Wednesday, February 4, 2015

12 Lessons I've Learned From Disney

So.... over the weekend a friend of mine posted some not so nice things about Disney. Their feelings about Disney are not a shock to me. They've posted and ranted and raved about Disney many times in the past. Usually, I try to ignore these posts. This time though... it just hit me the wrong way and I cannot stay silent any longer.

I won't quote their entire post in here. Basically, they said they hate Disney, they are evil, brainwash children, the films aren't good, they have no integrity, blah blah blah. 

It's not a secret I love Disney. I completely adore Disney and sing the songs on a regular basis and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go watch Frozen later today or at some point this week because there's snow everywhere and just... I have to.

I won't deny Disney has it's flaws. There's lack of diversity (which they are slllllooooowwwwwlllly working on and there's more diversity than people realize), the whole "let's marry a man we just met!" thing, characters who don't look realistic, etc. 

I mean... I can't tell you how many times I tried to do this in the swimming pool in the summer and my hair never did the cool flippy thing like Ariel's.


CLEARLY DISNEY YOU GAVE ME UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS ABOUT HAIR AND NOW I AM SCARED FOR LIFE AND BRAINWASHED HAVE A BAD IMAGE OF MY BODY BECAUSE OF THIS OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Really? It's a cartoon. Life will never be like cartoons and photo-shopped super models and actresses and musicians and other forms of media are more than likely have more of an impact on our negative than you know... A CARTOON. Can we all just agree on this? Okay, cool. Moving on.


Therefore, in defense of my beloved Disney, I'm going to share with you the top 12 lessons (in no particular order) their movies have taught me. Also - an excuse to use a million Disney GIFs is always good in my book.

1) If you meet a man whom everyone swoons over, but he thinks girls shouldn't read or think, you should run far far away as fast as you possibly can.


2) Disney learns from their mistakes and are adjusting their stories to fit our culture more and to promote positive life choices. Such as not marrying a man you just met.


3) Not everyone is perfect. We make bad choices and have issues and have troubles we need to get through. But we can still have love and fight through them.


 4) Friendship is beautiful.


5) We need to look past our differences and learn to make peace. Even when everyone seems to be against us.


6) Sometimes, the relationships which are the most destructive are the ones which are the hardest to break from - but you DO have strength and you CAN stand up for yourself.


7) Love sometimes means sacrificing yourself.


8) #likeagirl


9) It's when we are truly ourselves we can love others and be loved back.


10) The past hurts, but we can't let it define us. Instead, learn from our mistakes and do something about it.



11) Never stop dreaming - but that doesn't mean we just sit around and wait for it to happen.



12) There is no perfect family. Some families are big, some small, some have both parents, some one, some none, some several, but they're still beautiful.


Also, I love this set of images I found on Pinterest. 


 

 And if you don't like Disney and think less of me because I love them... your loss.


I am a princess. Long may I reign.

What have you learned from Disney? Who is your favorite character? Favorite movie? Quote? Share your Disney love!

13 comments:

  1. Not gonna lie, my immediate reaction to this post was "Oh shit, what did I say about Disney?!"

    I've only seen it once, but I think my favourite CARTOON Disney movie (because obviously my favourite Disney movies would be anything Marvel and Pirates of the Caribbean...) would have to be The Emperor's New Groove. Because reasons.

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    1. Haha. Don't worry - it wasn't you! You're very respectful in your opinions about Disney so it's all good. This guy... it was flat out rude and he tends to do it pretty often. It drives me crazy!

      And Emperor's New Groove, Marvel, and Pirates are all fabulous.

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    2. The Emperor's New Groove is pretty fabulous. I think it gets forgotten often, but yea, it's pretty great.

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  2. I love Disney... I honestly don't see what people think is so bad about it, Disney movies just made me happy as a child and they still do as an adult! Favorite Character is probably Belle or Ariel or Tianna, and favorite movie is currently Aladdin,

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    1. I KNOW! Disney is so awesome! Why do people hate it? WHY?????

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  3. Disney movies helped define my childhood, and they were always a bright spot if something negative or sad was going on. I love them and re-watch them often. Mulan, Hercules, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, 101 Dalmatians...it's always so hard to play favourites!
    I've never understood how some people can hate these films as much as they do, or be as critical as some people are. Thanks for pointing out some of the great messages and lessons that can be found by watching them!

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    1. Me too! Disney were a staple of my childhood and I watched the movies and listened to the soundtracks all of the time. They're all just so wonderful.

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  4. I get kind of annoyed when people bash Disney princesses, or Disney in general, for a lot of reasons you mentioned here. If you really think that watching a movie with a princess in it is going to cause some kind of lasting harm to your kid, frankly, I don't think you're giving your kid enough credit. The movies that have the most issues with sexism, etc. are the older ones, and I like that they're changing the image of what princesses should be with the newer movies.

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    1. I KNOW! And kids understand more than we realize. I mean, I remember being a kid and seeing how women were treated in some movies but I understood that "Oh hey, that's just how it was back then. It's not like that now." and it wasn't a big deal. Even with the romances I think part of me knew that wasn't real because I was watching a cartoon movie.

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  5. Great post - I love Disney too! I finally got to watch both Tangled and Frozen for the first time a few weeks ago and enjoyed them both, especially Tangled, so Disney films definitely still do it for me. Love the Snow White gif at the end ;)

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    1. AH! They're all just so good! I love it so much. I might need to go watch a Disney movie now...

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  6. Oh my gosh, I love this so much. I realize that there is something to be said about a 26-year old girl who is infatuated with Disney. But if loving Disney as an adult is wrong, I don't want to be right! And while there are a crap-ton of airheaded, whitewashed princesses setting examples for little girls, there are also some badass women. Even as a kid Mulan and Belle were my two favorites. A warrior woman and a bookworm- I love that! :)

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