participants identified a group member as the same character type chosen by other members of their group. While this is not confirmation that every person in a group identifies others as fairy tale characters, it supports the idea that people are affected by fairy tale character types, even if it is on a subconscious level.

This is important information for those involved in fields where teamwork is key. Character types can parallel stereotypes that brand people as one thing or idea. It can be difficult to share or contribute high-quality work if someone is branded as the “Witch” on their team. That person becomes controlled through “projective identification” (Moxnes & Moxnes 1534). This is a psychological concept where the stereotyped person, “becomes a character in the group that is created by the group and controlled by the group” (Moxnes & Moxnes 1534). They can subconsciously mirror the behaviors that their peers project onto them and act as the group sees them. Understanding how fairy tale roles impact a group can help keep harmful stereotypes from causing negative consequences such as projective identification. 

It has been determined that there is support for fairy tale characters influencing people’s views of one another but how does this apply to people’s views of themselves? For young women specifically, fairy tales often set unrealistic expectations of purity and selflessness. In both “Cinderella” and “Snow White,” the heroine, “endures her plight virtuously, seemingly without hostility or even complaint. Her salvation and happiness rest on winning the love of a prince, who has the power to rescue her” (Bassen 238). This communicates the idea that women shouldn’t have autonomy or express their negative emotions towards others. 

This is problematic for young women facing coming-of-age conflicts comparable to those portrayed in these tales. These stories perpetuate unhealthy standards of emotional expression for a group that already, “consciously or unconsciously equate asserting themselves with being selfish and unlikeable” (Bassen 248). Women shouldn’t be afraid to be advocates for themselves or to strive for success. Unfortunately, this issue stems from conflict in relationships between mothers and daughters as well as patriarchal influences. Bassen describes this saying, “Unconsciously, many women believe that the only way they can retain their mother’s approval and love is to remain dependent, a carbon copy or a narcissistic extension who denies any wish to separate, compete, or surpass” (249). In essence, to keep their mother’s approval, daughters believe they must not be more successful, desirable, or free-thinking. 

Through recognition of the mother-daughter opposition, one can prevent harmful habits from seeping into other relationships as well. An imbalanced mother-daughter relationship can affect that daughter’s eventual interaction with a partner. Bassen notices this behavior in some of her psychological patients as they became afraid of their partner’s anger, stemming from their relationship with their mother (249). Fairy tale readers must understand that “Snow White” and “Cinderella” handle coming-of-age and mother-daughter conflict poorly. They dismiss natural emotional responses to situations and reinforce outdated concepts of how women should behave. However, they do demonstrate that mother-daughter conflict has occurred for centuries and that it is an issue most women will face at some point in their lives. With the appropriate lens, one that highlights the shortcomings of these tales, there is a lot to be gained from reading these stories. As long as one is not negatively influenced in their perception of themselves.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Directed by David Hand, Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, Wilfred Jackson, William Cottrell, and Ben Sharpsteen, RKO Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, 1937.

The last way fairy tales psychologically influence readers is through ideologies and social structures. In “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, there are very distinct social classes present that play a major part in the tale’s wish fulfillment. Beauty’s family, “are an upwardly mobile merchant family,” that has fallen upon hard times and is forced to farm and lower their status (Rucki & Ortiz 43). Eventually, Beauty meets the Beast, and throughout the story, they form a partnership that leads to marriage. Notice, that Beauty’s family do not start as peasants or farmers originally, which makes Beauty’s eventual rise in class more acceptable. She was once close to the class she would rise into, so it is more acceptable for her to marry into nobility with the Beast. 

Beaumont is using his 18th century, aristocratic perspective, to structure his tale according to the class system he wants to uphold. He does this by incentivizing the virtues he deems appropriate. For example, Beauty, when compared to her sisters, is, “…neither prideful nor social. She is kind, loyal, self-sacrificing…” (Rucki & Ortiz 42). She contains the virtues Beaumont believes women of status should have and therefore she is rewarded with a rise in nobility. He is influencing his readers to accept and understand this structure as the social rule. 

Beauty and the Beast. Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 1991.

This tale is a very effective piece of persuasive propaganda because it will be read by the exact demographic Beaumont intends to reach. The upper aristocratic women he believes should embody more virtuous, selfless behaviors. It can also be dangerous; it is an example of conditioning readers to do as the author wishes. They may not realize this is what is occurring because it is in the form of a fairy tale. This kind of conditioning influences readers and familiarizes them with a “correct” social structure, in this example, it is the structure Beaumont supports. 

