The hidden messages in Disney’s movies

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I still remember the thrill I used to feel, every Saturday morning, while waiting to watch one of Disney’s movies. Standing in front of the television, focusing on the beautiful colorful scenes combined with the adequate music, and feeling extremely involved in the story are things I could never forget.

Years passed by and I always wondered what is the secret behind Disney? Why am I still enjoying the same stories told repeatedly?

Maleficent gave me the answer!

In one of the scenes, “Maleficent (the fairy) was betrayed by the only man she loved and trusted. She wakes up, in the morning, in the middle of the forest feeling different, and weaker. Her face down on the dirt, she is barely able to move, and she feels confused, angry, and devastated. Her lover has stolen her winks to become the king.”  As pure and childish these lines seem, this scene gave me the same impression a rape scene might give.

Photo credits: Movies Fanatic

Maleficent was betrayed, left neglected, and raped. This is the message we, grownups, get. However, this is not what children grasp from this scene. Disney was smart enough to give each of its spectators the story he wanted to hear.

Let me give you more examples.

Cinderella

“Cinderella was so happy dancing with the prince that she almost forgot what the fairy godmother had said. At the last moment, Cinderella remembered her fairy godmother’s words and she rushed to go home. “Oh! I must go!” she cried and ran out of the palace. One of her glass slippers came off but Cinderella did not turn back for it.”

Do you remember this? Let me surprise you a bit more. One of the most famous interpretation of Cinderella’s missing shoes takes it as a symbol of the missing virginity!

Frozen:

Many rumors circulated about Frozen’s Queen Elsa being a gay girl.

“Elsa shows no romantic longings like her sister Anna, is born different, and told to "conceal it, do not feel it" which results in her rejecting being "the good girl you always have to be" during the Oscar-winning song Let It Go.”

Disney addresses in all of its movies both children and grownups by adding some embedded hints and messages that only an adult mind can grasp.

So to all those of think that Disney’s movies are for kids, I guess you have to consider watching one of them… Believe me, Disney never failed to surprise me.

Rihab

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Her

Her 4.5/5

“Her” is the most bizarre yet familiar movie I have ever seen.

The idea of falling in “Love” with an operating system is a very improbable event for anyone of us, but what if it could just happen?

Think for a second about your relationship with your cell phone or with the internet. How do you describe it? Is it normal, healthy or very reliant? Note how all of these descriptions are humanly relevant, which makes me seriously wonder.

People have become more and more dependent on technology in every aspect of their lives. Some are becoming isolated and introverted and they tend to communicate indirectly via social media.

This is an issue that needs to be more addressed and that’s what the writer and director Spike Jonze  tries to do, by sharing with us a phase in the life of Theodore, a lonely unsocial writer, struggling with his feelings during a hard divorce. Theodore buys a smart Operating System (O.S.) and decides, to his bad luck, to give him a female voice. The O.S., which chose to name herself Samantha, will expand quickly and will soon become an entity, but not only a binary code one, but someone with feelings and personal ideas. It’s not long before Theodore falls in love with her virtual perfection.

What is really smart in this movie is that the director approaches this “love relationship” as if it is very normal. He places it in a society where it is very usual for someone to talk to his computer while walking on the road and he shows that all traditional phases of a two human’s relationship apply to it.

This movie presents an interesting idea and a phenomenon that is starting to form in our societies with a clever approach using a high caliber cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson (playing the role of Samantha- we never get to see her in the movie)  Rooney Mara and Amy Adams who all deliver a outstanding performance.

This movie carries a very smart/ interesting message to us, something we miss to notice or to remember in our quick modern life “even the smartest operating system fails to understand the complexity of the human’s feelings and to satisfy his emotions.”

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300: Rise of an Empire

Have you ever tried the French cuisine? Have you experienced its perfection? If so, you will understand this review because this movie is like a French dish. 

