Is this movie racist?


Before I state my reasons for this question, let me say three things:

1) I'm not trying to troll. This is an honest question.

2) Since this is a racial question, it may or may not be important to state that I'm a white male. I truly have no idea if that makes a difference or not.

3) I actually like and enjoy this movie. I'm not trying to hate on it.

Most, if not all the other Disney princesses are actual princesses, and end up with the prince and a palace. Most of them were white, even the mermaid.

The one black "princess" is not a princess at all, but a working class girl. She doesn't end up with a palace, but a restaurant. Sure, she becomes a princess in the end, (and I don't want to encourage materialism) but why does the black princess end up with less? Seems like a bit of a bum deal.

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While it does seem like she ended up with less materially, it spoke to her character that instead of having things handed to her, she worked hard and also showed the change in Naveen that he helped her work to get the restaurant she wanted. I think Tiana got more gratification knowing how much effort she put into it and seeing that effort pay off than she would have gotten had her new royal in-laws paid other people to do it for her. I honestly liked seeing that becoming a princess didn't change who she was. :)

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I'll give you a couple of answers, and I think it will be something like two or three "no"s and a "yes, but".

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The Disney princesses can be divided into two groups. There are those who were born into royalty, and the ones who end up marrying a Prince Charming or the like. Plenty of examples of each type.

The rest has nothing to do with the Princess.

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Please give Disney comps for doing their absolute best to avoid making this a racist film. It's a celebration of African-Americana. The "Almost There" sequence is a different style, which imdb reports is from a famous African-American artist (which I like, the lines of black waiters, the "black elegance"). The Prince's ethnicity and country of origin (even the phrases he utters in his native language, I think) are all made up to avoid any racist connections (based on info from the Trivia section). Tiana was "Maddy the Maid" in the first concepts; these were changed to avoid being non-PC.

(And btw thanks disney for avoiding making any, ANY, reference to the artist formerly known as Prince, which would have been an awful joke.)

A second "no" would be noting the characterisations. Rather even handed, having very likeable black characters - plus - a black villain, genuinely scary. But there are white bad guys, too. Prince Naveen may be dark skinned and silly, but there are white silly folks, too.

My "yes, but" is of the portrayal of whites. That white girl would be a good poster child for silliness and privilege, wouldn't she? And Big Daddy is a piece of work. While the firefly family are heroes, and the firefly family are Cajuns, and Cajuns are white, no one can tell that from Ray and the others -- they are bugs.

The frog hunters are white and could have been played by the Three Stooges. ... Someone could raise a "yes but" and say, yeah, maybe this film could be anti-white.

The "but" part of that is that the unlikeable portrayal of whites is nowhere near as bad as the "feets dont fail me now" kind of portrayal that minorities like blacks (and others) have had to tolerate for centuries. A little "turnabout" here, I'm guessing.

No, this is anything but a racist film.

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I just have to address what you say about Charlotte. Yes, she is privileged and a bit silly, but she is also a true friend to Tiana and has a kind and selfless heart. I think she's a great character, and admirable in her own way.

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Certainly. Toward the end there, one might have thought Charlotte would react with "Hey you got a prince and I didn't get one" .... but instead, she states that she was after "true love" and is really happy that Tiona is going to spend her life with Naveen, the both of them staying frogs, because they're truly happy with each other. A great example of high motives and friendship, willing to do all she could to help and very sorry that it turned out she could do nothing. I was glad she got invited to the wedding.

In the same vein, Big Daddy is a big likeable powerhouse, generous to a fault.

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