It is evident that fairy tales have profound psychological effects on readers. Through their archetypal characters, fairy tales shape perceptions of self and others and reinforce outdated behavioral expectations. They influence readers concepts of social structure by leveraging happiness and wish fulfillment. Only through critical examination of these tales, can valuable insights be pulled from the stories without negative consequences. While fairy tales continue to enchant and captivate audiences, it is essential to approach them with a discerning eye, mindful of their ability to shape beliefs and attitudes in both subtle and significant ways.

Works Cited

Bassen, Cecile R. “Happily Ever After: Depictions of Coming of Age in Fairy Tales.” Psychoanalysis and Women Series, edited by Tognoli Pasquali, Laura & Thomson-Salo, Frances, Karnac Books, 2014, pp. 237-254.

Beauty and the Beast. Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 1991.

Cinderella. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, RKO Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, 1950.

Grob, Virginie. Aurora, Belle, and SnowWhite. 2011, Deviant Art.

Moxnes, Paul & Moxnes, Andreas. “Are We Sucked into Fairy Tale Roles? Role Archetypes in   Imagination and Organization.”Organization Studies, vol. 37, num. 10, 2016, pp. 1519-153.

Rucki, Shelia M. & Ortiz, Lisa. “Hegemonic Systems and the Politics of Happiness: The Fairy Tale as Ideology.” Perspectives on Happiness: Concepts, Conditions, and Consequences, vol. 121, 2019, pp. 1570-7113. 

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Directed by David Hand, Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, Wilfred Jackson, William Cottrell, and Ben Sharpsteen, RKO Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, 1937.

Tartar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales (Second Edition) (Norton Critical Editions). W. W. Norton & Company, 2017.

Categories
Fairy Tales

“Why do Black Disney Characters Always Turn into Animals?”: A Media Analysis of The Princess and the Frog: Prisons With and Without Walls.

By: Taha Douhaj

Rows of people talking and whispering amongst themselves, all one step closer, and one shilling poorer. They whisper and discuss in eager excitement about who or what they are about to see. It’s 1810 and in London, the Piccadilly circus is exhibiting what they call on pamphlets as the “Hottentot Venus.” A group of kids and adults alike squeeze and fight their way through a huddle of incoherent whispers. Rumors spread that if you spend one more shilling you can poke the exhibition. The lights start to dim and the curtain begins to flap signaling the unveiling of what the circus calls “The missing link between man and beast” (Imma 137).

Sarah Baartman was a Khoisan woman taken from her home in the cape of South Africa to become a circus animal due to having steatopygia, which caused a build-up of fat in her buttocks. Sarah would get on stage, and be put in a cage by an actor acting as her “trainer.” This trainer would then tell her to sit and stand as he did to the other circus animals (Gordon-Chipembere 10). This correlation of hypersexuality and beastification towards black men and women was sparked by Bartman and countless other exploited black bodies. This vaudevillian way of thinking is reflective of a racist synchronicity between animals and Africans, an idea that still persists in our modern-day society. Forever immortalized in the pages of stories and strips of celluloid in films, “the missing link between man of beast” occurs in subliminal means. Instead of paying a shilling to watch or poke Sarah Baartmann, we now pay $10.00 a month, and that’s if you want ads.

There was something peculiar that struck me about Baartman shows, in every ad Baartman shows were indiscriminate of age and welcomed children (Kelsey-Sugg 1). It was as if this hyper-sexuality and animal-fication of black bodies were something that must be embedded in minds of all ages, young or old. A social dogma is then created in which a correlation between  black body and beast was seen as obstinate and true. Today not only is this hypersexualization and animalification seen in adult mediums, akin to porn or adult-themed films or texts; it is as well subtly ingrained in children’s fairy tales and Disney movies. This essay will uncover and delve into a phenomenon, in Disney Pixar animated fairy tale films, that have their black characters transform into animals for a majority of their screen time. Even with intentions of right full representations and a black crew and cast this phenomenon still exists in movies like The Princess and the Frog and new releases like Soul. In relation to the movie The Princess and the Frog anthropomorphic representation is used with racist iconography and caricatures that are explained by antiquated racist beliefs and origins that have still persisted in our modern-day media, but now occur through subliminal means. Therefore, if a light is shined on this unconscious phenomenon and its malicious origins, there can be a hopeful chain reaction from awareness to action. 

