Young Writers Society

Disney never prepared me for this. You’d think that in my extensive collection of Disney VHS tapes one of them would have prepared me for this moment. Disney told me it would all work out and as a child knowing nothing of the world, I believed. Disney told me the girl always got her prince and I prayed that if Disney said that’s how it went, it had to be true. Disney told me the bad guys never won and since I had no interest in the Nightly News, I believed. Disney told me love conquered all. But that was a lie too. Love doesn’t conquer all, the girl doesn’t always get her prince, and more often than they should the bad guys win. But I couldn’t learn these lessons the easy way. No child can. It takes years. And around age seventeen you begin to get the full grasp of the lies you were told as a child in every single one of Disney’s Animated Features. Starting with Snow White, their first animated film, all the way to Tangled, their latest lie, to the next generation of unsuspecting, and believing children.
In my short life I have discovered:
Bad guys, aren’t always as easily identifiable as a witch with a crooked nose, sometimes they look like the high school’s quarterback or the girl next door. Disney’s villains always tried to reek horrible consequences for their nemesis of choice, but by the end of the film all negative aspects disappeared. The bad guys always got caught and were either punished or died. It was always that simple. There was never a scenario where one might win, you might have thought they would win, but they wouldn’t. It wasn’t possible. Well, in the real world, a lot of times the real bad guys, the murderers, the rapists, the child abusers, the serial killers, they not only don’t get killed in some poetically just way like in a Disney movie, they get away with it. Completely.
There are more losers than princes. That is a horrible but true reality of the world we live in. Our generation’s men, for the most part, don’t want to have an epic romance that ends with a sweet kiss and a “Happily Ever After” sign attached to it. Let’s face it. Most of them just want sex and they are willing to tell a lot of lies to get it. Lies like, “You’re so beautiful” and “I love you so much”. But these are ugly truths we can’t tell children. Disney, takes a different approach. Disney has an approach of building up children’s dreams and expectations of what love should be. Men should be willing to die for you, they should slay dragons for you, or so says Disney. Disney has no concept of “friends with benefits” or “casual dating”. Poor Walt Disney would probably turn in his grave if they even thought about creating a movie that had realistic expectations of either partner, that simply isn’t the way things at Disney are done.
The prince of your dreams doesn’t always want the girl back. This is a problem we see over and over again. Since there are so few actually good guys (or girls for that matter, I’m not trying to be biased) most girls center on a select few guys. Now that isn’t entirely their fault, its what they choose to do with that power that is sometime questionable. In the world of Disney, there is always one girl for one guy, there is an element of fate or destiny to it. There is no fighting it, they will end up together, if only that were true for the world we live in. More often than not love, is unrequited love. You fall in love, alone. Or if you are lucky enough to fall in love with someone who loves you back other things come in to mess it up. Its inevitable, it seems.
Love doesn’t conquer all. This is the biggest of the lies Disney told me. I held onto the belief that if you truly loved someone nothing could get in the way of that. I foolishly believed that there was no force on Earth powerful enough to destroy love. But I learned I was wrong. Love doesn’t conquer busy schedules or long distances (emotional or physical). Sadly Disney was wrong. Sometimes loving someone isn’t enough. Sometimes love is so painful it makes you do crazy things. Sometime love isn’t enough to make someone stay, or try, or care. It just isn’t.
I learned all these things in my short almost seventeen year life. I wonder what other lies I will discover Disney told me. Am I afraid? No. I’m terrified.


Before you comment on anything about my piece, I am aware this sounds very jaded, bitter, and biased (just for the record). For any guys who happen to read this I'm sorry if this offends you. I don't mean this as a snub to all men. I do believe good men exist. This is merely an observation.

