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Feb 15

Mulan

My childhood was largely centered around Disney movies. My parents loved (the majority) of these films because they felt Disney often had a moral or teaching hidden within the story line. I loved them because my parents allowed my sisters and I to watch them religiously. When I was young, I would go through phases where I just watched a movie on repeat; Mulan was one of these.

The movie Mulan is centered around Fa Mulan, a young women and only child of the Fa Family, who has failed to fulfill the traditional Chinese duty of becoming a desirable bride. However, when the Huns begin to invade, the empire calls one man from every family to arms. Because the only male in the Fa Family is Mulan’s father, who is elderly and cannot walk properly, Mulan disguises herself and takes her father’s spot in battle against the Huns, sacrificing her life if she is to be caught. Mulan was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on June 19, 1998, by Walt Disney Pictures. The film grossed over $304 million and received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.

Mulan is an interesting character because, unlike other Disney princesses, her actions are centered around bettering her family to where other Disney princesses focus their actions around winning over their Prince Charming. This relates to our multiple class discussions on gender roles. Often, the women (especially princesses) in Disney movies focus around winning over a guy by whatever means necessary. For example, Ariel in The Little Mermaid sacrifices her voice. However, many Disney movies centered around men do not focus on the male making major sacrifices for love. Therefore, Mulan is a special and unique Disney character because she sacrificed her life in order to save her family rather than to fulfill her own selfish desires of finding love.


Official Mulan Trailer, youtube.com

 

 

Feb 15

Disturbing Baby Burlesks

The “Baby Burklesk” video, “Polly Tix in Washington” is the perfect example of what John Kasson is speaking about when he says that Shirley Temple’s early roles were, “perched ambiguously on the cusp between innocence and flirtatiousness.” (Kasson, 131) In the satire Shirley plays an expensive call girl hired to seduce a new congressman into voting for a new bill on Castor Oil.  She is shown prancing around in a lace bra and expensive jewelry, and offering the baby congressman cake to persuade him. However, she winds up falling in love and almost getting herself killed until the baby congressman fights for her honor.

The video definitely makes a mockery of the children and their innocence.  In the final scene, Shirley tells the only black child featured in the film, that prosperity is just around the corner, and the film concludes with him running around the corners of the street searching for it.  It is also mildly disturbing that at an age where boys and girls typically think each other to have “cooties” they are playing prostitutes and fighting for love.

In class we spoke of contemporary examples of videos such as these, that use children to play roles they do not fully understand or ones pushed upon them by adults.  One example we spoke of was “Pearl the Landlord,” and I was immediately reminded of the parodies done by children who reenact episodes of The Hills, Jersey Shore, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey.  After watching these recent mockeries acted out by children, the ones Shirley Temple played in seemed slightly less disturbing.

 

Kids Act out “The Hills”

Kids Act out “Jersey Shore”

Kids Act out “Real Housewives of New Jersey”

Feb 15

“But I’m Expensive”

The Baby Burlesks series of shorts includes a 1933 lampoon of the national government entitled Polly Tix in Washington. The short depicts an “anti-castor oil” lobby using seedy methods to persuade a Western senator (characterized by his ten gallon hat and pistol belt) to join their cause. One of their methods is to enlist the help of Miss Polly Tix, portrayed by Shirley Temple, to seduce the senator. The short, to my knowledge, does not reference a specific film from the era, but instead plays upon popular opinion of the United States government during the Depression, depicting politicians as crooked or inept.

The main part of the short that supports Kasson’s arguments is the way that Shirley Temple and her character are portrayed. Polly Tix is essentionally a prostitute, with the character going as far as exclaiming that “[she’s] expensive.” She is also scantily clad throughout the short, and adorned with copious amounts of jewelry that she recieved for “being good.” This character fits what Kasson describes as “a surrogate for an adult – and frequently, a seductive – woman.” (131). Although these characters and situations are meant to be light-hearted and comedic, their use of children in such adult situations is slightly unnerving to a modern audience.

