You've come a long way, baby?
From Snow White to Pocahontas, Disney's most recent animated heroines are still sex symbols waiting for a kiss from Prince Charming

By MARIE PATRICOLA
Collegian Arts Writer

The latest Disney craze, Pocahontas, is grossing millions, and viewers don't have to look too far "around the river bend" to realize why.

Scantily clad and sinuously curvaceous, Pocahontas made headway as the sexiest Disney character yet. Disney's female characters have evolved from the innocent and prudish -- Snow White -- to the strong and independent -- Pocahontas. And the portrayal of the Native-American diplomat as attractive and educated has given viewers a new outlook on society's portrayal of women.

Or so it seems.

Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs first paved the way for animated films in 1937, the common theme of Disney's entries is the idea that oppressive and uncontrollable circumstances have forced a beautifully innocent girl to live a life of suffering.

"It's the same as it always was," said Cynthia Begnal, senior lecturer of speech communication and gender roles of communication. "Snow White wasn't realistic. The women are still supposed to be beautiful."

Disney's typical beautiful female lead spends the majority of her time crying, singing and waiting for the man of her dreams to rescue her with his eternal kiss of salvation, etc. . . . After a few cuddly animals or home appliances sing a few songs, a catastrophe occurs, and the audience believes that all is lost for the poor and helpless lead waif. Then the handsome prince shows up and saves the day.

The idea of what makes a character beautiful has changed dramatically. Snow White's beauty was in her charm, grace and elegance. Her character was drawn with graceful poses -- an air of innocence and sweetness. She was also illustrated with a full-length gown, which revealed very little cartoon skin, yet audiences still fell in love with her inner beauty and little-girl sexuality.

Modern-day characters, such as The Little Mermaid's Ariel and Pocahontas, leave very little to the imagination in their animation; viewers are enticed, almost sexually lured, to the movie.

"Disney just does what everybody else does," said Christina Rivera (junior-broadcast-cable). "It uses sex appeal."

Although the personalities of the characters have changed from helpless and dependent to strong-willed and independent, the common theme of waiting for the prince still holds true. Ariel was only half a person until she met her prince and he brought her into the real world. She gave up her family, friends and kingdom for the man of her dreams.

"It's a thorny ideology," said Patrick A. Trimble, professor of integrative arts. "She will always be incomplete until she gets him. She must give up everything."

Along those lines, Ariel sacrifices her mermaid tail and her most prized possession, her beautiful singing voice, in order to find true love.

"This idea says that what a man really wants in a woman is silence. Part of her charm is that she can't speak," Trimble added.

Pocahontas is only one of a recent parade of Disney female characters to take the helm of the cartoon franchise.

Beauty and the Beast's Belle portrays an entirely different female persona. Her main desire is to fill the empty void of life with knowledge. She happily finds that her beastly true love won't suppress her desires of knowledge and learning, but supplement them.

"Belle is much more interesting than Pocahontas," Trimble said. "She sticks to her own values and gets the things she desires. The Beast represents to her unlimited potential. Belle wants a life of her own. She finally meets someone who can fulfill it. "

Yet a disturbing aspect about Beauty and the Beast is that Belle is exiled from her town because of her intellectual nature. The townsfolk think that such a great beauty should not waste her time with books and learning. They view her as somewhat odd; therefore, the movie still adheres to the common ideology that beauty and intellect cannot coalesce.

Pocahontas, one of Disney's more dynamic female characters, supposedly represents the Powhatan diplomat who rescues Captain John Smith. Although the movie touches upon environmental rights and the problems of prejudice, the main focus of the movie is her affair with the English settler.

But, the main attraction of the movie is Pocahontas herself, not for her ideas and goals but for her beauty and sex appeal.

"The inappropriate portrayal of women still hasn't changed a whole lot," said Begnal, who admits to not having seen the movie, but was influenced by the barrage of advertising and hype which flooded the industry.

"They made Pocahontas girlish and sweet, yet she was a strong character in real life," Begnal said. "They made her more sexy and of course beautiful."

Begnal said the fact that Disney illustrators drew such a seductive Pocahontas disturbed her because Disney is still pushing the image of the perfect woman.

"The characters are a more realistic portrayal of normal movies," said Christina Stack (junior-aerospace engineering). "They're not so much fantasy anymore."

Trimble, however, said the purpose of Pocahontas' explicit character development can be attributed to the fact that sex plays an important role in marketing.

"They thought they'd have a problem getting young boys to come to the movie," Trimble said. "Therefore, they emphasized the romantic and sexual tension between Pocahontas and John Smith. The purpose was to get the adolescent element. But the problem still remained anyway that they couldn't get young boys to see it."

Begnal said she wasn't surprised by the advertising ploy.

"Today children seem to grow up faster," she said. "We're exposed to more. It's all in terms of marketing."

But not all young men are impressed by Pocahontas' so-called sex appeal.

"I don't think Pocahontas is that sexy," said Jason Bloom (senior-psychology). "She was drawn attractively but not seductively. Snow White was pretty hot for her time."

So, is there any hope for the Disney female? Trimble's not so sure.

"I'd be very surprised if Disney does anything with a female lead for a long time," he said. "They were warned that the profits would not be as large. As always it's a question of what sells."

The Disney animation department was unavailable for comment.

Although the female leads have become more outspoken, intelligent and independent, the explicit and exaggerated promotion of sex dominates the screen and proves once again that what's in a woman's mind is not as important as what's on, or not on, her body.

"Fairy tales are very sexist," adds Begnal. "Everyone in the movies are beautiful. It's not really an image that's good for women. Our culture has always been that way. Disney just promotes it more."