You know, I agree almost wholly with you on what you've said about love, and princes, and losers. 9 times out of 10, you're absolutely right. More men than there should be are only after one thing, and they are willing to tell lies to get it (there's a great quote I heard that says "women offer sex for love, and men offer love for sex"). But it's not always lies. Let me say it this way: when most men see an attractive woman, they usually do try to get something for themselves when they tell her she's beautiful. But maybe they really think she is beautiful, and they're just saying it because they know she likes to hear it. But boil it down, and they're really only saying it for their own purposes.
Well, I'm a guy, and I do try to have a soul, haha, but I'd be lying if I said I'd never seen a girl I'd thought about having an intimate relationship with (not sex or anything like that, I'm 15, but I think you get the picture I'm painting here). But if I tell a girl she's beautiful, I say it because I think she's beautiful. Not because I'm trying to get something out of it. I like to make girls feel good about themselves, and I do complement them a lot (you may call me a hopeless flirt or a player, but believe me, I never say anything I don't mean 100%, and I've never even had a girlfriend, so I'm no player, haha).
And you're right, Disney isn't telling children what the real world is like. But I think for one part, they're making a good decision. Think of it this way: how awful would childhood be if our parents just told us "for the most part, the world sucks?" Wouldn't that be really disappointing to hear as a little kid? An innocent mind with so many hopes and dreams and imaginations of the world? Granted, I'm sure many of them are less than true, but wouldn't it be mean to stomp on their hopes even before they're fully made? You say it's lies we can't be telling children, and maybe you're right. But that's about equatable to saying we should tell teenagers "marriage is a hard, stressful, tiring part of life, and whoever told you it was happy was lying." Who'd want to get married if they heard that? I grew up on Disney movies, and I've come to see that the world isn't anything like the Lion King or Toy Story, but I'm very glad I got to find out for myself instead of growing up thinking life was terrible and unfair. At least if I was set up for disappointment, I got to be happy along the way (: and even though life isn't fair and the best it could be, I still love my life.
I'm not attacking anything you've said, by any means. I'm just offering my viewpoint on this topic. You are most definitely correct that Disney movies are not what the world is like, But just think about what I've said here. If you don't agree, you don't, and I can't make you. But even if you think I'm dead wrong, just hear me out, one writer to another (:
I love what you've written here. It's very astute and insightful, and I don't find it bitter or hateful at all. I just hope you're prepared to hear some mixed responses. So, my points aside, friends?
- SOCKS

I think you are very entitled to your own opinion and for the most part I understand and even agree with most of what you said. Its true, it would be horrible to tell little kids the world is such a horrible place, or told teenagers right off the bat that more than half of them are more than likely to have an unsuccessful marriage, I'm just poking a little fun at the fact that Disney goes so the opposite of what the world really is. I'm not bashing Disney either. To this day when ever I don't feel good I sit down and watch a Disney movie and it will make me remember that there is some good in the world, even if it seems like sometimes it only exists in the fairy tales that Disney has made for us. I would also like to say that I didn't mean to imply that every time a guy tells a girl a compliment or says, "I love you" he is lying. I've been in a committed relationship, we loved each other, and when he said it, I believed it, and sometimes it can be true. I'm just saying SOME guys aren't afraid to say whatever it takes to accomplish whatever they want by whatever means necessary, I know some girls who are startlingly similar to that as well. I am also not saying true love can't exist, or that love can't conquer many things. I am merely pointing out that unlike in the world of Disney it doesn't happen every time without fail. Heartbreak is an unfortunate part of life that I thought it was funny that Disney never prepared us for.
Nevertheless, I still believe in love. My heart is a little weary from its latest failed endeavor, a nasty, painfully dragged out long distance relationship that ended badly, which led to this being written, but that is merely a chapter in my story. Lucky for me, my life doesn't have to fit into a two hour movie meant to hold the attention of small children. Who knows maybe even one day Disney will come through on my "Happily Ever After".
And Socks I appreciate you sharing your opinions with me. And Indeed, I would love to be friends.