Despite confirming Kasson’s assertions toward child “flirtatiousness,” the end of Polly Tix in Washington doesn’t manipulate the joy of children to reaffirm the spirits of the viewers, but instead makes fun of American politicians by depicting a bumbling congressman searching aimlessly for “prosperity just around the corner.” This part of the short seemed slightly cynical compared to Kasson’s claims of childhood joy.

Feb 15

The Proud Family

Picture Credited to epguides.com

A favorite cartoon of mine at the age of 10 was The Proud Family on Disney Channel. It started airing in 2001, and depicted positive family life in  African American culture. As far as I knew, this was the only cartoon of this kind on television, although there were a few live action sitcoms on before and after The Proud Family aired.  The show was centered around a smart, respectable, 14 year old girl named Penny Proud. She lived in a house with both parents, and her grandmother. They lived in a nice neighborhood in which they were not the only minorities, and Penny’s cast of friends were very diverse.  This cartoon came as a model that African Americans did not have to live the way they were generalized.  At the time it was one of very few shows on Disney that featured a majority minority cast.  High profile black entertainers, such as Tommy Davidson and Kyla Pratt and  others found here, were able to become part of a television show that was a model for the black community. My family growing up was very much like the family depicted on The Proud Family.  To me, this show was a depiction of a life to which I could relate. It was a show, along with Family Matters, That’s So Raven, and Kenan and Kel, that black people had to be proud to allow their children to watch. It was relevant to issues that black families faced, and was a correct depiction of the unity and cohesion within the black family in a very positive sense.

Feb 15

Shirley Temple – Kid in Africa

Shirley Temple in the Baby Burlesk short video, Kid in Africa, is set out for an expedition to search for and civilize the Cannibals tribe members with her African tribe members. At the beginning of this clip Shirley directs and commands her tribe members to do as their told, which is fairly unusual within this time period due to the fact that there were not many women leaders. The Cannibals then invade her tribe members and explicitly add salt on each person to symbolize that they are about to be eaten. Shirley believes that she can help civilize them. Then, as Shirley is in a big pot being cooked the cannibals are sitting around her chanting, “We want food!” All the cannibals are African, in diapers and have their face painted. The cook of the Cannibals then calls a different tribe and says that they should come eat. The tribe says that they wouldn’t want to pass up this opportunity. As Shirley is in the pot she is reading a book called. ‘What to do in case of a Sunburn’ which represents a sense of comic relief. Throughout all the commotion there is a little boy that is dressed in leopard loin cloth that is supposed to depict Tarzan. He calls out for the longest time until his elephant comes to help him rescue Shirley. There is a huge satire relating to the movie Tarzan of the Apes (1918). In the movie Tarzan rescues a girl named Jane which is essentially Shirley in this Burlesk short video. As this Tarzan character is saving Shirley, Shirley, acting like an adult, powders her noses in realization that her hero has come to sweep her away. As Tarzan and his elephant scare all the cannibals away, Shirley still wants to civilize them.

Kid in Africa from Miss Shirley Temple on Tumblr

There then is another clip that shows the “civilized cannibals” wearing grown up clothes that don’t fit. The cannibals have started using “milk pumps” to gain more energy. At the end of the Burlesk short video the Tarzan character says that he is thinking about going to play golf this afternoon. Shirley quickly response with a quick objection and that he needs to do the dishes. As Shirley and the Tarzan character are at their home, the Tarzan character wants to go out and play with his lion but sure enough Shirley objects. During that time period it could seem that a woman bossing the man around is considered funny. In our reading, Kasson says, “Shirley fought the Great Depression on a number of fronts can tell us much about the emotional demands of capitalist society during one of its greatest periods of crisis and the effects these demands had on children as well as adults” (126). Through this short video Shirley does an amazing job at performing in attempt to conduct herself as an adult. Throughout the whole short video there are depictions of adult behavior that supply comic relief. Even when Shirley exemplifies an adult there is still an innocent aura about her. This innocence about her, in the Burlesk short video, is what appeals to the audience during that time period. The childhood innocence that Shirley might not know nor understand what cannibalism is might give pleasure to adults due to the fact that it could be considered cute. The motive of the Burlesk video can be a way of cheering up the country from the depression. Kasson says, “Ultimately, the progressive forces of amusement triumph over the gloom and lift the country out of the Depression, emotionally and economically, but not without a struggle” (127). Even though these videos might be a source of amusement to adults during the period there poses a question of how the child actor might feel in these explicit roles that they play. Do the child actors understand the character they are playing? Do they understand what they are saying and portraying? These are the questions that Kasson addresses in the article, Behind Shirley Temples Smile, and I believe that in the Burlesk videos the child actors don’t understand what they are actually doing. The child actors are just doing what they are told to do. In defense, children understanding the actual message of these videos might corrupt their innocent thoughts, which would cause them to lose their whole innocent aura.

