Zeinab Kobeissi
Abstract
Lady and the Tramp is a Disney animation considered one of the classics and based on Disney's conventional storyline which circles around two main protagonists made up of the damsel in distress, Sweetheart, and the hero who involves her save, Tramp. This essay aims to take a look at reinforced stereotypes, stigmas and certain functions that are portrayed through characters in The Lady and the Tramp, while also discussing the influence and the insights of the protagonists in the animation.
Keywords: Hollywood, Disney, misrepresentations, stereotypes, stigmas
Lady and the Tramp
There is a very typical Disney circumstance that exists in "Lady and the Tramp". There's always a damsel in problems that should be rescued, and in this particular animation it is just a Cocker Spaniel called Female, that is owned by a committed couple that lives in a prosperous suburban region, and is also quite pampered. She is a good-looking feminine dog with big inviting sight, long and solid eyelashes and a groomed overcoat. She is comparable to other Disney feminine characters like the little mermaid, Cinderella, Snow White, etc. because she embodies the stereotypical beautiful and attractive girl.
For every damsel in stress there is always a hero prepared to save her. The hero here is called, Tramp; a free of charge spirited girls' man. Surprisingly, he doesn't fit into the original male hero role when it comes to his appearance (a neighborhood dog) but, like all heroes, he ends up receiving the female's heart and they live happily ever after together.
According to Disney's Dolls article, archetypal Disney character types who are usually young females are in their characteristics happy and stay in suspended computer animation awaiting a man who would give them a life of excursion and meaning (Kathie Maoi, 1998). Here, Tramp rescues Girl after she is attacked by dogs that pursued her when she escaped from her foster's house. Sweetheart was under the treatment of Jim Dear and Darling, right until Tramp came along. Although Woman is not really a human, she is nonetheless made up of some make-up on, formed eyebrows, long womanly eyelashes with big blue eyes and flowing hair; groomed and actually looked after, unlike Tramp. Her talk is also quite enhanced and reflects a fairly high status as a puppy. Lady is purely another version of other Disney female characters that are repeatedly depicted as dependent, powerless damsels that fall under danger and need a male hero to save lots of them from the trenches. (Television set Tropes, n. d).
The story of the movie itself is much less sophisticated as other Disney animations since here there are no actual villains but instead situations that simply oppose both protagonists, like Aunt Sarah (the non permanent foster) and your dog catchers. It is still however, a story centered on love and relationship, highlighted in displays like when Tramp asked Lady out for on a time at an Italian restaurant plus they ended up kissing, so when he ultimately acquired her center by attacking the rat at the end. The animation in its main is somewhat different from other classical Disney films since all the main characters are pups. The supporting characters are the Siamese cats and the two human men Tony and Joe, the Italian owner/administrator and chef. It still however presents people that are priced with Asian, Mexican, Russian and Italian stereotypes.
The Siamese felines in the movie, Si and Am, are symbolized with clichd Asian manners of conversation and typical slanted eyes. Their personalities are quite sneaky and cunning, always plotting, nor have the best of motives. They even trashed the house's living room where Lady was living, attempted to devour the pet fish, and even position the blame on Girl for the chaos that they themselves induced. Siamese pet cats in their characteristics however, are in fact quite affectionate, reliable, and friendly, so their real characteristics were not reflected, but instead offered under incorrect stereotypes of Siamese pet cats and of pet cats generally (Pet Wave, n. d). "Lady and the Tramp" premiered immediately after the Korean Warfare finished and stereotypes of Asians were very popular in the states, which clarifies the invisible implication of the Siamese pet cats.
There is also the Chihuahua, Pedro, who lives in the dog pound and of course, has exaggerated Mexican attributes and features. He's given much Latino accent and actually says that he is in the country illegally. He shows up only in the scene where Girl is taken to the dog pound after she actually is caught, and he is doing little or nothing except relaxing in a pile of straw throughout the whole field. He only says two lines in the complete movie; "pardon me, amigo. What's this 'chili heel?" and ". . . my sister Rosita Chiquita Juanita Chihuahua, I believe", both indicating the typical Mexican stereotypes of them having long names and being uneducated, obviously generalizing and misrepresenting (Pierre, 1999). These are among the typical stereotypes of Mexicans that are still evident today, continually "[they are] portrayed as illiterate bad guys. . . lazy, dusty, and bodily unattractive" (Holder, 2012).
