Potterliteracy

I’m sure many of you are big fans of Harry Potter. Similar to my discussions with other children’s media such as Disney films, I want to make more people aware of the interesting concepts that would otherwise be overlooked when looking at Harry Potter media. In particular, I want to discuss the issues illuminated by Burn’s article on “Potterliteracy”. In relation to my previous discussions of the “death” of childhood with the advent of new media and technology, I’d like to pinpoint how Harry is differently portrayed as the “hero” in proportion to how childhood is viewed in comparison with adulthood, and how new media determinism is a result of this. I’ve decided one effective way is to dissect the Aragog (the spider king whose a friend of Hagrid’s) scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
In Harry Potter text media (book), even though Harry is portrayed as the hero, he is nevertheless still considered a “child” who inevitably still needs the guidance and protection of an “adult.” When the spider minions surround Harry and Ron, Ron’s car comes to their rescue, wiping out the spiders through action, while Harry couldn’t do much to alleviate the situation. In this case, the car can be seen as the “adult” guardian who comes to the rescue of the “children” in distress. In the words of J.K. Rowling, all the verb actions are happening to Harry instead of him performing the actions. This places him in a position of the victimized when he’s supposed to be the hero. In the filmic version of Harry Potter, however, Harry at least gets to use his wand twice to save Ron. Ron actually drives the car instead of the car driving itself. In addition, they made this scene even longer in the film because we, as an audience, expect to see the protagonist actually perform certain heroic actions. Even in the film, Harry and Ron have limited ability to escape. In the video game, on the other hand, we only see Harry and not Ron after the cut scene. Instead of running away like in the book and the movie, however, Harry (who we as audience get to play with the controller) strategizes and not only stays to fight the little spider minions and successfully killing them, but also faces Aragog himself.
With the degree of interactivity and how Harry is represented as the “heavy hero” (with not just participation but agency in the video game) rather than a relatively helpless child, we can argue that the transformation in the representation of Harry Potter is a result of new media determinism as it constructed a change in childhood between the game and the book. Once again, we can relate back to Buckingham’s After the Death of Childhood: Growing Up in the Age of Electronic Media.

Gender Stereotyping in Disney Films

If we look closely at Disney animated films like the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast, we can definitely pick up on the gender stereotyping performed within the narrative. If we take a step back and scrutinize the general overview of Disney characters, we can see that they are characterized by narrowly defined gender roles. The male heroes or protagonists, for example, like Hercules, Aladdin or the Beast are always the ones to save the inferior damsel in distress. Even more blatant is the gender stereotyping of female roles. They are usually portrayed as subordinate, and if they do have power, they are usually evil characters (e.g. the evil Queen in Snow White and the evil octopus witch in the Little Mermaid). Often times, the female character is always the object or prize won by the male character. Jasmine is created under a dominant male narrative in the sense of being the object of Aladdin’s desire. Ariel constantly has to abide by the wishes of her father, and the only way she acquires autonomy is by sacrificing her most priceless gift: her voice. Only then does she receive the legs to free herself from the water world and walk on land to pursue her lover. Snow White, on the other hand, seems to be restricted to traditional roles like cleaning. Similarly, Belle, even after the Beast captures her father as his prisoner, is expected to perform her role and civilize the Beast with love.

What’s the big deal? What do you think this communicates to the children constantly watching these films over and over, and exposed to the same hegemonic gender stereotypes inherent to the depiction of these characters? Watching children’s media is an extremely influential way for children to make sense of their world, shape their self-perceived identities and how they fit in. Little girls are thus promoted to think that they are expected to have sexed up hourglass figures, long eyelashes and all the other female stereotypes that are created through the dominant male gaze.