 

Feb 15

The Best Books for Children

Goodnight Moon, the 2nd greatest book in the list. Picture from Wikipedia.

Books are an important part of growing up as a child. A recent article talks about the new list of the top 100 greatest books for kids. Charlotte’s Web came out on top as the best children’s book of all time, while Harry Potter and the  Sorcerer’s Stone landed spot number 6. People were surprised to see Harry Potter so far down on the list considering its impact on society, but it is also not very old while books like Charlotte’s Web and Goodnight Moon have reined as great childhood books for decades. Scholastic compiled the list of the top 100 books and looking at it most of them seem familiar or are some of my favorite books. In class we discussed how some books and comics can be considered trash to adults and it was interesting to look at this list and not see any comic books. I think they easily could have been considered in this list because they have been popular for children for a long period of time. It would have been good to at least see the Goosebumps series recognized on the list but it doesn’t seem to be deemed worthy enough for a scholastic award. For the most part though looking through the list I think that most of the books belong on there. It is strange to see such new books like The Hunger Games above books like Holes or the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Overall it is very interesting to look at the top 100 books for children and it is only opinion based, but it is fun to look back and think about some of the books I read over and over every night.

Feb 15

Shirley’s Appeal to Grown Men

Charles Lamont’s last “Baby Burlesk” short, “Kid ‘in’ Africa,” is a parody of the 1933 movie Tarzan the Fearless featuring Shirley Temple as the damsel in distress.  Shirley is on a quest to civilize barbaric cannibals in Africa.  Aiding her are a group of non-cannibal Africans (black children without face paint).  Once the cannibals (black children with face paint) attack Shirley’s party, she is taken captive and almost eaten when the brave (white) hero of the jungle known as Diaperzan comes to the rescue.  The cannibals flee at the sight of Diaperzan and his mighty elephant companion, allowing Diaperzan and the damsel in distress to wed and work together to civilize the savage continent of Africa.  This scene alludes to the main plot of Tarzan the Fearless, which is a brave (white) man saving a beautiful (white) woman from a savage death by the hands of her (black) tormenters.  The “Baby Burlesk” image of civilized Africa is basically a city made of wood, dirt, and trees.  The short concludes with Shirley, the former damsel in distress, bossing around her mighty husband.

Shirley is depicted as desirable in “Kid ‘in’ Africa” not only because of her provocative clothing (diaper shorts that show off her legs), but because of the cannibals’ way of preparing her as a meal.  Instead of being hauled off into the bushes to be immediately devoured, which is what seemingly happens to her African guides, she is cooked slowly while the chef calls his buddy from afar to join him in devouring a rare meal, a beautiful golden haired girl.  This idea of getting the most out of a rare thing has sexual connotations in the eyes of mature viewers.  A grown man would watch “Kid ‘in’ Africa” and agree with the cannibal’s way of attempting to savor Shirley because of what he would do if he came upon a beautiful woman; build a sexual relationship without scaring the girl off for good.  While his daughter laughs at Diaperzan riding the elephant, he might chuckle and say to himself, “That’s what I would do if I were a cannibal.”  “Kid ‘in’ Africa” alludes to men’s natural desire to find and cling to a fantasy girl, a desire that obviously only exists in the adult audience.

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