This is the story of a guy called John Carter. He’s a protagonist from a series of Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novels. The first is called “The Princess of Mars” because the book is as much about Dejah Thoris, the titular princess, as it is about Carter. Today Disney releases its adaptation of the book, called “John Carter.” Wait, what? “John Carter” sounds like an Oscar-bait movie about an unassuming middle management guy who has a mid-life crisis and learns the meaning of family, or something like that. It definitely doesn’t bring the genre “space epic” to mind. So … Continue reading →

On Monday I introduced the concept that the stereotypical images presented by the leading men in Disney films might have a harmful impact on young boys’ growing ideals. I suggested that many of the main male characters in Disney films are one-dimensional and teach boys that good looks and martial prowess are essential facets of the ideal man. We need to look at the overall image the Disney princes/men present to young boys. Most of them are princes, and even those who aren’t are still handsome, dashing, and masterful in a fight. So that’s the sort of men boys think … Continue reading →

Last February I spent a weekend visiting my sister-in-law baking cookies and watching Disney movies; our husbands both weren’t included (though hers was in the house, but he mostly hid from us). We first made plans for our Disney weekend discussing “Beauty and the Beast.” We both love the movie so much we always sing along with the songs, and usually follow along with the dialog as well. We talked about how we can never watch the movie with anyone else, because others usually find our tendency to recite the whole film annoying. So we figured we’d match each other … Continue reading →