Origins 

“Some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as at present between the negro or Australian and the gorilla” (Darwin 236). In Charles Darwin’s 1871 book The Descent of Man Darwin’s theory claims Africans and aboriginal Australians are more closely related to apes than the Caucasians of the European continent. Darwin’s ideas and theories permeate through classrooms and lecture halls across the globe. The glorification of Darwin’s works signifies a universality of his ideas that is not only applicable to the world of academia, but as well as the cultural economy of a society, however as a society, no matter Darwin’s positive and progressive ways of thought, one must not ignore the perversions of ancient thought. In the world of academia African bodies have been related to animals as evidence of racist ideologies equating black bodies to being either subhuman or, as Darwin describes, “savages..with hideously perforated lips, nostrils, or ears, and distorted heads” (495). When multiple respected scholars and scientists use the idea of the Animification of black men and women in scientific journals, these correlations then seep into our entertainment and cultural spheres of influence.

Circuses and plays of the past would use black inferiority as a plot device and or as evidence. Sarah Baartman, as aforementioned, was a byproduct of scientific studies and experiments using the African continent as one big experiment to test the ideas of Black civilization and inferior to the civilizations of the West. When Baartman died in the house of S. Reaux, her animal trainer used in shows, the first on the scene to carry her exhausted 26-year-old body was first “a team of zoologists, anatomists, and naturalists”(Chipembere 10). European construction of African and Animal continued for years seeping into art and literature, “Europeans were seen to be in the most superior position and Africans in close developmental proximity to animals” (Imma 138). Art later embraced pervasive stereotypes of African Americans such as the Mammy, Uncle Tom, Black Buck/Brute, etc. To describe black men and women as either lazy, violent, and above all Animalistic. These stereotypes were formed, and some were even inspired by “discoveries” and exploitation of Sarah Baartman and others.  

“How Sleeps the Beast” Tracy 1954

  “The Black Buck” in the film “The Birth of a Nation” 1915

In films and racist cartoons and novels, black men and women are represented to have beast-like and animalistic tendencies. Like the “buck,” as represented in the film “The Birth of a Nation”, the buck is a symbol of the racist correlation between animals and Africans that was prevalent in American cinema (Bogle 37). One company that was a part of a cinematic boom in the early 20th century was Disney. Although Disney fairy tale films depict worlds of talking animals, these animals are still not separate from, “Darwinian concepts of “survival of the fittest,” in which only the fiercest animals survive” (Condis, 2015). However, a trend in old and new Disney movies is a piece of imagery that is symbolic “Disney films depict Black characters as having a deeper connection to the beast within them, thereby perpetuating racism” (Dundes and Streiff  2016). Every piece of art is filtered and processed through a primary perspective or gaze. Disney’s lessons on dominant presuppositions are reflections of Western society and ideals. By utilizing fairy tales as the base of their films a reflection of a company that embodies family and wholesome values. It is these inherent biases from outside society and dominating presence in cultural spheres that make Disney films not only influential but dangerous.

Disney’s representation of black characters through the years is seen as problematic and reflective of a past dominant Gaze of a racist zeitgeist. In old Disney films like Dumbo (1941) a group of animated crows are used to help Dumbo learn how to fly. These characters are dressed in stereotypical African American garb and speak in African-American Vernacular English (AAEVE), being portrayed as a group of caricatured black men. The leader of these black crows is named “Jim Crow.” This history of obviously racist characters was met with criticism in later years. In response to racial criticism Disney started to develop a film with the goal to have a female black lead (Enoch 6). However, racial stereotypes still persist and an anthropomorphic transformation that changes a black character for more than half their run time occurs in the film. Disney moved from obvious racist characters and moved to subtly depict them. 

The Princess and the Frog 

Although Disney tried to make The Princess and the Frog to dismantle previous notions of a racist past, this mission is absolved when the film is viewed through a critical eye. Tiana and other black characters are presented as animals. Not as beautiful swans (The Swan Princess 1994) but as swamp-dwelling creatures like frogs, crocodiles, and horse flies lathered in mucus. Louis, the crocodile, recalls a memory in which he tries to join a band and is met with utter disgust and fear, there is an inherent disgust interpreted with these creatures.

