My 11 year child has been asked to re write a Disney story of his choice but without the sexist/racist aspects. AIBU to write back..

[SecretsInSpitalfield]

That I will not have the teacher pushing her views on my child?

As far as he (and his younger DB) Disney has always been a POSITIVE thing! Fun films , cinema days and even a dream once in a lifetime trip to World Disney World.

I wouldn't have minded if they said 'do you think any Disney films are racist or sexist? If so, please elaborate why. But this has been set as if it's FACTUAL that they are and my child is just 11.

Please give me your honest opinions

Thank you 😊

It's like asking 'please re write some AIBU threads but without name calling and bullying'

Have a lovely evening 😘

My mistake. I thought OP was sock puppeting

What 8 year watches Toy Story and looks out for anything other than laughing and having a fun time watching the film

My kids are not super smart but watched Toy Story when they were younger than 8 and understood the themes and messages in the film like jealousy/insecurity, friendship and treating your toys with kindness.

Why did you bother posting this when you had no interest in actual opinions?

You are steadfast in your view in the face of 99% of posters stating it's a critical thinking exercise and you're being far too defensive of a massive corporation who admits that there are sexist and racist undertones in many of their movies.

So why bother asking?

Sorry if I'm missing the point but weren't Cinderella, beauty and the beast, sleeping beauty all fairytales before Disney made them into films?

Ithink it's good homework that'll make them really think about it

It was before it got reworded. I think the new wording on the screenshot is a lesser task. Hopefully the teacher decided to reword it herself rather than being made to by SLT.

My son has never been interested in Disney and refuses to watch films so has never seen any, dunno how we would get round this homework

Saw this exact subject with the Disney school question on Twitter last week and it was apparently fake news. Not suggesting that this thread is bollocks but....

I love that assignment. "Cinders dad marries a king with two kind children of his own, who support cinders' transition to become a prince. The end"

Yea mine watched the Disney versions. They also watched indie versions as well as the original tales.
Until you read them, you don't see how much Disney has changed.

Disney make a token change when things get publicly talked about, and once everything dies down, everything goes back to the old way.

Yabu

Fairy tales were invented to reinforce a particular social status quo. They are very of their time (be that medieval or 1950s). Its very important to understand that and to be able to think critically about them- to write modern a alternatives and also to be able to continue to enjoy older films and stories. My DCs are 11 and if they were watching a Disney film now I’d have a lot to say about it.

Disney owns Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel Ugzbuz

Sorry if I'm missing the point but weren't Cinderella, beauty and the beast, sleeping beauty all fairytales before Disney made them into films?

Yes and Disney sanitised them to an extent although they are still sexist and he seems to have added to the racism.

You could run the task with the original fairy tales, but children these days are much more familiar with the Disney versions. Very few children will have a good background knowledge of the original version. Some will have some awareness but will get mixed up with the Disney version.

Bet you voted for Brexit, eh OP?

At best you’re thick but smug. At worst you’re out and out racist.

This isn't new. One of my friends did her masters on sexism in Disney and what was wrong with it all(obviously she had a better title) about 15 years ago.

Skinnychip Most of them are, though most of them also bear very little resemblance to the original fairytale (fair enough really; as you can’t really show Ariel in severe pain from her legs and forging herself to dance for the prince even though it feels like she’s dancing on knives... not really one for the kiddies).

Big fans of Disney in this house, but I don't understand why you are taking issue with this work. Disney is fairy tales, and Walt had some very questionable views. Modern Disney films are being retold without the sexism and racism, Frozen as an example, the princesses escaped the awful man and saved each other.
I told my children fairy tales and we watched a few older Disney films, its culturally important imo, but I always talked about the sexism after. Disney + have deleted several racism scenes from their older films, its controversial but I think right to acknowledge that the lines of acceptability have moved, and thank goodness. Its interesting though that the sexism can't be removed, so entrenched as it is in the story telling. It would be interesting to do a comparison between the role of women in films of the 20th and 21st century.
No ones ruining the films or pushing a political agenda, the teacher is using a set of films that almost everyone will have seen to explore. I imagine she thought she would make it relevant and accessible.

It's so hard in this day and age not to marginalise a segment of society....so I'd roll my sleeves up on this and go all out....every character to be identified as LGBTTQQIAAP and living in a harmonious multi cultural, multi racial "rainbow" community! 😁👍

you had me at ‘minorities offended by nativity plays’, OP. political correctness gone mad, innit?

except, it’s not remotely true. maybe your critical thinking skills are due an upgrade from the Daily Mail.

if you’re struggling with your son’s homework, i suggest the Native American bit from Peter Pan. even the most ardent it-wasn’t-meant-offensively-different-era stalwart should twitch a bit. because, it is hideously racist.

there, i just did your son’s homework. now you can get back to huffing about minorities ruining christmas or whatever you usually pass your time with as we approach the festive season.

happy winterval!

Doesn’t the original version of the frog prince involve him being thrown against a wall?

The originals were frequently horrifying, because they were warnings/morality tales.

People find racism and sexism in everything today, its their mission in life, very sad and stupid people

I used to teach a whole unit based on fairy tales. Read a couple of the originals (Cinderella is great for shock value, the ugly sisters have their eyes pecked out by ravens on the steps of the church before & after Cinders gets married, and the stepmother has her feet placed in red hot iron shoes and dances herself to death). Look at how and why the Disney version adapted the original. Compare and contrast Disney v Original essay. Then create a new adaptation for the modern day, plot it, storyboard, script and film it. Can still remember the 'Hansel and Gretel Get Adopted' version!

That was ten years ago though, before schools were exam factories and when teachers had freedom to do something that didn't directly feed into the GCSE exam question assessment objectives. Sigh.

Yes you should send the teacher a letter.

A thank you letter for encouraging your DS and his classmates to explore racism and sexism in a way that's interesting and likely to promote lively discussion.

'Picking on Disney'? Really? Isn't this a rather juvenile way of looking at it?

I thank fuck that my kids (now mid to late 20s) were raised in a time before all this ultra-PC bollocks, histrionics, everything is racist/sexist/inappropriate/'Disney should be buried' bullshit reared its fat ugly head.

Who's saying Disney should be buried?

I get sick to death of everything being pulled apart - much of what was created MANY DECADES ago, (almost a century or more ago in some cases,) and slagged off, pilloried, and RUINED by the fiercely liberal PC brigade of today.

Gosh darn it, don't you just hate it when people think critically about the media they consume? I know I do!

I am also glad my kids were at school in a time where the Nativity Play was not banned for 'offending minorities' (when it actually didn't, it was the precious PC brigade who said it was 'offensive!')

I mean when and where has this actually happened outside of Sht I Just Made Up, Dailymail Bollockshire?