Discuss: The "Uncomfortable" 'Princess and the Frog' Trailer
Filed under: Animation, Disney, Trailers and Clips
The latest trailer for Disney's The Princess and the Frog is out, and it has me feeling all sorts of confused. It's pretty, and it looks kind of cute, but there are several aspects of it that make me distinctly uncomfortable. And I'm not the only one.There have been a lot of switcheroos behind the scenes to make Princess more PC, but the rumble in my tummy says that the (mostly white) critics will be picking it apart scene by scene. So far just the trailers are getting people talking. I agree with /Film's Brendon Connelly that the character of the firefly, who seems to be obsessed with his big, glowing butt, is one of the more troublesome characters. Movieline is concerned about Mama Odie the witch doctor, while Katey Rich over at Cinemablend "is tempted to give it a pass." And Jezebel has quite a few discussions about the movie, like why it took so long for Disney to make a black princess, why she spends most of the movie as a frog, and many other dialogue-generating questions.
Let's not even begin to discuss the questionable video game that lets girls "play & move to music, cook New Orleans cuisine, and try on multiple outfits with Tiana & her friends," and "collect Mardi Gras beads to trade for new dresses, fabrics, ingredients and recipes." Sigh.
Plenty of talented black actresses were gunning for the part of Disney's first leading lady of color (the role eventually went to Anika Noni Rose, who was nominated for both a Grammy and a SAG Award for her work in Dreamgirls). And Oprah, that arbiter of all things good that makes Middle America's white middle-aged ladies feel okay about voting for Obama and reading The Color Purple, is in it. I can just see some Disney exec chomping on a cigar and thumping his fist on his desk, red-faced, yelling, "But Oprah is in it! Oprah!"
So the real question is, as much as feminists shudder at yet another Disney princess on the big screen and people of all backgrounds cringe at the voodoo daddy, the hilarious crocodile named after Louis Armstrong, and so much more, will it make its target audience -- young African-American girls -- happy to see themselves finally represented on the big screen?
Take a look at the trailer and talk back. Am I being an overly sensitive PC weenie, or is there something to it that makes you feel uncomfortable too?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-09-2009 @ 5:43PM
Jake said...
Not Cinematical too! PLEASE this hyper-PC nonesense has to stop.
Plus, you embedded the wrong trailer. Please remove this article as it's too full of FAIL. You are seriously about six months late to this bandwagon.
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11-02-2009 @ 5:33PM
Akelah said...
I feel you completely! Not suprised though. Disney doing a truly inspiring film that empowers Black youth as well as all ,now THAT will surprise me! We must create for ourselves and our children! Love to All of you!
9-09-2009 @ 5:46PM
Jake said...
Sorry, you did not embed the wrong trailer and so my reply is a FAIL in it's own right. But the message is still the same. The movie looks cute and is bringing back a much-loved art form. There are so many other things to focus on. Kids do not care if a firefly has a Cajun accent or if a character's name is "Maddy".
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9-09-2009 @ 5:53PM
Michael said...
"Am I being an overly sensitive PC weenie"
Yes you are. And so is everyone else. This isn't the first time I've seen this trailer. The first time I saw it I thought, ok new disney movie. Didn't think anything else about it. Now after reading this article I went and watched it again with the knowledge that some people are getting all uppity about it. And you know what? My initial thought about it hasn't changed. Still is "ok, new disney movie".
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9-09-2009 @ 6:06PM
Bubbameister33 said...
Little won't care about half the stuff that's "controversial" in this movie. I think we should take a harder look at Tyler Perry movies, those are far worse than this.
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9-09-2009 @ 6:07PM
Bubbameister33 said...
*kids
9-09-2009 @ 6:08PM
Jack said...
Please. Stop trying to do this PC garbage everywhere. It just shows your biases.
Why does the girl spend most of the film as a frog? BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE STORY IS! As a film fan (at least I am assuming you are one) I would think you would look at the story and not at the colour of someones skin.
The game is a throw away girls game. You'll find hundreds out there. Totally harmless and judging by the popularity of girls dolls and other such toys I'm sure it'll do fine.
It's just a kids film. Stop ruining everything by shouting racism.
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9-09-2009 @ 6:27PM
Brian said...
Isn't it funny that at some point a character says "It's what's inside that counts" and yet all we can focus on is the fact that the characters are black?
I actually wrote a whole reaction to this piece that better articulates me feelings on my blog:
http://quotableroan.blogspot.com/2009/09/speaking-of-racism.html
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9-09-2009 @ 6:39PM
RTMS said...
Has everyone forgotten that there is more than just 'white as clouds or black as coal' skin out there? Or even different ethnicity? I find it silly that Jasmine is completely ignored as the first lead woman of color just because she wasn't obviously black as night. Too much is being made of this.
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9-10-2009 @ 3:44PM
Placecard said...
Yeah, aside from Disney apparently having only one shade of brown to paint it's characters with I dont' really see the problem. It was a good trailer that made me want to see the film. As for the firefly they just didn't want to pay Eddie Murphy $35 million dollars like DW did with Shrek. So whoever they hired tried as best he could. Still, note to Disney, New Orleans isn't the birthplace of all black people, FYI.
9-09-2009 @ 6:42PM
daniel said...
Just a general point: a movie, at least to my knowledge, has never been ruined or made an unpleasant experience simply as a result of people discussing its potentially questionable portrayals of race. However, screaming about how a comment or criticism is 'too PC' tends to frustrate potentially intelligent and insightful conversation. To be perfectly honest, calling foul on a discussion of this sort with so much vindictive anger does little more than shed light on the racial discomfort and pent-up insensitivity held by the person who loves to use CAPS lock so much
That being said, I don't think we've seen enough of Mama Odie to draw any conclusions. The firefly does get to me, and if the princess really is a frog for the greatest part of the and I do think talking about why it took so long for Disney to get its act together is legitimate.
