Stereotypes And Predetermined Notions In Hercules

Hercules by Disney is full of predetermined stereotypes. These stereotypes are evident in plot development and character portrayals. To expose the implicit connotations of this film, the main focus will be on gender roles. Disney movies’ hidden stereotypes send unjust messages to young children about gender roles, body image, and heroism.

It is a tradition of Disney to portray female characters as stereotypical damsels in distress. This movie is no exception. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term “damsel-in-distress” is defined as “a young woman who is in trouble” and the film admits to this when Phil, the trainer, says, “Sounds just like your basic DID, damsel” (Clements 1997). Meg, the protagonist of the film, is a stereotypical portrayal of a young woman in distress. Meg is saved from every possible danger by Hercules. He is also a superhero. Hercules, like all other Disney characters, is given the heart. This supports the idea femininity in animated film as being rescued from danger and then marrying the rescuer. King et. al. (2010). This stereotype is too rehearsed and reinforces the idea of a passive, receptive woman who does not show strength or ascendancy.

Hercules’ depiction womanhood is stereotypical and inexact. The plot is void of women characters. They are weak and insubstantial. Rodan et. Rodan and al (2014) explained that women are often trivialized in media, as when they appear on TV, like Meg. Meg, who is being held captive by Hercules in order to make a deal against Hades, the antagonist, is the most notable contribution that women make in the movie. Meg loves to be held captive and spends her time admiring Hercules.

Meg is a puppet without any ambition or substance. Meg’s personality supports the feminine portrayal of animated female characters as they are flat and one-dimensional (King, et al. 2010). She serves no purpose other than to reward and justify the hero’s boundless adventures and actions. The film did not have any female characters. They were either unable to empower a male character, or captivated by his looks. Hysterical women are shown as being irritable and shrieking at hero’s looks. They are also easily manipulated through flattery. Hades, for instance, was able flatter the Fates, which are a group that have the ability to see the future. They were able enough to tell Hades the future about his hostile takeover. (Clements. 1997). The film’s dominant male characters aren’t treated well by their female counterparts. This is despite the fact that they are often more prominent in the film.

Hercules appears to have established that muscular strength is the primary measure of masculine power. Men lack intelligence or depth, but they are merely agents of power and muscle. Disney depicts a fixed form of hegemonic masculinity. (Connell, Messerschmidt and others, 2005).

The world’s dominant masculinity is changing, but Hercules still embodies one version of masculinity. Their masculine characters have strong muscles and are therefore the strongest. Men’s valor is celebrated with power, fame, and appreciation. However, the human side of their characters is generally ignored. Despite Hercules being in a relationship Meg, his feelings are lessened by immature, childish mumbles or stereotypically spousal dances.

Meg’s film portrayal conforms to the predetermined stereotypes of women in movies. Her thin figure is quite impractical. Meg is also sexualized and numerous times the movie refers to her “curves”. Hades once made curvy gestures toward Meg’s physique and said to her, “Maybe [Hercules] haven’t be throwing the right curves.” This was primarily to show her as an object-of-desire (Clements 1998). Meg is also frequently inspected by Hercules as well as Phil. Meg’s interaction with other characters is a sign of society’s insistence on sexualizing women and categorizing them based only on their bodies.

Zeus and Hercules (the most prominent male characters in this film) have massive muscular physiques that are almost identical to a man’s body.

Muscular physiques are associated to power and dominance. These characteristics are common in Zeus and Hercules. This idea is evident in Hercules’s development to adulthood, when he gains his strong figure.

His strength and endurance when he was young were not enough to make Hercules famous. His body changed only as he got older and became more popular. Another stereotype associated hegemonic masculinity with Hercules’ evolution is that large muscles signify’manhood. Hegemony is vague and can take many forms (Connell, Messerschmidt and Messerschmidt in 2005). To measure masculinity, a man doesn’t need to be ripped.

Hercules is full of stereotypical stereotypes. Stereotypes are common in Disney animated movies. These stereotypes can be exposed so that audiences are able to view films with full understanding of the cultural and social effects.

Author

  • stanleybyrne

    Stanley Byrne is a 26-year-old education blogger and teacher. He has degrees in education and political science from the University of Notre Dame and has worked in various teaching and research positions since he graduated in 2014. He is the author of a number of educational blog posts and has written for Huffington Post, The Guardian, and Salon.