There is also Boris, a Russian wolfhound that has a heavy Russian highlight and sometimes appears as the philosopher and profound thinker in the dog pound field. Here there is more of a positive stereotypical representation of Russians that indeed portrays how Russians were once the heart of Western european philosophy, but continues to be a stereotype nonetheless. As a matter of known fact, it was relaxing to see a constructive portrayal of Russians because they are often linked to the Mafia in American press (Ferguson, n. d. ). There are also Toni and Joe who work at Toni's restaurant, where in fact the Tramps took Sweetheart for their dinner night out, who are both based on predictable Italian stereotypes as being chubby and jovial people who speak in a heavy accent and always utilize fast hands gestures. That is also a stereotype that steered from the expected Mafia/gang relationship that is shown in mainstream advertising, but nevertheless will not represent the truths of most Italians (Ferguson, n. d. ).
Some other representations can be found in this Disney movie that aren't exactly grounded on stereotypes but more on stigmas and positive images. The scene of the rat creeping into the newborns' room at the end of the movie to bite him does not seem very credible, and there exists a repetitive stigma of rats being wicked, crafty, and filthy, regularly correlated with disease and grime (Television set Tropes, n. d. ). Although the rat is not given an id or a name, it is reproduced in that negative light that the audience can simply form a negative image of rats in real life. When it comes to positive images, Lady's' neighborhood friends, Jock and Trusty who are also her friends, receive positive functions that reflection true dog characteristics such as outgoingness and devotion and even the obsession of burying bones in the lawn (TV Tropes, n. d. ).
It is safe to say that Woman and the Tramp is a typical animation that is packed with stereotypes and unreasonable beauty requirements that are recurrently observed in other Disney classics. It greatly exhibits stereotypes that eventually generate stigmas on particular ethnic teams like Asians and Latinos, which eventually lead to outbursts of hostility towards such minorities (Ferguson, n. d. ). This warps the perceptions of such races and nationalities and even some pets or animals, as regarding the rat and pet cats all together, for young viewers who are exposed to these (mis)representations (Ferguson, n. d. ). Woman and the Tramp is still probably a less intense version of other Disney movies that are fueled with heavy stereotypes, such as Aladdin, who count greatly on negative stigma to formulate images of certain sets of peoples that always finish up being very far from accurate.
References
Fetini, A. (2009, Dec 9). Top 10 10 Disney Controversies. Time. Retrieved from http://entertainment. time. com/2009/12/09/top-10-disney-controversies/slip/lady-and-the-tramp/
Maio, K. (1998). Women, contest & culture in Disney's movies. Retrieved from http://www. newint. org/easier-english/Disney/diswomen-p. html
Misener, J. (2013, March 28). Are Disney Films Racist? BuzzFeed. Retrieved from http://www. buzzfeed. com/jessicamisener/are-these-disney-movies-racist#. qjAo9v9Pg
Pet Wave (n. d. ). Siamese Cats. Retrieved from
http://www. petwave. com/Cats/Breeds/Shorthair/Siamese/Temperament. aspx
Tv Tropes (n. d. ). Canine Stereotypes. Retrieved from http://tvtropes. org/pmwiki/pmwiki. php/Main/AnimalStereotypes
Tv Tropes (n. d. ). Damsels in Distress. Retrieved from http://tvtropes. org/pmwiki/pmwiki. php/Main/DamselInDistress?from=Main. DistressedDamsel
(n. b. ). (2012). Disney Stereotypes. Musings of your Mediaholic. Retrieved from https://bintmedia. wordpress. com/disney-stereotypes-lady-and-the-tramp/