When Tiana first discovers the prince as a frog she instinctively beats the frog with a book in utter revulsion. These animals are not met with love, like Snow White and other woodland creatures, but black characters–as these creatures–are treated as subhuman and must be either exterminated or met with fear. Tiffany Tyantan Enoch, a media scholar at the University of South Carolina notes that “Tiana spends more time as a frog throughout the course of the movie (57 minutes of the film’s 97-minute running time) than she does as a human being—let alone as a princess” (Enoch 10). Disney’s first black Princess is an animal for more than half of her run time. This assumption of black people and animals are a reflection of broader historical and cultural contexts. This subhuman representation of black men and women compared to white elites is a motif that reinforces ideas of black inferiority in the eyes of a white-dominant gaze that elicits control and power. Her runtime makes her Disney’s first animal princess and this fear of putting a black woman on screen is scary to the company, by putting a “stand in” for her there is an attempt to save face. It’s important to note that Tiana is molded to be the amalgamation of two black Jim Crow media stereotypes: The Jezebel and The Mammy.Although Disney tried to make The Princess and the Frog to dismantle previous notions of a racist past, this mission is absolved when the film is viewed through a critical eye. Tiana and other black characters are presented as animals. Not as beautiful swans (The Swan Princess 1994) but as swamp-dwelling creatures like frogs, crocodiles, and horse flies lathered in mucus. Louis, the crocodile, recalls a memory in which he tries to join a band and is met with utter disgust and fear, there is an inherent disgust interpreted with these creatures. When Tiana first discovers the prince as a frog she instinctively beats the frog with a book in utter disgust. These animals are not met with love, like Snow White and other woodland creatures, but black characters–as these creatures–are treated as subhuman and must be either exterminated or met with fear. Tiffany Tyantan Enoch, a media scholar at the University of South Carolina notes that “Tiana spends more time as a frog throughout the course of the movie (57 minutes of the film’s 97-minute running time) than she does as a human being—let alone as a princess” (Enoch 10). Disney’s first black Princess is an animal for more than half of her run time. This assumption of black people and animals are a reflection of broader historical and cultural contexts. This subhuman representation of black men and women compared to white elites is a motif that reinforces ideas of black inferiority in the eyes of a white-dominant gaze that elicits control and power. Her runtime makes her Disney’s first animal princess and this fear of putting a black woman on screen is scary to the company, by putting a “stand in” for her there is an attempt to save face. It’s important to note that Tiana is molded to be the amalgamation of two black Jim Crow media stereotypes: The Jezebel and The Mammy.

The Jezebel stereotype is a Jim Crow-era stereotype that portrays the victim in the otherness faced by black Americans. Sarah Baartman was the original Jezebel, a victim of adverse sexualization and animalization, “the Jezebel is representing wild animals by using Black characters—particularly, Black women—creates an “otherness” that divides them from civilized society and is represented by the “Jezebel” archetype” (Enoch 14). Promiscuous and lacking self-control of one’s sexual proclivity and others is the Jezebel. As if he is programmed by a gaze of sexuality, Prince Naveen responds to Tiana as if she were a “Jezebel.” After fleeing from a group of alligators, Prince Naveen and Tiana are stuck in a hollow tree and forced to interact. This confined space has Naveen tell Tiana, “Well, waitress, looks like we will be here for a while. So, we might as well get comfortable” (The Princess and the Frog, 35:35-35:45). Tiana constantly refuses Naveen’s sexual advances and is played off as a joke throughout the film as if her “No’s” would transform into “Yes’s” in the blink of an eye. 

Blood sweat and tears are what make up the Mammy stereotype. A pre-Civil War/slavery stereotype of the Black maid or help, that finds solace in aiding whites then her own liberation. From Vaudeville stages to being the first film shown in the White House: The Birth of Nation. The hardworking servant of a white family is a trope still seen today. Tiana is one of the only princesses whose hard work and labor are done through voluntary servitude and ambition. One scene that strikes this trope to its core, is in the first act of the film in which Tiana prepares for her work and waits tables at dinner, this dinner rush means that Tiana must take the load of three waitresses. In true Mammy fashion, although sleep-deprived and angry, Tiana saves face and hides her true feelings and pretends to be happy, “Tiana’s multiple jobs are not presented as a consequence of oppression and racial disparity, but rather as a sign of character development and a way to achieve the American dream” (Gregory, S.M., 2010). These stereotypes and lack of physical/virtual representation of a black face to the face of a green frog are detrimental. When little girls watch a film and eagerly look for a movie that is representative of them, a problem arises when an animal then acts as a substitute for that representation. 

