This first episode of EVEN MORE EYES’ retrospective series ‘Nostalgia Hits Differently‘ has two very opinionated critics, James and Imo, learn that nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
In this debut, they dig up the hell-scape from their childhood that is Classic Disney: a place where ‘dreams’ are now nightmares in the harsh light of 2021. (Hell, they were pretty nightmarish in 1959!)
They discover:
How ‘Snow White’ (1937) established a pretty problematic model for Princesses (and Princes) to come...
...when ‘Cinderella’ (1950) put more agency into the rodents than its titular star…
..and why iconic villain Maleficent reigns supreme in the otherwise snore-inducing ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1959).
This is the first of four episodes that will chart a journey with the Disney Princesses from the Classic Era (mid-20th Century) through the Renaissance (late 20th Century to early 21st) and into the Revival (early 2010s onward).
4 Eyes on the Screen + Even More Eyes 
Nice job with the podcast. Watching some of those princess movies can be so outdated and sexist. As much as I criticize Disney for tons of things, I can at least say that they’ve improved with female characterization in recent times. I get why people like Maleficent as a villain, but I still found her to be shallow in hindsight as the only reason why she’s attacking everyone is because she wasn’t invited to a baby shower. I do appreciate you and your co-host criticizing those movies because they certainly deserve that scrutiny as viewers took those aspects for granted.
LikeLike
Thanks for listening! Yes, we’ve found that as we’ve gone through (check out our next few episodes to see how). Maleficent’s characterisation is very two-dimensional, but she stands out in a film of otherwise very boring characters. There’s something about seeing a villain with total self-possession and passionate commitment to their cause that’s hard to not like. That being said, villainy in Disney movies (and mainstream blockbusters in general) has by and large moved away from this model too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No problem! I’ll check out the future episodes. To be fair, Maleficent has more personality than everyone else in Sleeping Beauty. She does seem to be more genre savvy than other Disney villains. I’ve noticed that about more recent movies about that kind of villainy.
LikeLike