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Snow White
Disney released it's first animated film, Snow White, in 1937. -
Fantasia
Fantasia brings inanimate objects to life (dancing brooms) to intrigue audiences. This later was an idea that carried over into Beauty and the Beast. -
Cinderella
Disney's movie, Cinderella, portrays the same idea that was used in Fantasia by bringing in magical pumpkins and talking animals. -
Ronald Reagan's Agenda
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan emphasized the focus on family and moral values of those on the right side. The election in 1988 showed the divisions between such elements as George Bush campaigned solely on his experience in professional positions while Dan Quayle campaigned on family values and moral principles. -
"Gender Gap"
Republican women became more vocal and began to voice their oppositional views on abortion and women's rights in the workforce. -
Racial Subtext to Body Shifting
Masculinity is defined through the white male body and against the racially marked body. Action films of the 80s reinforce these same assumptions in the characterizations of heroism, individualism and bodily integrity centered in the white body. 90s films may also repudiate these same characteristics, however they do not challenge the whiteness of the body. If there is a body that has been victimized, it is not the body of color, but rather the body of the white man suffering from being unloved. -
Change in Masculinity
Around the late 80s and early 90s, the ideas of masculinity in movies began to change. Family, in most movies created around this time, provided both the motivation for and the resolution of changing masculine heroisms. The men of the 80s were being given feelings that were hidden by their confrontational violence. -
Robocop 2
Robocop led the way in 1990 by making clear that behind the tough bodies of male heroes, lies internal goodness and a caring, troubled, and suffering individual. -
Leonard Reitman's Kindergarten Cop
In Kindergarten Cop, Arnold Schwarzenegger, a very muscular hero, shows the transition to the new masculine heroism that emphasizes family values that was to be sketched out later. Kindergarten Cop anticipates the endings of 1991 films that are resolved through a man's return to his family- the life of a full-time father and kindergarten teacher. -
One Good Cop
In the movie, One Good Cop, Michael Keaton's character is pardoned for the crime of theft that he committed solely to provide a home for his family. He was welcomed back to the police force after this discovery. The importance of family was greater emphasized around the time this movie was created. It was an idea brought about in this movie and most movies around the late 80s, early 90s. -
Switch
Steve Brooks, in the movie Switch, earns a pardon for how he treated women and an entrance into heaven when s/he gives birth to a daughter. This shows the idea that was brought about around this time that family is a very important aspect of life. -
City Slickers
The character played by Billy Crystal in City Slickers, finds himself on a cattle ranch and learns the true meaning of life and family. Thus, he returns back home to his family. -
Terminator 2
In Terminator 2, the Terminator dies in order to insure the survival of his family. The idea that family comes first is a clear message in this film. -
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast brings 3 ideas to life- bringing life to inanimate objects, importance of family, and the change in masculinity in Beast. Beast, at first, is unkind and selfish until he learns to love Belle. He shifts from the domineering man of the 80s to the self-sacrificing man of the 90s. Beauty and the Beast suggest that we should not only forgive men for their aggressive behaviors, but we should also help guide them in revealing their true inner selves.