Thank you Cinematical for not being afraid to bring this up, despite the inevitable righteous yelling that arises every time someone wants to talk about portrayals of race in cinema. (or gender, for that matter, as in this summer's uproar over discussing Pixar and Star Trek)
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9-09-2009 @ 7:49PM
Jack said...
Caps lock guy here. Sorry about using the caps key but it serves as a easy way to attract attention to a sentence. My mistake.
The fact is thus: Disney makes a movie about a princess (who happens to be black) and everyone begins chastising them for waiting so long and for keeping her as a frog for two long. Here are the counterpoints:
1) Would you imagine that it would be better if Disney just pushed out a film with a black lead just to keep people happy? I would posit that that is racist.
2) Like I said before, if the story calls for the lead girl to be a frog for the majority of the movie then it does. It doesn't mean that Disney wanted to hide the black.
And I resent your comment mentioning 'racial discomfort'. The people crying racism at every turn seem to have some sort of discomfort built into them.
As for Cinematicals bringing up of the issue; well let's just say they have been shamelessly trying to boost page rank recently with a series of articles they know will attract argument (such as the horrible "Why I will never watch this film" series.)
9-09-2009 @ 10:25PM
snowballa said...
"Isn't it funny that at some point a character says "It's what's inside that counts" and yet all we can focus on is the fact that the characters are black? "
Ha, tell that to the Hollywood suits. When it comes to visual media, it's what's on the outside that counts. That's why talentless but conventially pretty actors like Jessica Alba and Orlando Bloom are offered more roles than their homelier counterparts.
The focus on the fact if the characters are black is the lack of black faces in creative media. When I start seeing as many minority faces as white faces, then we can talk about what's on the inside. But, that'll never happen, so yes, it is an issue that must be discussed until things get better.
Secondly, the fact that "little kids won't care" doesn't make it right. Racism and prejudice are not only taught at home but through media and is more subtle and thus more pervasive. This is why studies show that young black girls prefer white barbies over a barbie that looks just like them. This is a direct result of how white women are perceived as the beauty ideal which the media helps contribute to.
With this movie, Disney had an opportunity to feature their first black lead but instead, they opted to make her a frog for two acts thus partially thwarting the reason for this movie to be a step in the right direction. Disappointing.
Lastly, everyone saying that it's racist to bring up this point, how is pointing out the faults of a movie the same as thinking that blacks contain characteristics that make them better than whites? Please look up the term in the dictionary.
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9-10-2009 @ 12:48AM
jackmurphy1969 jac said...
At this point in time, you're talking about the movie's perceived faults. Until the movie comes out, nobody in the general public can know exactly what the movie is and how it succeeds or fails. Until the movie is released, any one's opinions about it, good or bad, reflect an individual's world view, not critical thinking.
9-10-2009 @ 3:32AM
Matt said...
You're being an over-sensitive PC weenie.
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9-10-2009 @ 8:43AM
John R said...
Well...I am black and it may be also informative to know that I found the two Sambo-bots in Transformers 2 reprehensible.
Now, knowing that, I think from what I've seen of the final trailer (traileraddict.com has it) it may be a bit too early to cry foul. The firefly does raise an eyebrow, if only slightly, but from what I've seen so far I don't see much to get fired up about.
Let's just wait until the film opens.
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9-10-2009 @ 6:04PM
destardi said...
John, are you one of those "uppity" blacks other black folk talk about?
Cuz seriously, the average urbanized black or white kid (even kids in the country are urbanized at this point) recognizes those two 'sambo-bots' with the one's gold tooth, and slang.
How else would they express their 'blackness', other than by painting the robots, well, um, black? Have them discuss black history? Talk about racism with proper English?
Do THAT and you'd risk the majority 'urban' population calling the two "sambo-bots" "uncle-tom bots".
Goddamn, there's no winning to any of this.
9-11-2009 @ 6:29AM
John R said...
"Uppity blacks"? Is it "uppity" to not act like a buffoon? It's uppity to have style, to have rhythm, to have flavor AND not be an incompetent oaf? That's what those two sambo-bots are. They are stupid.
Take, for example, Jazz. The Jazz I remember from the cartoon was undeniably "black" but knew what the hell he was doing and was good at it. Bay's Jazz was a hard-headed dope who leapt before he looked and just talked a big game. O.G. Jazz, the Jazz I remember, could back it up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrjtDvw3l0E
Bottom line: There is a right way and wrong way to have done that. Bay and his crew chose the wrong way.
"...paint the robots black..." Jesus , why am I even responding this?
9-10-2009 @ 11:09AM
snowballa said...
@jackmurphy1969 jac: i will bet you money that she is a frog for two acts. that is my main problem, that instead of showing her as human, she will be an animal for most of the movie.
in fact, the story is pretty much easy to figure out unless you've never seen a movie before. she is a spoiled princess who turns into a frog and learns her lesson in the process of trying to turn human again.
if that turns out to be untrue, i will come back and comment my mea culpa.
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9-10-2009 @ 11:19AM
Christian M. Howell said...
Well, I just watched - MOS - cause I'm in the office. It seemed like the average silly kids movie to me. I hear that there are people who think of voodoo in New Orleans.
As far as being a frog for awhile it seemed like a cute little journey element. It actually smacked slightly of Enchanted. I can't say I will definitely see it as my time is too tight but I don't think I can condemn it.
Hell, look at the silly crap that rappers do IN REAL LIFE. I think they are the progenitors and MudFlap and Skids. I can't even listen to rap anymore as it's just illiterate droning. And I have had a stool in some clubs with my name on them.
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