Response to Blackness, Bayous, and Gumbo

In this article, Sarah Turner argues that the Disney film the Princess and the Frog "represents a complex moment in a culture steeped in political correctness and an adherence to the politics of colorblindness." Her disapproval of the film stems from the idea that Tiana is merely a Disney Princess who "happens to be black", rather than a Disney Princess who's character and identity is affected by her race. I believe that Turner's argument is effective in describing how race was downplayed in the film; this article convinced me of such. However, I don't agree with the alleged implications of this decision.

The beginning of her article is the strongest. By explaining and deconstructing the process of encoding that takes place when producing media, she puts the reader in the shoes of the producers. She walks them through various strategic decisions: what characteristic of Tiana should be emphasized, how much attention is brought to her socioeconomic status, and even the mindset of the projected demographic. When the reader is brought into this point of view, they are able to see the options the producers had when creating this film and the thought process behind making a decision between them. A point that I hadn't even considered until I read this piece was how much the concept of handwork is shoved down the throats of viewers. The sad truth of the matter is that no matter how much hard work Tiana put into getting her own business, if this film were historically accurate, theres a good chance she wouldn't have reached her dream anyway primarily because of her race. This glass ceiling concept is one that I wish she had elaborated on for her audience because it plays a major role in the context of how race is undermined through this seemingly progressive film.

Some of her pieces of evidence didn't connect as well as they needed to in order to strengthen her argument. For example, while criticizing the location of the setting, she discusses the relationship between New Orleans and the theme of "starting over". This portion of her argument is strong and easy to follow until she brings up the film "Enchanted" as a piece of evidence as support. She states "Disney's 2007 Cinderella story Enchanted, with its white princess played by Amy Adams, takes place in 21st century New York City, the classic yet contemporary Cinderella story," implying that race played a factor in the setting of the film. However, Turner doesn't take time to make this connection clear to her readers and instead leaves the translation of her evidence their responsibility.