Metaphorical Disney's Trying to Make the World a Better Place
ETA: I would like to make it clear that these are simply my opinions, I do not know the actual screenwriters of these various series, and no offense is meant (although I sincirely hope that Disney nor Nickelodeon would not take offense to any of this).
I originally posted this on my Facebook on August 29, but I realized that you all would probably find it a lot more interesting than most of my non-disney obsessed friends. It's basically discussing how Disney is slightly implying all these different themes in their movies and TV shows to try and make kids more open-minded. And it's discussing all these different characters and themes that could obviously be taken as homosexual.
GO DISNEY!
Metaphorical Disney's Trying to Make the World a Better Place
By: Megan TF Butler (stillthere4me)
My sister and I were recently discussing certain characters on the Disney Channel (because we are so mature and watch such grown up shows) that seem fairly obviously flamboyant, moreso than we could ever remember there being when we were younger, and started wondering if there's actually maybe a hidden agenda behind all of this.
First off, I'm 80% sure that Disney may be trying to make the world a more accepting place by having Oliver Oaken's character on "Hannah Montana". Despite his many attempts to "flirt" with the ladies, I'm pretty sure his character is homosexual. Especially because of all of his many random, fairly pointless scenes with his "non-friend" Jackson that seem to be becoming more and more frequent as of late. Oliver just seems that way to me at least (and he is my absolute favorite character on "Hannah Montana", so I'm not meaning this in a pejorative sense at all). Miley's joked with him on several occasions that he has "lost his boy brain" or treated him more like a girlfriend than a guy friend, namely when she and Lily got into that fight and Oliver was dragged in Lily's place to go get his nails done with Miley:
"Hey, Oliver wanna go surfing?"
"Yes! Cause I'm a guy...and guys like to surf in waters full of sharks...big, manly guy sharks!"
"Are you wearing a clear polish?"
"It's called buff!...like me! Let's go."
Typical G-rated jokes that are fairly commonly found any kids show lately, but Oliver's been the butt of a rather large amount of them and coupled with his actual characteristics just make you wonder if Disney has an actual purpose behind them. Even if it never goes anywhere or is admitted, to those watching it, it makes a guy like that to kids seem more 'normal' than those of us who grew up before then might've thought.
Hannah Montana being such a popular show in the tween generation (and obviously past it as well given the point of the group "I'm in college and I still watch Hannah Montana" on Facebook), so I wouldn't put it past the Big Mouse to try and do a little good through it via one of it's characters. They wouldn't come right out and admit it about him right away, because the show would be taken off the air in two seconds if they did. But watching the show through older analytical eyes, I can't help but think that given the way Oliver acts and certain characteristics about him. Plus the whole theme of the show "living two lives, one that everyone sees and one that's secret except for a few close people", sounds pretty metaphorical to me (best exemplified in the lyrics of Hannah Montana's songs like "The Other Side of Me" and "Just Like You"--although again her more generic songs about being yourself and following your heart despite what anyone else thinks, and love being the most important thing all still can apply here).
Next off would be that if ANYONE has even PARTIALLY seen "High School Musical", it's pretty hard to argue about Ryan Evans's sexuality. The boy wears, as his actor Lucas Grabeel even pointed out, "way more pink than anyone realistically does". We won't even go into the stereotypes about a boy who loves musical theatre/dancing/singing, because it's wrong for people to judge based on that but those facts are just being put here for supplemental support. But also the whole theme of the first movie, doing what you want to do despite what anyone thinks, could again be pretty metaphorical. I mean, come on, you could just replace the words "breaking free" in the song "Breaking Free" with the words "coming out" and it still makes complete sense (as me, my sister, and Kym all agreed in a laughing discovery). Not to mention that Ryan's the ONLY character who has not been paired up with any girl yet in either of the two movies, except maybe his sister (which would be opening the door for a whole new kind of acceptance).