Disney’s dominant and powerful gaze has the ability to portray a beauty standard reflective of a zeitgeist and for a black woman to be that princess and figurehead for said beauty standard is just rectifying a past wrong. There is a subconscious association between black characters and animals, seen in films like Soul 2020, Brother Bear 2003, and Emperors New Groove 2000 have black or minority characters turned into animals. “The continued depiction of Black characters as animals (e.g., frogs) … reinforces harmful stereotypes and prejudices, thereby promoting the idea that Black people are subhuman and undeserving of the same rights and dignity as white people” (Enoch 8). If these racist correlations between African and Animal exist even now but occur through subtle and subliminal means; the problem is not gone but now is hidden. 

The Gaze

Is this bestialization of carnal representation of black bodies a voluntary practice or is it a mere remnant of a racist past? Now this animalistic representation is a tenant of something more symbolic, something more appalling. When creators like Oprah Winfrey act as, not only voice actors but consultants of the The Princess and the Frog and these correlations still exist then what can be the solution? Again when black writers and producers exist in movies like Soul and this correlation still persists there is a problem that is being understated.

Drawing on Micheal Foucault’s Panopticon analogy, an examination of how external and internal forces contribute to the oppression of the black minority. Micheal Foucault, a 20th- century French philosopher, examines the “gaze” of society and how surveillance and observation function as mechanisms of power within disciplinary institutions. Foucault elucidates this power in his analogy of prisons. Describing a design of a prison called the panopticon. Foucault elucidates how the panopticon’s design, featuring a central watchtower enabling continuous monitoring of inmates, embodies a power mechanism reliant on perpetual surveillance. This surveillance instills a sense of visibility and control, prompting inmates to internalize the sensation of being observed and adjust their conduct to align with expected standards. Foucault contends that the panoptic structure, characterized by the omnipresent gaze of the observer, extends beyond the physical confines of the prison to infiltrate various societal domains. He further suggests that even if the watchtower were to become tinted and inside is no observer, the power of the gaze still persists and permeates every cell block. This internalized power shapes individuals’ behavior, disciplining them to adhere to societal norms even without direct oversight. Even when no one is in the tower, inmates still feel the power of the gaze and structure their lives around the gaze of someone not even there.

To utilize this idea within media literacy black oppressive stereotypes and anamorphic representation exist within the black creators, because of an innate/inmate programming. This internalization of the dominant gaze can lead to self-objectification and internalized oppression, wherein individuals come to see themselves through the lens of the dominant culture and internalize negative stereotypes about their own identities. This animal-fication of black characters is a byproduct of generations of programming from a dominant disciplinary gaze, and creators still act within the realms of this gaze. When no one is watching these creators act within the confines of the gaze shackled to a domination that lies dormant beneath the pages of frames of a piece of art. The impact of the dominant gaze extends far beyond explicit acts of censorship or control, infiltrating the very essence of artistic expression and perpetuating cycles of oppression. It underscores the need for critical engagement with the power dynamics inherent in storytelling and the importance of dismantling oppressive structures to foster authentic and empowering narratives. By acknowledging the pervasive influence of the dominant gaze and working to dismantle its hold, we can strive towards more inclusive and equitable representations in media.

Conclusion

When starting this analysis there was a meager amount of information on the topic. If a light can be shown on this phenomenon and a spotlight on a racist past one can expand their lens of media literacy and view art through another more critical lens. Because of the lack of information on the phenomena, there exists a problem of unawareness that can drive this problem forward and this subconscious correlation between a minority and animals will linger in cultural spheres. If these antiquated disciplinary gazes continue to define us, we will not be free but will continue to be prisoners disciplined by an invisible eye. By first being aware of the origin and history of malicious black representation, and understanding a phenomenon that is a remnant of said history, one can be informed. If enough regular viewers can be aware of these racist souvenirs of the past a critical eye can be formed that can be used for all media; nevertheless, awareness does not stop at the viewer, but to future artists who can be aware of the very gaze they work under. A chain starting from awareness to action can be directed. Let the sins of the past die and let us be aware and truly evolve into a society no longer shackled by the ghosts of the past, but guided by new beacons and horizons. No longer guided by spotlights from watchtowers but now by the lights of our own flashlights. If society cares to move forward, a reflection from the past is necessary: Baartman’s people, the Khosian say “When the moon dies every month, let the sin in me die with it. When the moon is reborn each month, let the good in me be reborn with it.” 

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