It's all good! (: Message received, everything you're trying to communicate effectively reaches me. And thank you for not bashing my points and immediately going on the defensive as I offered my friendship (I've had some people do that, and it annoys me to no end). I'm fully aware of the pains of heartache, and that there are some things that love just can't conquer. I met one girl at my summer camp once, and I'd very well say I fell in love with her. Only problem is, she lives in Texas, haha. Any she's gotten herself a boyfriend since that summer. I know there isn't really anything there for me, and I've pretty much recovered and moved on, but it still stings a little every time I hear her talk about how wonderful he is. Oh well, hopefully there's someone out there for me (:
I've had several of these observations as well, and even though they've become the norm, I still can't understand why they are what they are (why do all the girls at my school seem to go for the varsity soccer players who act like fools, mouth off to everyone, and pretend to like people whilst bashing them behind their backs?). But you're right, there is good in the world. And I've seen plenty of it, for all the bad things.
Glad we could meet on equal ground here and share our opinions, haha (: It's been an enjoyable discussion for me. If you'd ever like a review of something else, or if you ever are looking for something to review, please don't hesitate to PM or wall post me!
- SOCKS

Hey, Pervy here. I totally see your point and where you're going with this, it is--at least partially true. The wonderous Disney movies lack to take in the account that reality is very twisted. Many people in this world pursue their own happiness and satisfaction over those of others. That is the human nature. They take advantage of others and live double lives. In reality it is sometimes the innocent who are condemned, and the bad guys roam free. But now we have to take in to consideration:

Are children ready at an small age to handle the truths about the world? Is it better for them to grow up in the positive atmosphere? At an young age, children often have great dreams. To have those dreams smacked in their faces might not be the most growth-healthy manner of describing life. As people grow older and mature, they will eventually find out about all the death, corruption and lies, that's inevitable. The best way to learn about life is to experience it yourself, and try to avoid believing the same lies twice. That's how we grow older and mature mentally.

Walt Disney (as many others) had an idea in his movies of giving hope and dreams to the children growing alongside them. Sure, not everyone's a prince, but there are diamonds in the rough. Everyone's different, and it might not be the best idea for a whole class of girls to run after the same guy. The real prince might be that shy bullied kid in the corner of the classroom, who is always left in the shadows of others.

Life is harsh, and sure it will be traumatizing to learn the truth. But how would kids grow up if the watched animations of people's best friends screwing each others girlfriends, the good guys dying and the bad guys crowned king; enslaving the world? What about the little kids being raped by their own sick hosts?

But yeah still I see your point, but it's completely up to individuality to believe or not.

So enough analyzing, good post.

Sincerely,
The Perverted Iguana~

Hey Firstly, I am going to take a few moments to say that I loved this piece. I think you've said what every girl ever wanted to say. And hey, maybe some guys too. This a topic I have discussed many a time with my friends.

I completely agree with everything you've said here. Most of the time, love is unrequited. Most of the time, you can fall for someone who later decides they do, in fact, like you too - by which time you're over them. Or most of the time, you simply fail to get over them. It takes a while. You go crazy. Love is crazy. And I think you've captured that beautifully here.

The bad guy could be the bitchy girl the other side of the classroom. The princess could be the victim, simply waiting for - rather than a prince - the end to the torment they suffer daily. A lot of the time, that prince takes a long time in coming.

Your points make sense and I do agree with you - Disney lied to us. However, you wonder why they did that? You could fight back and say, we're told not to lie, so why do this? Or you can take it under your wing and accept that lies get told.

I really enjoyed reading this. It's excellent.

That was a really good piece. I enjoyed reading it, and you have more than a few points. Growing up kind of sucks. GO PETER PAN! I don't know why, but since this is a piece venting against Disney movies, I absolutely HAD to put that little line in.

Seriously, this was a very good essay. For some crazy reason, I enjoyed reading it, and that might have a reason in the fact I had a rather awkward moment at the last school dance. Go figure. Like I said, growing up sucks. Keep writing!

being new to YWS.. this is one of the first few articles that i cam across.
it is really very nice..
mostly i agree to what you said..
i am a girl who believes miracles.. like those in fairytales..
but neways.. it was really nice reading your article! i enjoyed it
take care..