I wonder if all those older Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast were not for little girls, but for little boys. While it is true that most of Disney’s output has been targeting girls of late, it seems to me that this has not always been the case. The phenomenon of the “Disney Princess” is something that appeared within the last decade or so when Disney saw a opportunity.
Think about those older animated movies. In many of them, the male protagonist is usually thrown in at the end or a side show compared to the princess, who is usually the central character. This is not to denigrate the male character or Disney’s portrayal of him, but to highlight that the central character is usually the “princess.”
The “princess” is usually portrayed as virtuous and without fault. She is perfect in her own way and as such, no character growth is required of her. This would make for a boring movie, so in place of portraying a flawed individual overcome her own personal demons, she instead falls victim to (or fights against) external evils. In many cases, she is a victim of curses or evil forces beyond her control.
Contrast that to the male characters who are almost always portrayed as flawed or, in some cases, the cause of the misfortune that falls on the “princess”. In Beauty and the Beast, for example, the “Beast” is cursed because he is selfish and nasty. It is only through Belle that he is made into a “proper” man.
This theme is common in many fairy tale-like stories, not necessarily limited to Disney. We often see the woman, being pure and virtuous, fixing the man who is flawed and selfish. This is pretty much the basis of most romance movies. The woman fixes the man. But I digress.
My point is that these movies are designed, I think, to target little boys and make them think that girls are pure and virtuous and are the ones who can save them from their evil tendencies. As of late, this trend has pretty much been abandoned as seen in Frozen, though. But at the same time, we now have a generation that has grown up watching Belle tame the Beast, Aladdin fighting for a rebellious princess instead of stealing for a living, and Simba reasserting the circle of life for the sake of his estranged girlfriend.
The common theme is “Men bad, women good”. This would all be fine if it were true. But the truth is, women are among the most deceptive and manipulative creatures on the planet. They have to be because they are not physically stronger than men and are oftentimes intellectually inferior (not necessarily stupider, just not interested really). So they have to find ways to survive and will use any tool at their disposal to get what they want.
Yes, even the virtuous ones may fake an orgasm from time to time in order to get the job done and keep her man happy. And a happy man means he will continue to give her his resources that he earns through his work.
There is nothing wrong with this really. Being shrewd is a virtue, as Jesus Himself stated, and women certainly are better at it than men are. I think what many in the so-called manosphere really encourage is for men to be wiser and shrewder than women, which is why most women naturally resent it.
So for all of you young men who were exposed to all those Disney movies growing I say this: they are nothing but lies and misconceptions when it comes to how women really are. Women are, like men, flawed and selfish individuals in their own right. They just go about it in a much different way than men do.
I remember hearing about how literature and entertainment oftentimes portrays women in a dual light: either as wretches or as angels. There is very little in-between. And it often happens in cycles, where at some points in time, they are devils, where as at other points in time, they are angels.
Perhaps it is high time that we portray women for who they really are. Then again, it might be a bad marketing move since most entertainment is consumed by women, not men. This would certainly explain why Disney movies get it wrong so much: they have to go through the mommy filter first.