My obsession with Clueless began in 4th grade. My best friend and I admired the pretty actresses and their "like totally stellar" clothes. I dreamed of owning a revolving closet with a computer system that would put together outfits, just like Cher. We laughed at the jokes, even though we didn't understand half of them. I certainly did not know that the movie is based off of Jane Austen's "Emma". At age 10, "Clueless" was nothing more than pure entertainment and fantasy: picturing myself as a matured 16 year-old, driving an awesome car, wearing stylish clothes, and kissing boys. But what may seem like pure entertainment, can actually become quite toxic, especially for girls so young and impressionable.
During my last semester at BC I took a class called "Disney and the Wondertale". We watched several of the classic Disney animated movies then analyzed them for sexist/racist/prejudiced/etc. themes. Sounds pretty tough, right? The class was by no means challenging, but we did discuss some interesting topics that caused me to reflect on how such movies may have influenced my own self image as a child.
Take a look at all of the Disney princesses. As far as we know, none of them are meant to be any older than 16, yet all of them have the body of a 25 year-old Victoria's Secret model. Huge breasts, impossible waist, perfect hips, luscious locks, and big, round eyes. If you put any one of them in a bikini, they would fit right on the cover of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Is this what we want young girls (and young boys) to think is normal?
Growing up, almost all of my friends were a Disney princess for at least one Halloween. I, myself, was Jasmine. I, of course, looked nothing like her, with my frizzy hair popping out of a ponytail, and my chubby potbelly poking out from the teal bikini top and pants. (I was also wearing a nude-colored leotard underneath. It would have been quite inappropriate, and unsightly, to see a robust kindergartner trick-or-treating in a two piece). Not only is it extremely culturally inaccurate to think that a woman in the Middle East would be able to prance around with her breasts and stomach hanging out, but also quite a risque role model to set for young children. Although at the time I wasn't even aware of what breasts or hips were, seeing these images repeated over and over throughout each movie certainly creates a lasting image of what beautiful and feminine should look like.
This image is not just in Disney, it's everywhere from Barbie dolls, to "Clueless", to newscasters on TV. And unfortunately I don't think this will ever change. As media and technology become even more inescapable in our everyday lives, standard images of "sexy, beautiful" women will imprint in the minds of children and adults.
In our final class the professor asked us, "So are you all going to forbid your kids from watching Disney movies one day?" The majority of the class, including myself, admitted "No". The gendered and racial stereotypes portrayed in such movies are quite disgusting, but c'mon, it's DISNEY!! A childhood without Disney is not a childhood at all! So while I do think it is important to build an awareness of such stereotypes and prejudices in children at an early age, children should also be able to just be kids and enjoy Disney for the pure magic and fun that it is.
I'm sure "Clueless" may have skewed my own body image in some way, but am I going to boycott a great movie just to prove a point? As if!
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