The basic arguments that I got from the reading was...
By monopolizing the animation film industry and making fairy tales a flashy spectacle or cheap trick, Disney violated the fairy tale tradition to the extreme. Disney tailors the tales to his specific fit and captivates his audience so much as they don't care that his stories are flat as long as they are aesthetically magnificent or entertaining. Audiences become so blinded by his works that they fail to notice or embrace others mostly because he has put on a good show but sometimes and rarely he appeals to the American spirit.
Zipes goes through great lengths to explain the origin of fairy tales. He states that fairy tales come from an oral tradition and with that tradition comes a sense of community, shared experience and beliefs. The literary tradition, although it destroys fairy tales by making them private and for certain classes, it still has contained in it communal beliefs or ways of behaving. The move to film destroys all communal ties and makes the tale about the individual, that is the illustrator. The image not the the tale or what is encoded in the tale has the most staying power. Disney entirely kills the fairy tales by making them mostly about his experiences and projecting his works as a product of one pair of hands. This is evident in the interpretations of his Puss in Boots and Snow White. Disney further slaughters the fairy tale by not making the focus what audiences can learn from the tale or infer about society. Disney focuses on technology, modernity and aesthetics. Fairy tales are the examples of the advancement of technology. Fairy tales are diversions, images, spectacles or tricks and we are not suppose to read into them. "Everything is one the surface, one-dimesional, and we are to delight in its one-dimensional portrayal and thinking." It comfortable, fun, easy and adorable. Disney has stopped the thinking audience and its imagination. I agree with Zipes argument in that it is difficult today for me to think of films of fairy tales without thinking of Disney. On the first day of class when we were asked to think of other films it took me a couple of hours later to come up with one that was not a disney animation or film. I mostly remember liking disney films especially for its charming qualities and catchy tunes. I don't think I ever learned anything from the disney films I just thought they were great shows.
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I think you make some great points in your assessment of Zipes article, particularly when you say that Disney has made the fairy tale about him, and not really the shared values and beliefs of our culture (i.e. you learn nothing from it). However, I am skeptical to say agree that this deviates far from oral tradition. While in the past stories may have been more for education, the story teller would without a doubt tailor the story to meet his own ideas and thoughts. Also, the more flashy a story is, the more entertaining it is to the listeners. If you think about it, it makes sense. Lets say that you are in a rural community in the 15th century. Whose story would you rather listen to: the version that is straightforward and dry?, or the flashy, amusing, sensational story that will entertain you for sure. I think the answer is obvious.
ReplyDeleteWhile Zipes did say the the move to film made fairytales non-communal and all about the illustrator, I think it is important to note that fairytales, oral and not evolved with time. Zipes also said that tales would change as the community change. If Disney was mainly focusing on America, I think that the adaptation of the fairytale in some ways is okay. Disney simply modified fairytales to relate to his "community".
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