Disney Makes Money

Disney is out to make money like any business. For any business to grow it has to expand its market. To do this most companies do research. It just so happens that Disney's business is entertaining children. To make more money, it only makes senses that they would study children, and who better than those trained in understandings children's brains. It is just smart business sense. I can not blame Disney for wanting to make more money.

The question posed in the article "Disney, Casino Capitalism and the Exploitation of Young Boys: Beyond the Politics of Innocence" By Henry A. Girouxis "Is there a moral imperative that should kick in when dealing with children?" Giroux makes it sound like Disney is trying to find a lure to do harm to our boys, much like the pervert who uses the lure of "Can you help me find my lost puppy"? Disney is simply repeating messages that already exist in our culture, it is doing research to find those messages that appeal most to boys not to do them harm but to sell more of their product that the children will enjoy more because they can identify with it. Where than is the moral imperative, should Disney say "no we can't use that in our movie because it will perpetuate this not so nice cultural norm"or say "I know it won't make as much money but lets make the lead a gay Man." This is not what Disney is in business to do, they are not out to change or challenge cultural norms but in fact rely on them to sell their product. The share holders would be irate at a gay lead not just because it goes against cultural norms but it also does not make them money.

Most parents and most children are not taught to be critical of what they watch, they are not taught to analyze how they are being influenced. I think Giroux's final arguments turn to the public to be taught how to be more critical (The end of the article is an echo of Critical Pedagogy). With your standard kid watching 40,000 ads a year the kid can not helped but be influenced just by the constant repetition. Advertisers know that for the average person to remember something for longer than 3o seconds the person needs to see a given ad seven to eight times to be able to reliably remember it long enough to be influenced when they see there product in a store. This goes well beyond Disney's sphere of influence it is pervasive in our culture, culture can only change through the education of the young. In this world of constant media maybe the only way to understand the influence is to be taught to be critical of all the media we are swimming in.

Here is a link for using copyrighted material in the classroom.
http://www.mediafestival.org/copyrightchart.html