Disney and the Disabled

After reading "Dopey's Legacy" by Karen Schwartz, I could see how Disney has the power to portray a powerful negative stigma toward those with mental disabilities. Schwartz states that Disney portrays characters with mental illness as the "other," objects of ridicule, and the "eternal child." For the most part, I agree that Disney does follows these characterizations when they cast mentally disabled characters. However, I think Schwartz loses her argument as she progress in her essay. The argument sticks with Dopey without much dispute. Dopey is treated as the other and he is taken care of by the other dwarves. The argument sticks even more when Schwartz quotes Walt himself saying that Dopey's role was to create comic relief for the audience. However, Schwartz next two examples are not as strong. She uses Gus in Cinderella and Lefou in Beauty and the Beast to support her argument. The argument for Gus stands quite well. However, it is hard for me to see how Gus is "mentally disabled." Yes, he is a character that picks up things slowly. However, it is a form of comic relief that is provided for the children. I think Disney's intent was to create humor over stigmatizing the mentally disabled, which is clearly a problem with Dopey. It isn't event entirely clear that Gus is mentally disabled in the movie. We have to make a judgment call for ourselves as the audience.The argument for Lefou just falls apart. Schwartz argues that Lefou is dehumanized by Gaston. She cites a scene where Lefou is left outside in the cold because Gaston told him to. I don't see how that is dehumanizing because he is mentally disabled. Gaston and Lefou's relationship is centered around master and servant. Even if Lefou is not mentally disabled, Gaston can still order him around. It is not because Lefou is mentally disabled that Gaston treats him poorly but simply because Lefou is his servant. I think Schwartz tries to stretch her argument to other Disney films to solidify her argument.

However, Disney's portrayals of characters with disability is controversial. Take the Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame: at the end of the film, Quasimodo never gets his happily ever after with Esmeralda. Esmeralda marries the good looking prince in the movie and Quasimodo is "friend zoned." The film clearly illustrates that the disabled will never get their desired happy ending. Just think about how a physically disabled feel when they watch the ending of Quasimodo? Maybe the only question that they are left with is: What is my happy ending?