Zach Whalen
Text Review Assignment
Swiss Family Robinson (1960 version)
Pirates from the movie Swiss Family Robinson.
I recently watched a Disney film a few days ago that perfectly demonstrated several concepts that we learned in class. This movie was Swiss Family Robinson (1960). The premise of the movie is that the Robinson family crashes onto a deserted island. The 2 sons travel around the island looking to see if they can find any help. They stumble upon a captain and his daughter being held captive by pirates, and rescue the daughter. The rest of the movie is about the pirates coming after the daughter so they can collect a ransom, and the Robinson family fending off attacks from the pirates while the 2 sons try to swoon the Captain’s daughter.
Before the movie began, a warning appeared that was posted by Disney that warns and informs the audience of negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. The negative depictions of cultures in this movie is evidently seen with the pirates, who appear to be Asian. The language that these pirates speak is complete gibberish and mocks Asian languages. Some of the characters appear to be wearing makeup to make them look like they are Asian. How these pirates are depicted is grossly stereotypical and racist. When this movie was released in 1960, it added to a negative way in which Asian people were viewed.
Another topic covered in class that can be seen throughout the movie is the issue of Othering. A single example of this would be the relationship between the men and the women in the movie. The men were portrayed as confidant and leaders while the women always needed help. When the daughter was first rescued, she was dressed like a boy. The 2 sons treated her poorly until the realized that she was a woman and then from that point on, did not let her out of their sight. This dynamic in the movie shows that women are not capable of contributing to society and are only good for cooking, dancing, and are objectified and desired as objects.
Back when the movie was released, the directors desired the movie to be a humorous and lighthearted/fun movie. In current times, Disney is aware of the racism and other injustices in the movie, and they believe that no alterations should be made to the movie to correct the wrongs. I believe that this was a great move on Disney’s part to add the warning before the movie began, and to show the movie as it was originally produced. Doing so can create dialog and conversations where people can reflect on the wrongs of the past and learn so that a better future can be created.
Warning posted by Disney before movie started.