Even in "High School Musical 2", when there was ample opportunity to pair him up romantically with the new character "Martha Cox", or to steal Kelsi away from her technically unofficial romance with Jason, Disney didn't even slightly imply it except for a small portion of the song where he danced with Martha instead of Sharpay and extremely innocent conversations with the movie's favorite pianist. As a matter of fact, in the new movie he seemed to have FAR more chemistry and certain tension with Chad Danforth, the best friend of the omnipotent Troy Bolton who had been ditched by his best friend, during the song "I Don't Dance" (which just may be the best scene in the entire movie, and is loaded with euphemisms and metaphors), not to mention the two boys SWITCHED SHIRTS after that song which Disney gave absolutely no explanation for and I can't think of one reasonable innocent reason for it myself except to maybe show that they were equals, but that really doesn't hold much water against the boys doing it for less than G-rated reasons. Although Ryan did have a little supposed "flirting" with the good girl Gabriella at one moment, it looked much more like he was her "best gay guy friend" than any actual romantic interest to me, and I doubt Gabriella would've quit her job at the club so quickly after she broke up with Troy if there had been any budding romance there. And Chad and Taylor's chemistry (despite the second movie saying they were dating) seemed fairly non-existent to me in both movies, not to mention Chad's line:
"I'm not saying I'm going to dance in the show...but if I did; what would you have me do?"
And Ryan's smirk afterwords is incredibly suggestive, at least to older viewers.
So if these boys are implying what I think they are implying, I give props to Mickey Mouse for doing something pretty sneaky but overall good with it's powers, and it makes me want to work for the company all the more. Childhood shows and movies like these really do affect kids views and opinions about things when they're older, and having a characters like Oliver and Ryan makes me pretty hopeful about the future if they are leaning the way I think they are (and if the world is becoming more accepting, Oliver might end up coming out in the most likely long run of his show. Now THAT would be an interesting episode. And if we're lucky, Ryan may even be more openly hinting in High School Musical's theatrical release next year).
I'd argue the same thing about these following characters (not saying anything about the actors by the way):
-Newt Livingston on "Cory in the House" who has been joked about quite blatantly in his show--especially when he got that crush on Cory when Cory dressed up as his sister. And whenever Cory goes out into a happy daze about his crush on Meena, Newt always jumps in wanting to be included as well.
-Maddie Fitzpatrick and London Tipton on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" (as adorable as I find Zack's crush on Maddie is, London and her act more like a married couple than practically any other couple married or not that I have seen on Disney Channel and the two don't exactly seem like close "friends". Plus, in "The Suite Life Goes Hollywood", when London meets the male actor who will be portraying her and finds out her character will be having a romance with the actress portraying Maddie's character, she gets upset and says:
"But I'd never date Maddie! She's poor!"
which pretty much is making fun of the possibility of the couple--and this isn't even going into Vanessa Hudgens's character Corrie and her OBSESSION and LOVE with London which I just find adorable),
--possibly Pim from "Phil of the Future" though I have weaker arguments for her. But the power-hungry world domination aspiring girl is definitely a change for how the typical tween girl is portrayed in children's television. Not to mention her extreme annoyance and obsession with her "not best friend" Debbie Berwick (who either is really, really oblivious, or just really really likes Pim despite the way Pim treats her). And Pim gets frustrated when she feels bad after being mean to Debbie too.
--and definitely without a doubt the characters Drake Parker and Josh Nichols from Nickelodeon's "Drake&Josh" (so this isn't exactly Disney but still), the show that I believe holds the RECORD for the highest amount of "man hugs" and man "kisses" on possibly cable TV--yes, even with Will&Grace I'm saying this--and definately ever on Children's/Teen's Shows--as well as had an episode which pretty much came right out and admitted the couple's existence called "Josh is Done!" in which they 'broke up' because Drake was treating Josh horribly and then Josh decided to treat Drake as nothing more than a roommate, which drives the playboy Drake crazy to the point where he shouts in the middle of class:
"Fine! I admit it, Josh. I need you way more than you need me. I...I...I'm sorry."
and walks out of the room.
Okay, perhaps I'm fairly obsessive over silly details and symbolic stuff when it comes to TV and books, especially those aimed at kids. It could easily be, I guess, that these are all just jokes that are aimed for younger people than me and I probably shouldn't be watching these shows. But the thing is, I would love work for a company like Disney (or even Nickelodeon, although I don't really like their new shows post-Drake&Josh, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and Fairly Oddparents) and hope create shows like these, so I can't help but wonder what the writers of them are thinking. Putting in themes like that could really do something about the way future kids are thinking.
Not to mention all of this thinking really started taking off when I saw the TV Land special "Tickled Pink" or something where they went back and analyzed older TV shows (such as I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched and more recent shows like Xena and Buffy as well) for their gay and lesbian themes, which existed as early as the 50s. So it is possible on these shows. And if nothing else, if I have to write an essay on something like this for college, I'm totally prepared. XD
Anyone with comments are welcome to leave them or message me about them. XD I am ridiculously curious and opinionated about finding themes like these.
