If you don’t know already, February is LGBTQ+ History Month, and on Tuesday 13th February I had the pleasure of attending the LGBTQ+ History Month workshop on behalf of The Stag Magazine. The workshop was a collaboration between The Stag, DisneySoc and LitSoc, allowing for the exploration of LGBTQ+ representations within Disney films and TV shows, celebrating the power of diversity, inclusion and storytelling with a sprinkle of Disney magic. We were joined by both Dr Lena Mattheis and Dr Amy Morgan, who provided examples of forms of Disney media which lend themselves to queer readings, demonstrating how Disney can be analysed through a variety of theoretical lenses. After this, DisneySoc President, Luana Vasconcelos, led a participatory discussion on potential LGBTQ+ coded characters within Disney films, as well as recommendations for films which may include (or hint at) LGBTQ characters.
Dr Lena Mattheis commenced the workshop with a look into the ‘Multiplicity of Mulan’, considering how a both/and approach is the best way to academically study LGBTQ+ readings in Disney films. The both/and approach is one which emphasises how multiple readings can be true at the same time, with each individual having a right to establish their own ‘readings’ in regard to a particular piece of media. For example, some individuals perceive Mulan as a ‘trans icon’ when she impersonates a man to pose as a soldier, whilst others think that this allegory is heavily misguided and that she only dressed as a man since it protected her father from army conscription. Similarly to this, Mulan has also projected several other readings. Take Robyn Muir’s book The Disney Princess Phenomenon as an example, where Muir discusses how Mulan can be perceived as an active leader who goes against the dominant model of princesses being ‘passive dreamers’, unlike other Disney princesses such as Snow White who, arguably, waits around for a man to ‘save’ her. This allows us to consider Mulan from a feminist perspective, especially when she rejects an official leadership position in the imperial guard in order to return home.
Lena then goes onto discuss Mulan in relation to Jack Halberstam’s book, The Queer Art of Failure, in which they discuss how there are alternatives to conventional understandings of success which may go against the ‘norms’ of a heteronormative society. We may see this through considering the interpretation that Mulan accepts a role of being neither/nor/both through finding a solution to doing things ‘differently’, in which she may both fail and succeed as being a ‘perfect bride’ and a ‘perfect soldier’. Even if Mulan does ‘fail’, this allows for a critique of both capitalism and heteronormativity, claiming the possibility that in a queer perspective, she ‘fails well’.
After Dr Lena Mattheis’ insightful discussion, Dr Amy Morgan went on to discuss her queer readings of both Frozen II and Brave. Amy stated how the existence of the forest setting within Frozen can be considered as ‘queer’, since it ‘exists on the borders of the norms of society’. In this sense, the forest is a space which allowed Elsa to abandon her kingdom to live within a life ‘outside’ of her ‘heteronormative duties’, providing Elsa with a space free of prejudice to explore queer possibilities.
Brave can be interpreted through a queer lens when considering how it was the first Disney Princess film not to introduce a love interest, although this has been overlooked after the release of Frozen. Similarly to Mulan, Amy discussed how Brave can be considered in respect to queer theorist Jack Halberstam through their book Wild Things, where the wild is described as acting as an unpredictable space that opposes the ‘order’ of society. With Brave being set in the Scottish Highlands and Merida, the film’s protagonist, going against how princesses are ‘meant’ to look and behave through sporting curly red hair, hunting with her brothers and opposing her mother’s commands, Merida may represent the struggles queer people face when going against societal ‘norms’ when exploring through a queer lens. Nevertheless, Amy notes how interesting it is that Merida accepts her role as princess at the end of the film, which in a Medieval Scottish setting would mean she would have to get married and have children, perhaps representing how queer people feel as though they ‘have’ to meet certain societal expectations to feel ‘accepted’.
Luana finished off the workshop with a discussion, allowing attendees to discuss Disney characters which they feel may be LGBTQ+ coded. One attendee discussed Cassandra from the TV series, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, and how everyone who engaged within her creation was Sapphic; this term describing women who are sexually or romantically attracted to other women. In this sense, it is believed that Cassandra herself may be Sapphic too. Other characters who people believe are LGBTQ+ coded include Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ryan from the High School Musical trilogy and more…
Luana then recommended some Disney films which include LGBTQ+ representations, such as Lightyear, The Owl House, Diary of a Future President, and Star vs. The Forces of Evil to name a few!
To conclude, it was an amazing experience to participate in this workshop, and it allowed me to think of Disney texts in a way that I had not previously considered! Thank you to Luana for arranging this amazing workshop, and to both Dr Lena Mattheis and Dr Amy Morgan for giving up their time to discuss some really interesting and informative queer viewpoints.
Excitingly, there is a feminist workshop coming up on the 7th March to celebrate International Women’s Day, and I’d really recommend going if you have the chance.