I have grown up watching Disney movies and visiting the theme parks since I was a little kid. That is why this weeks reading the; “Post Princess Model of Gender” that talks about gender roles and constructions in pixar movies was very interesting to me. The article brought up some very interesting points that I had never considered before. It compared the static female princess character and how it has not really changed or evolved over the years. While the male leads in pixar movies have had a little more variation. The article goes onto discuss the changing model of masculinity in pixar movies and how it has slowly been evolving into a more emotional and supportive creature. The leading male characters today have been become more accepting and supportive of their female counterparts. This is allowing for brand new characters and concepts to be formed. It is also allowing a new model of leading man/superhero that children can look up to that is more open minded and evolved than previous archetypes.
The changing dynamics for leading male characters in pixar movies is definitely amazing and is allowing for new life in Pixar. One area that I cannot wait to see tackled is the idea of a open and unapologetic LGBTQ Pixar character. There have definitely been characters in Pixar’s/Disney’s past that could be interpreted as gay or having gay tendencies. The article points this out by touching on the Incredibles and Syndrome’s “homosocial” relationship with Mr. incredible. An older example of a gay couple in a Disney film is Timon and Pumba in “The Lion King”. They have a similar homosocial relationship like the Incredibles. However, they take it to the next level when Timon and Pumba take on the task of raising a child together. Since they are not openly an LGBTQ couple you could speculate that they are just two friends helping to raise a kid but I believe it goes a bit deeper than that. Overall I think that changing archetypes of the leading male character is very interesting and much needed. I hope one day to see a open LGBTQ character somewhere in a Disney or Pixar movie because that would have been a huge force growing up for me and I want that for my children
I definitely agree with your point of male characters evolving in Pixar movies - it is a much needed concept in today's world. I also love that you brought up the idea of an LGBTQ Pixar character. This would be a great idea for Disney, in addition to their already subtle "homosocial" relationships in the movies you mentioned. After reading this blog post, I never thought of Timon and Pumba's relationship similar to the homosocial relationship in the Incredibles until now!
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