Mickey Mouse Monopoly and Tough Guise

     Society plays a vital role for growing children around the world because of the strong influence 

that these children grow up with throughout their lives.  Some of these influences can have a negative 

conation to it. Children and adults may not be able to notice the negative side of the messages from 

society and media. Disney princesses need a man complete their happily ever after. Men are taught 

from a young age that they need to provide and be the “man of the house” and cannot be wimps. Both 

women from Disney movies and “tough guy” attitudes are learned from family and society, which 

have an impact on the person as they grow up.

 

     In the Mickey Mouse Monopoly documentary, I learned how the universally well-known Disney 

movies, portray women in a sexualized manner by using their body. The female characters are often 

seen as having a big upper chest area, tiny waist, complimenting their batty eyes and sexual, 

persuasive appeal. For example, in the movie The Little Mermaid, a prince named Eric falls in love 

with a woman who does not have any clothes on and cannot speak. That woman is Princess Ariel, a 

mermaid, who is determined to risk everything she has in order to find prince Eric, whom she met 

once and automatically fell in love with. In the movie, Ariel betrayed her father by going to a witch to 

take her voice away so she can be a full human and used her body to get Eric to notice her without 

having to say a word.

This meme depicts how Ariel washed up on shore naked and not being able to speak and attracts 

Prince Eric.

    

    The video talks about how these influences from Disney movies affect young girls because they are 

in a stage of wondering what it is to become a woman. Dr. Diane Levin of Wheelock College 

describes in the documentary how these Disney female characters shape images on young girls, on 

how they think they should look because they are curious. Young girls do not realize this at a young 

age, but this can lead to self-esteem issues when they get older and have a set viewpoint on how a 

woman should act, along with the desired characteristics they should possess. Young girls can also 

infer that they need to find a prince charming to complete their happiness, since most Disney princess 

movies end in a happily ever after by finding their prince charming and getting married.

    This can almost objectify a woman for them to just stand there, not talk, and look pretty. Referring 

back to the meme, that is basically how Ariel gets her prince charming. Female characters outward 

appearance is what matters most in these movies. In the Disney movies, viewers can see how a 

woman can use her body to get whatever she wants such as bribing or manipulating, usually to a man. 

Men can also be influenced by this notion because then they will think all women should have to act 

seductive.

     The short video clip of Tough Guise talks about how society decides what it means to be a “tough 

guy”. The video describes the different representations of what society thinks being a tough man is 

and the negative impact it can result on young men.  What I learned from watching the video Tough 

Guise is how society makes men of color feel like they have to always be dominant and the “Man of 

the House” because of movies and characters that are put out into the media.  The video talks about 

how being a tough guy means not being a coward, but being respected and capable of anything that 

stands in their way. In the video, Jackson Kratz talks about how growing boys are pressured to 

conform and act like “one of the guys” and to not be referred to as a wimp.

      Society sends messages to men about how they cannot be taken advantage of and need to be 

tough at all times. For example, the video says that in T.V shows or movies, Latinos are portrayed as 

boxers, criminals, or gang-members. This can lead Latino men and other races, into being violent and 

setting up a fake image of themselves because what they see on the screen inspires them to be this 

“macho” tough man that people fear and talk about. Society places these tough images on colored 

men because that is how movies and television shows portray their characteristics. Other races can 

feed off this persona that all colored people, such as Latino and Black, are dangerous because of their 

tough attitude of living in the ghetto.  This can result in unfair consequences such as accusing a 

colored man of a crime, rather than an innocent looking person or man because it is expected of the 

colored man to act in such tough, dangerous behavior.

                               
              The video clip above shows how these Cholos prove who is the toughest in their barrio.

       
      The movie Blood in Blood Out it is about a group of Latino Cholos who grow up in tough 

barrios and how they handle to survive the violence surrounding them. The first four 

minutes of the movie scene show how these rival gang men prove to each other who is the toughest in 

their barrio by getting into a brawl and almost killing each other with bats, guns, etc. Movies like 

these can influence a Latino man and other races to also be violent to prove his toughness and to 

provide for his family such as: selling drugs, stealing from houses or cars. This type of image on how 

Latino men are viewed as all being gangsters can be the reason why some young men fall into that 

lifestyle. Young men look up to these movies because they see how cool it looks to party, do drugs, 

and fight.

  From watching theses videos, I hope viewers can learn the concepts behind society and media

motives such as Disney female characters using their body to get what they want and men always

needing to have this "tough guy" persona. Not many people are aware of the messages that media and

society place out into the world because it is so common in our lives. If someone were to see this

viewpoint of the media, many people would go against it and backlash. Informing oneself about the

massive influences that the media and society gives is important so people can not succumb to this

lifestyle of always having to agree with their viewpoint.