Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: music video

In the song "Hellfire" in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, many strategies are used to emphasize the adolescent male's pornographic dream. Frollo sees the image of Esmeralda dancing in the flames within his fireplace. But it is not her clear image. It is more of her silhouette , curving out of the flames. He face is shadowed but her breasts are prominent. She dances seductively in front of the camera, emphasizing that women are sexual objects for men. She runs her hands down her body, stroking herself for the pleasure of the judge watching her. This sequence is very different from the majority of the Disney movies. However, she could still be considered a "femme fatale" despite the fact that she is actually one of the protagonists.
Hellfire

The Boner that Burned Down Paris

Most people are familiar with the Disney's version of the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is the only movie that has overtly sexualized scenes. This is also the only movie the has expressly religious ties, which makes this song even more dirty. In the Song “Beata Maria/Hellfire” the judge Claude Frollo sings into a fire out of frustration of the desire and temptation that he feels for the gypsy Esmeralda. . During this song, Disney is explaining that women are to blame for male temptations, especially those of male figures of authority. Not coincidentally, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” came out in 1996, the same year that Lewinsky scandal involving Bill Clinton happened.  Disney is siding with the former president, that as a man in power he was constantly tempted by women, that it was the woman’s fault. In the movie, Frollo desires Esmeralda and after she escapes her somewhat arrest within the cathedral, Frollo decides to burn down Paris trying to find her. He was not necessarily looking for her to arrest her for criminal charges, but to try and get her to sleep with him.

The Voice Actors of Disney

Today, I found out that the man who does the voice of Scar in the Lion King is also Rodrigo Borgia in the Showtime show, The Borgias. It got me thinking about how different the voice actors in Disney movies are from the innocence that Disney so frequently portrays. For example, have you ever listened to the stand up performed by Robin Williams? It's outrageously dirty, incredibly sexual. And yet, Robin Williams plays the voice of the Genie in Aladdin in 2 out of the 3 movies. 
And if you haven't seen The Borgias, I highly suggest it. Rodrigo (Jeremy Irons) becomes the pope and he frequently breaks his vow of chastity, not to mention indulges in murder, cheating, lying ect. That is not quite so different from Scar, but I'm sure that's not the kind of things that Disney is trying to promote. 
Another example, one of my favorites actually, is that Cheech Marin does the voice of Tito in the movie Oliver and Company as well as the voice of Banzai in The Lion King. For those that are unfamiliar with his work, Cheech is part of the duo Cheech and Chong who have made numerous movies about the use of Marijuana. 
So what kind of message is Disney really trying to send?
 A mixed message for sure, but how strict are their conservative beliefs if they still continue to use these kind of actors to voice characters in their movies?