I originally posted this on my Facebook on August 29, but I realized that you all would probably find it a lot more interesting than most of my non-disney obsessed friends. It's basically discussing how Disney is slightly implying all these different themes in their movies and TV shows to try and make kids more open-minded. And it's discussing all these different characters and themes that could obviously be taken as homosexual.
GO DISNEY!
Metaphorical Disney's Trying to Make the World a Better Place
By: Megan TF Butler (stillthere4me)
My sister and I were recently discussing certain characters on the Disney Channel (because we are so mature and watch such grown up shows) that seem fairly obviously flamboyant, moreso than we could ever remember there being when we were younger, and started wondering if there's actually maybe a hidden agenda behind all of this.
First off, I'm 80% sure that Disney may be trying to make the world a more accepting place by having Oliver Oaken's character on "Hannah Montana". Despite his many attempts to "flirt" with the ladies, I'm pretty sure his character is homosexual. Especially because of all of his many random, fairly pointless scenes with his "non-friend" Jackson that seem to be becoming more and more frequent as of late. Oliver just seems that way to me at least (and he is my absolute favorite character on "Hannah Montana", so I'm not meaning this in a pejorative sense at all). Miley's joked with him on several occasions that he has "lost his boy brain" or treated him more like a girlfriend than a guy friend, namely when she and Lily got into that fight and Oliver was dragged in Lily's place to go get his nails done with Miley:
"Hey, Oliver wanna go surfing?"
"Yes! Cause I'm a guy...and guys like to surf in waters full of sharks...big, manly guy sharks!"
"Are you wearing a clear polish?"
"It's called buff!...like me! Let's go."
Typical G-rated jokes that are fairly commonly found any kids show lately, but Oliver's been the butt of a rather large amount of them and coupled with his actual characteristics just make you wonder if Disney has an actual purpose behind them. Even if it never goes anywhere or is admitted, to those watching it, it makes a guy like that to kids seem more 'normal' than those of us who grew up before then might've thought.
Hannah Montana being such a popular show in the tween generation (and obviously past it as well given the point of the group "I'm in college and I still watch Hannah Montana" on Facebook), so I wouldn't put it past the Big Mouse to try and do a little good through it via one of it's characters. They wouldn't come right out and admit it about him right away, because the show would be taken off the air in two seconds if they did. But watching the show through older analytical eyes, I can't help but think that given the way Oliver acts and certain characteristics about him. Plus the whole theme of the show "living two lives, one that everyone sees and one that's secret except for a few close people", sounds pretty metaphorical to me (best exemplified in the lyrics of Hannah Montana's songs like "The Other Side of Me" and "Just Like You"--although again her more generic songs about being yourself and following your heart despite what anyone else thinks, and love being the most important thing all still can apply here).
Next off would be that if ANYONE has even PARTIALLY seen "High School Musical", it's pretty hard to argue about Ryan Evans's sexuality. The boy wears, as his actor Lucas Grabeel even pointed out, "way more pink than anyone realistically does". We won't even go into the stereotypes about a boy who loves musical theatre/dancing/singing, because it's wrong for people to judge based on that but those facts are just being put here for supplemental support. But also the whole theme of the first movie, doing what you want to do despite what anyone thinks, could again be pretty metaphorical. I mean, come on, you could just replace the words "breaking free" in the song "Breaking Free" with the words "coming out" and it still makes complete sense (as me, my sister, and Kym all agreed in a laughing discovery). Not to mention that Ryan's the ONLY character who has not been paired up with any girl yet in either of the two movies, except maybe his sister (which would be opening the door for a whole new kind of acceptance).
Even in "High School Musical 2", when there was ample opportunity to pair him up romantically with the new character "Martha Cox", or to steal Kelsi away from her technically unofficial romance with Jason, Disney didn't even slightly imply it except for a small portion of the song where he danced with Martha instead of Sharpay and extremely innocent conversations with the movie's favorite pianist. As a matter of fact, in the new movie he seemed to have FAR more chemistry and certain tension with Chad Danforth, the best friend of the omnipotent Troy Bolton who had been ditched by his best friend, during the song "I Don't Dance" (which just may be the best scene in the entire movie, and is loaded with euphemisms and metaphors), not to mention the two boys SWITCHED SHIRTS after that song which Disney gave absolutely no explanation for and I can't think of one reasonable innocent reason for it myself except to maybe show that they were equals, but that really doesn't hold much water against the boys doing it for less than G-rated reasons. Although Ryan did have a little supposed "flirting" with the good girl Gabriella at one moment, it looked much more like he was her "best gay guy friend" than any actual romantic interest to me, and I doubt Gabriella would've quit her job at the club so quickly after she broke up with Troy if there had been any budding romance there. And Chad and Taylor's chemistry (despite the second movie saying they were dating) seemed fairly non-existent to me in both movies, not to mention Chad's line:
"I'm not saying I'm going to dance in the show...but if I did; what would you have me do?"
