Hypertension

dropsofstars:

alicecosplay:

dropsofstars:

alicecosplay:

dropsofstars:

waltdisneyconfessions:

“I hate when people say that Walt Disney was racist just because most of his characters were white. That’s the way things were back then, and if he made an African American princess he would probably get killed. DO NOT blame Walt for the society’s discrimination.”

THIIIIIS. OP I love you. He wasn’t sexist because hell, Mary Blair wouldn’t have had such an important role in Disney History. Women did get promoted to good jobs in his company, unlike others at the time. He wasn’t racist, just ask Floyd Norman. He didnt hate Jews, he created anti-Nazi shorts. He wasn’t homophobic because when one of his employees were discovered to be gay, people pressured him to fire him. Walt said that it didn’t matter what he did when he got home, he does a great job at what he does. He was a great person, society is the one that discriminated. Society is also the ones who says Walt is all of these things to tarnish his image.

Walt Disney wasn’t perfect, he was human. You might claim he wasn’t racist (probably just insensitive) but there’s still racists portrayals in his movies and you can’t excuse it just with “that’s how it was back then”; it’s racist, it’s wrong and unacceptable and we have to admit what it is, not deny it and sweep it under a rug.

I never said he was perfect, but he was a pretty great guy. Floyd Norman had absolutely no problem working on these movies and said himself that Walt was not racist. When it is how the world was, that’s how it was. Of course, it’s wrong but that’s what society was like. People weren’t going to accept Mulan/Pocahontas/Tiana becase that was unheard of. Watch shows from the time era. Racism was the norm, unfortunately. How about people quit crying over movies from the 50s, already? It happened, you can’t change the past. Plus, there are ridiculous white characters.. (Radcliffe, Gaston, the chef from the little mermaid, the kings from Sleeping Beauty, etc) Keep fighting for more Tianas, more Jasmines, more Mulans… Instead of bawling over movies from a completely different time. I really have no doubt that Walt would have had no problem creating an African American princess. He was liberal for his time.

When you meet Walt himself or someone that knew Walt himself you can tell me if he was a great person or not, or what he’d do if he was still alive.

The fact that it was the norm doesn’t make it right. Yes, it happened; yes, it was a long time ago; yes, it was wrong. It’s about accepting that, learn from it and change for the better. I agree that some people whine too much, but at the same time you can’t just ignore a complete time period just because you don’t want to think about racism.

Then you can tell me, when you meet him personally, about how racist he is. It works both ways, by the way. I choose to believe the people he worked with everyday and had close friendships with. Walt was extremely progressive and had no problem hiring a diversity of people. Which is why I feel like he would have had no problem with creating movies with PoC leads. By the way, no one is ignoring the time period, because they don’t want to think about racism. They’ve merely accepted the time period for what it is, and have moved on. No use in crying over spilt milk. They also understand that the time period does not reflect on all people in it, like Walt. It’s easier now to be outspoken, and state your opinion on subjects, because you’re not going to lose your job, credibility, or get killed.

Sorry alicecosplay, you’re totally missing the point/deluded. Hypothetical situation:

In 100 years, attitudes have changed, abortion (for example) has (for whatever reason) been banned, and the people then look at us as if we were all monstrous evil people. Sort of like the way we look back at the people who stood by and let the Holocaust happen.

If this does happen in 100 years, does that mean all of us living now are evil for living in this world the best we can, and trying our best to live with/fit into the prevalent attitudes of our age? While at the same time quietly living our own ways and respecting the consensus of the larger population? NO! It doesn’t make us all evil!

For that same reason, Walt Disney was not racist or evil. He was simply a man living in his time, unaware that someday attitudes would change so massively. If you knew now that some change was coming in 100 years, or even 10, would you stand up and be counted, even if it meant going against the entire world? All your friends and family? Everyone? No, you wouldn’t. So don’t even attempt to say you would.

Mr. Disney was as progressive as he could be: and he was a lot more far sighted than most of us are, these days. Hell we don’t even KNOW where society is headed anymore.

So don’t you sit there and spout off about how people are ignoring an entire era of history, when you’re not even considering how the people of the future MIGHT LOOK AT YOU.

Always remember, history is written by the victors: and our histories haven’t been won yet.