OK, far be it from me to scoff at big business or at marketing...my livelihood depends on both. But this whole "Disney Princess" thing just chaps. my. hide. It's always kind of annoyed me...I mean, really, can't little girls aspire to anything else these days? The characters IN the movies are empowered characters, but then when it comes to the merchandising, they are watered down to just another face in the Princess Pantheon.
Which leads me to this OP. The latest Disney movie actually sounds like an interesting film with a great female character...a young African-American women who doesn't WANT to be a pampered princess like her friend, she wants to be a strong, successful woman who owns her own restaurant. Good for her. The thing that annoys me is that the fact that she's African-American is so blatant in it's true purpose: to get a Black princess into the set. I mean, think about it...there are white princesses, a couple Asian princesses, a Native American, even a MERMAID for fuck's sake, but no Black princess! Leaving an entire untapped market out there, of course. If they hadn't come up with this "Disney Princess" merchandising gimmick, I'll bet dollars to donuts that we'd still be waiting for the first African-American Disney heroine.
Watch...the next Princess will be Hispanic. Mark my words.
Giving minority children (or any children) good, positive role models =
Pandering to minority children with your marketing schemes: =