It has everything. Halloween. Cultural Appropriation. And Disney!

[penn19]

http://www.delish.com/food/a56223/moana-halloween-costume-racist/?src=socialflowFB

I don't even know what to think anymore.

 

[Hikergirl]

 

[Buckeye218]

Oh brother... Some people need to just let kids be kids and quit trying to unnecessarily escalate everything into a socially transformative issue.

 

[L&Lfan]

So I assume it's politically incorrect for a child of color to dress in a costume appropriating white or Caucasian culture? Whatever happneed to be what you wanna be?
I think the whole thing's ridiculous, but I suppose there are some who will take Redbook's "advice/warning" seriously.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I read that lol... so ridiculous.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

 

[la79al]

No no kids, you can't be that princess because you think she is pretty/cool/brave, etc. She doesn't have the same skin color as you....

 

[LSUmiss]

So I assume it's politically incorrect for a child of color to dress in a costume appropriating white or Caucasian culture? Whatever happneed to be what you wanna be?
I think the whole things ridiculous, but I suppose there are some who will take Redbook's "advice/warning" seriously.

That’s what I was thinking. Seems MORE racist to say only those of pacific island descent can wear it!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

If my kid wanted to wear a Moana costume, it would be because she admired the character, not because she was mocking the character. I think the thinking of the Redbook editors is a little messed up.

I also think the cultural appropriation isn't necessarily "the act of reducing someone's culture to stereotypes, and thereby belittling it". Borrowing an idea from another culture does not automatically assume stereotypes or belittling. The recent hoop earring controversy comes to mind.

 

[bcla]

So I assume it's politically incorrect for a child of color to dress in a costume appropriating white or Caucasian culture? Whatever happneed to be what you wanna be?
I think the whole things ridiculous, but I suppose there are some who will take Redbook's "advice/warning" seriously.

I've seen plenty of that. At Disney on Ice the African-American family sitting next to us had their two daughters wearing Anna and Elsa costumes including blonde and red wigs. An Asian coworker had his kid dressed as Doc McStuffins when we did trick or treating at the office.

Still - not quite like the photo I found of Mulan at WDW portrayed by a Caucasian woman. I mean - you can't find an Asian CM at WDW who can do this?

 

[MrsDuck]

What a totally misguided article.

 

[sailorstitch]

Ugh! I remember this debate from last year. Is this going to be an annul thing now? I'm already sick of it. I cosplay and even on Halloween I live by the rule "cosplay is for EVERYONE". You do not have to be the same race or even the same gender as a character to dress up like them. The people that write these articles really need to spend some time exploring the cosplay community.

sailorstitch

 

[Wubar]

So the consensus so far in this thread is kids should be able to wear costumes and dress up as any princess they wish, regardless of whether their own race and skin color matches the skin color of the Disney depicted Princess from the films. I agree.

But...

Does it go both ways? Would people have an issue if the theme parks had an asian woman playing Snow White, African-American women playing Anna and Elsa, a caucasian woman playing Tiana, etc? Or would people get upset over that?

 

[DisneyOma]

When you dress as a Disney character, you are dressing as a character, not a cultural stereotype. That was the first mistake in the reasoning. The second was to sort people by skin color, or to make them have to follow what the color of their skin is. You can celebrate something and not get totally locked into having to be that all the time. I mean, shouldn't every black child who wants to be a Disney princess have to be Tiana then? Every Native American, Pocahontas? Chinese - must dress as Mulan! What if you are Japanese? No princesses for you! Wait, let's make sure only children with some German DNA dress as Snow White. UGH!!!!! Why do we start limiting kids and their acceptance of any skin color, any race, any culture? Why do we say they can't have something because of their skin color? Isn't that racism? Isn't that letting them think people are to be limited by their skin color or cultural identity?


ETA - changed blood to DNA

 

[mom2rtk]

When you dress as a Disney character, you are dressing as a character, not a cultural stereotype.

Then I'm curious what you think of the color blind casting in recent Disney stage shows.

 

[DisneyOma]

Then I'm curious what you think of the color blind casting in recent Disney stage shows.

Sounds great! I'm not stuck on race or color unless it's supposed to be a historically accurate portrayal of a real event. If I'm watching a documentary on Alexander Hamilton, yes, they should be of similar coloring. But I love Hamilton, the Musical. Hercules Mulligan!

 

[Monykalyn]

Ugh! I remember this debate from last year. Is this going to be an annul thing now? I'm already sick of it. I cosplay and even on Halloween I live by the rule "cosplay is for EVERYONE". You do not have to be the same race or even the same gender as a character to dress up like them. The people that write these articles really need to spend some time exploring the cosplay community.

sailorstitch

My middle daughter cosplayed for first time at her first comicon this past spring-I have to say the cosplay community is really awesome! She got alot of attention and feedback and she loved it. ALL shapes and sizes and colors cosplayed.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Does it go both ways? Would people have an issue if the theme parks had an asian woman playing Snow White, African-American women playing Anna and Elsa, a caucasian woman playing Tiana, etc? Or would people get upset over that?

In the parks, guests don’t have a problem with Disney choosing character performers based on skin tone. Moana’s CM friends are Puerto Rican or Filipina Americans.

Apparently the answer is yes for Disney stage shows:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/the-little-mermaid-musical-asian-american-ariel

 

[mom2rtk]

Sounds great! I'm not stuck on race or color unless it's supposed to be a historically accurate portrayal of a real event. If I'm watching a documentary on Alexander Hamilton, yes, they should be of similar coloring. But I love Hamilton, the Musical. Hercules Mulligan!

I honestly don't care. We saw the Asian actress in Little Mermaid and loved it. We saw an African American actress in Frozen and loved it.

But I just don't see the difference between casting in a show and casting in the parks. Both are supposed to be playing a role.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I honestly don't care. We saw the Asian actress in Little Mermaid and loved it. We saw an African American actress in Frozen and loved it.

But I just don't see the difference between casting in a show and casting in the parks. Both are supposed to be playing a role.

I think in theatre there is way more room for artistic license that the director can take; also the actor essentially makes the role their own.

In the parks, you're supposed to be meeting THE character, plucked straight out of the movie, so there's a strict adherence to their appearance in the movie.