Staying True to Disney: College Students’ Resistance to Criticism of The Little Mermaid

Abstract

This article discusses the implementation of a media literacy program in a college classroom in the form of an extended critique and analysis of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Students’ decoding of Disney’s messages and their resistance to critique of the film are analyzed using four areas of research: audience research, media literacy, critical pedagogy, and psychology’s cognitive dissonance theory.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Susan Cocalis and her students for their participation in the study presented here.

Notes

Dr. Chyng Feng Sun is a Master Teacher in Media Studies at Paul McGhee School, Continuing Education and Professional Studies, New York University. This research project inspired her to produce the video Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood and Corporate Powerin 2001, distributed by Media Education Foundation.

Dr. Erica Scharrer is an Assistant Professor in Communication at The University of Massachusetts-Amherst.