Every scene, every flash of an eye, every drop of blood and every word were deeply and profoundly studied to create a perfect successor to the movie that caught the hearts of millions all over the world. This movie is neither a sequel nor a prequel to "300", it is both at the same time.

It starts with "The battle of Marathon" when Themistocles a Greek soldier killed King Darius of Persia in front of his son Xerxes. Seeking revenge, Xerxes came back to Greece years after declaring war. With the huge Persian fleet led by Artemisia threatening all the Greek, Themistocles asked the council to unit and sought the help of Sparta. The Spartans refused his request and King Leonidas marched to the war with his 300 brave soldiers. Armed by the promise of freedom and a united country, the Greek fleet fought the Persians bravely. But when the Persian seemed to end the war to their favor, Themistocles already knew that the 300 Spartans were dead and sought the help of Queen Gorgo of Sparta asking her to revenge her beloved king.


This movie is a great watch; it takes you back thousands of years, to the era of the great warriors. The director Naom Murro manages to create the perfect atmosphere and I felt completely taken for 102 minutes. All the characters were well-developed and perfectly casted. Eva Green was excellent playing Artemisia; I can even say that she surprised me. 

I enjoyed this movie although I am not really a fan of 300. I had a tough time watching the killing scenes but I admit that they served the large scheme perfectly. 

Like French dishes, this movie is very well done, it is perfect BUT it is not the kind of 
movies that I, personally, crave to see.

Rating: 3.5/5 

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Non-Stop

I often prejudge an action movie as being very predictable and unchallenging. I must admit that it is not actually my favorite genre, but due to many recommendations, I watched Non-Stop and even though I quiet enjoyed it, I have some issues that I need to share.

Non-stop is a fun movie to watch, it does not bore you but at the same time does not offer you anything new.

One of the clearest weaknesses of this movie is the unfinished cycle of accusations. This very predictable step to make us doubt certain characters, then turn them out to be innocent became very annoying at some point.

Moreover, speaking about the plot, I have to mention the insufficient way in which the different motives of the crime were explained.

The key in this kind of movies is that the audience must be intimidated by the bad guy and intrigued to reveal his mystery. He must believe the threat in order to root for the good guy. It was not the case here, the bad people were simply not challenging enough and the story behind their actions was not convincing or profoundly treated, but despite that, you’ll like the action that this movie offers.

Also, there is something about Liam Neeson that attracts me enough to tolerate this kind of movies. He is just so pleasant to watch and very charismatic.

In conclusion, if you have some time to spare and could not find another movie that interests you, you can watch Non-Stop and have some instant fun.

Rating: 3/5

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12 Years a Slave

It’s hard to write about this movie without falling in the trap of writing about the slavery period in general and in the USA especially.

This statement is what makes “12 years a slave” one of the greatest movies. The atmosphere that the director Steve McQueen has created transports you to another place and time. You’ll forget that you are watching a movie and just feel what those humans were feeling.

Based on the true story of Solomon Northomb, a free black man sold into slavery, the movie depicts his journey as a slave and the lives of many others who lost their identities to ignorance and inhumanity. Solomon Northomb was a free black man who enjoyed his life as a musician without thinking of others who were subjected to all kind of racist acts. 

But what would you do if you became a slave? Would you fight and die? Would you submit all your life and surrender to a faith chosen for you?
What if you believe that you're superior to others and that it is your right to enslave a human? The worst is what if you do believe that you're inferior to others and that it is your destiny to live as a slave?

All these questions came to my mind while watching this movie.  In those 130 minutes I cried, hated, sympathized and felt human again in a time where this feeling is the most needed.

The performances of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender were beyond amazing and certainly worthy of all the possible awards and I particularly hope that the wonderful newcomer Lupita Nyong'o wins the Academy Award for best supporting actress.

“12 years a slave” is a movie about a man’s journey from physical freedom to physical and mental slavery then to total freedom. It’s a movie about despair and about begging for death to end a life that is not yours.

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