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Title: The Mouse that Roared by Henry A. Giroux ISBN: 0-8476-9110-1 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing (via NBN) Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (8 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: More Academia from the Ivory Tower
Comment: Henry Giroux proves to be another leftist academic windbag who talks just to hear himself speak and tries to sound intellectual by infusing his commentary with big words and fluff. Instead of an unbiased critique, "The Mouse that Roared" in essence is one man's leftist opinion that Disney is the evil empire who ignores the plight of urban America and social problems in the world.
In Mr. Giroux's world every company that is present to earn a profit is essentially The Man holding people down. People that are escaping urban sprawl in order to seek a better life and security are ignoring human suffering. People who have the money to send their kid to a better school or live in a better house are somehow taking away from the poor schools in the urban environment. Mr Giroux of course fails to see that there are a lot more factors involved in the failure of our urban and youth foundations, but in leftist idealism, government and money are the solution to all problems, even when facts show corporations are efficient and get the job done, whereas the government does not.
Mr. Giroux uses the classic arguments of racism and inequality to debase Disney features without even having a clue what racism is, or what means there are to combat it. I suppose Whoopi Goldberg was too ignorant of any racial overtones present in "The Lion King" before she committed to playing the role of one of the so called ghetto hyenas. Of course Mr. Giroux knows more about racism than Ms. Goldberg does.
Democracy is used throughout Mr. Giroux's book as some sort of term that Disney is unfamiliar with. Again Mr. Giroux likes to apply democracy when it is feasible to his point of view, but anything that goes against his ideal world is not very democratic. People use democracy every day with their wallets, which is why Disney and other corporations have millions of dollars while Mr. Giroux has hardly none in comparision. Mr. Giroux does not like that type of democracy.
In all this book reeks of class envy and one man's personal crusade against corporations, because, from what I can glean between the lines, the corporations are a success and will be remembered, while Mr Giroux's career as some sort of cultural critic is not really amounting to much and will largely be forgotten.
Rating: 1
Summary: A Disappointed Reader
Comment: THE MOUSE THAT ROARED was a disappointment to me in many ways--the tortuous academic prose style, the ever-present word "pedagogy" in all of its various forms, the rather sinister view of the Disney Company's motivations in their influence on education and popular culture. I was especially disappointed in Giroux's treatmemt of Walt Disney, who he refers to occasionally as "Old Walt Disney" (Old?) In his discussion, he presents as facts some myths about Walt Disney that have been refuted by a host of scholars and historians. I feel that this is a disservice to the memory of Walt Disney, and further, it makes me question the entire content of the book.
Rating: 2
Summary: Anti Disney Book is Actually Anti Big-Business
Comment: Giroux doesn't like the Disney Company. He wants you to know that it is not nearly as innocent and squeaky clean as the public image presented. The essential message of the book seems to be: Disney is a big company that wants to maximize profits; this is very bad for society, and therefore Disney is bad. Substitute "Disney" with any other Fortune 500 company name, and the message of the book could apply to all large corporations in America, not just Disney. Nevertheless, his key point may have been made more powerfully if the actual writing were not so difficult to read. The book is written in an overly academic style, using tortured sentence structure, and sprinkled liberally throughout with the jargon of academia. You may enjoy the book if you are a Sociology student or like using sociology-speak such as "pedagogical", "dialectical", and "ideological rigidity".
Another main theme the book expounds upon is that Disney, through its wide-reaching "educational" impact, has done a disservice to children by reinforcing cultural, ethnic, and gender stereotypes throughout their films. The author appears to be really reaching when describing some of the stereotypes he perceives. For example, he claims that there is an anti-minority subtext in "The Lion King", a film composed entirely of animals! His reason? The bad guys portrayed by the hyenas are voiced by Cheech Marin, who is Hispanic, and Whoopi Goldberg, who is African American. What is conveniently not mentioned is that the most heroic character in the movie, the lion king Mufasa, is voiced by James Earl Jones, who is also African American.
Although the author may have some valid criticisms of Disney as a corporate entity, he completely misses the fact that Disney is actually in the entertainment industry (not the education field), and owes no more or less to society than any other entertainment company. Perhaps the advice "lighten up" may apply here. We're talking about cartoons. The book doesn't really engage the reader until near the end, where Giroux thoughtfully analyzes the films "Pretty Woman" and "Good Morning, Vietnam" from a cultural viewpoint, focusing on the numerous depictions of stereotypes throughout both films. If you want to know more about how businesses sometimes emphasize profits over their social responsibility, then this book may interest you. If you want to learn more about the history of Disney from a non-academic point of view, check out Bob Thomas' highly engaging and well-written "Walt Disney an American Original". For the author, and all others wishing to improve their writing, I highly recommend Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style".
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Title: From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture by Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas, Laura Sells, Lynda Hass ISBN: 0253209781 Publisher: Indiana University Press Pub. Date: October, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Deconstructing Disney by Eleanor Byrne, Martin McQuillan ISBN: 0745314511 Publisher: Pluto Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom (Afi Film Readers) by Eric Loren Smoodin ISBN: 0415906164 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: March, 1994 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World by Carl Hiaasen ISBN: 0345422805 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 05 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy by Janet Wasko ISBN: 0745614841 Publisher: Polity Pr Pub. Date: May, 2001 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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