And Ryan's smirk afterwords is incredibly suggestive, at least to older viewers.
So if these boys are implying what I think they are implying, I give props to Mickey Mouse for doing something pretty sneaky but overall good with it's powers, and it makes me want to work for the company all the more. Childhood shows and movies like these really do affect kids views and opinions about things when they're older, and having a characters like Oliver and Ryan makes me pretty hopeful about the future if they are leaning the way I think they are (and if the world is becoming more accepting, Oliver might end up coming out in the most likely long run of his show. Now THAT would be an interesting episode. And if we're lucky, Ryan may even be more openly hinting in High School Musical's theatrical release next year).
I'd argue the same thing about these following characters (not saying anything about the actors by the way):
-Newt Livingston on "Cory in the House" who has been joked about quite blatantly in his show--especially when he got that crush on Cory when Cory dressed up as his sister. And whenever Cory goes out into a happy daze about his crush on Meena, Newt always jumps in wanting to be included as well.
-Maddie Fitzpatrick and London Tipton on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" (as adorable as I find Zack's crush on Maddie is, London and her act more like a married couple than practically any other couple married or not that I have seen on Disney Channel and the two don't exactly seem like close "friends". Plus, in "The Suite Life Goes Hollywood", when London meets the male actor who will be portraying her and finds out her character will be having a romance with the actress portraying Maddie's character, she gets upset and says:
"But I'd never date Maddie! She's poor!"
which pretty much is making fun of the possibility of the couple--and this isn't even going into Vanessa Hudgens's character Corrie and her OBSESSION and LOVE with London which I just find adorable),
--possibly Pim from "Phil of the Future" though I have weaker arguments for her. But the power-hungry world domination aspiring girl is definitely a change for how the typical tween girl is portrayed in children's television. Not to mention her extreme annoyance and obsession with her "not best friend" Debbie Berwick (who either is really, really oblivious, or just really really likes Pim despite the way Pim treats her). And Pim gets frustrated when she feels bad after being mean to Debbie too.
--and definitely without a doubt the characters Drake Parker and Josh Nichols from Nickelodeon's "Drake&Josh" (so this isn't exactly Disney but still), the show that I believe holds the RECORD for the highest amount of "man hugs" and man "kisses" on possibly cable TV--yes, even with Will&Grace I'm saying this--and definately ever on Children's/Teen's Shows--as well as had an episode which pretty much came right out and admitted the couple's existence called "Josh is Done!" in which they 'broke up' because Drake was treating Josh horribly and then Josh decided to treat Drake as nothing more than a roommate, which drives the playboy Drake crazy to the point where he shouts in the middle of class:
"Fine! I admit it, Josh. I need you way more than you need me. I...I...I'm sorry."
and walks out of the room.
Okay, perhaps I'm fairly obsessive over silly details and symbolic stuff when it comes to TV and books, especially those aimed at kids. It could easily be, I guess, that these are all just jokes that are aimed for younger people than me and I probably shouldn't be watching these shows. But the thing is, I would love work for a company like Disney (or even Nickelodeon, although I don't really like their new shows post-Drake&Josh, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and Fairly Oddparents) and hope create shows like these, so I can't help but wonder what the writers of them are thinking. Putting in themes like that could really do something about the way future kids are thinking.
Not to mention all of this thinking really started taking off when I saw the TV Land special "Tickled Pink" or something where they went back and analyzed older TV shows (such as I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched and more recent shows like Xena and Buffy as well) for their gay and lesbian themes, which existed as early as the 50s. So it is possible on these shows. And if nothing else, if I have to write an essay on something like this for college, I'm totally prepared. XD
Anyone with comments are welcome to leave them or message me about them. XD I am ridiculously curious and opinionated about finding themes like these.