Call me crazy but I don't think this movie is racist enough

Now hear me out I know racism is wrong but I would actually have liked to see more racism and prejudice displayed in the movie by the characters adding to how harsh of an enironvment it really was so the idea of Tiana having to compete against those odds was made that much more poigant. I couldn't help but think "she got off easy" when near the Facilier brought back the memories of the people who discouraged her. I mean if you were an eight year old watching this I guess maybe you would think that sucked but honestly if that's ALL she had to deal with being a black woman in the South during the 20's then she was one lucky broad.

I'm not saying I wanted to see her raped or almost hung or have the Klu Klux Klan' do a number in the style of 'Be Prepared' but dammit I wanted something a bit more gritty. Which they have done before. Mulan was an excellent example of showing the odds a woman had to face in a time where vagina equaled second class citizen. The Hunchback of Notre Dame executed beautifully what it meant to be persecuted and treated differently because of your looks or who you were ethnically and otherwise. It made the world the characters lived in more like ours and thusly more difficult and harsh which made us the viewers want to see them succeed that much more.

In Pocahontas they almost murdered us with how much they were saying racism and prejudice was wrong and unjust. The theme was actually stated atleast once and I do not mean poetically I mean just downright sloppily. Even in Prince of Eygpt they showed the harsh realties of what being a Jew meant in those times and that wasn't even a Disney movie. So you can somewhat understand how disappointed I was when Disney had the excellent opportunity to create a gritty yet empowering message of hope and overcoming but really wimped out instead.

Now people blame this on so many black people complaining that they were going to make the movie racist but to me I think that is giving the filmmakers an excuse as to why they didn't go there anyway. It's not they haven't done controversial movies before. I think it was because honestly they didn't want to. I was part of the camp who didn't want Tiana being a maid (I didn't mind the name Maddy though) however I had no problem with her being a jazz singer and would of had little to no problem with some more Spike Lee-ish drama being represented which a lot of us were expecting anyway.

I was also part of the camp who noticed that the word 'black', 'Negro' or 'colored' was NOWHERE mentioned in the movie and I kind of thought that was a bit odd. I mean in Pocahontas so many racial slurs were used they almost had to make the movie PG. In Hunchback I'm actually shocked they got away with as much racial subtext as they did and in Mulan I would of thought the scene were they were supposedly about to execute Mulan for being a woman would of gotten a PG rating atleast (also that movie had a lot of sexism in it. It was justified because it was representing the time but still they kind of weren't holding back). I was confused as to why they just couldn't tell Tiana "You're black and we don't know if we want you to have this building. Again because you're black" and why couldn't the cook have said "Girl you a colored! You think they ever got let you have your own restaurant!" or even why not have someone say at some point I don't care who "Child it's gonna be hard running this business as a colored" or some variation atleast but no. It was so tame that you didn't take any drama relating to her wanting to get the restaurant and her struggles seriously.

I mean when I say I was disappointed I was extremely disappointed by how little we actually got see of life in New Orleans. I mean even the songs built it up as this kind of great and mysterious place but how much of that did we really get to experience? Not a whole bunch. Also and I know it's trivial but Naveen couldn't be black why? Yeah I know an African royal might not of been given the warmest welcome but some of them still traveled to this country anyway and upper class people more than likely would of treated him or her as they did Naveen in the movie (which was slightly unrealistic but I'll get to that later). Back then even blacks didn't have many rights if an African digintary came to this country back then if something were have to happened to him to her along the lines of a hate crime and international debacle would of ensued. Especially if it was a country like Ethiopia or Eygpt that had a little more stock among other nations there would of been an issue and no prejudice is worth what could of happened.

Also and yeah I know it's a kid's movie I find it funny people were so happy go lucky about Naveen marrying Charlotte because despite him not being black he still wasn't white and interracial marriages were not legal in that part of the country at the time unless I am mistaken but I don't think I am. I still would of liked to have a slight reference to that.

The sad thing about this movie is that if you replaced all of the black characters that mattered in this movie with whites you really wouldn't lose anything. Tiana could of still been a poor girl and still could of been best friends with Charlotte and everything could of gone on the same. And that simple fact makes one think whether or not they made Tiana black just to try and attract the black audience to make money or if she was just an affirmative action princess because people have been begging for a black princess for years. I mean you really do not lose anything if you were to make her white since in this movie racial subtext obviously doesn't exist and any you can find can just be replaced with classim subtext.

Now some people will say "well that's the great thing about this movie it's universal and doesn't harp on race to get it's message across!" That's kind of something wrong with this country today. We like to think race doesn't exist when it does. Call it a social construct or whatever the fact is it exists and isn't going anywhere no matter how much we cover our eyes and say it's not real. That being said by not having any racial drama at all in a movie with a black main protagonist you lose something and that something is called effect. It's entirely possible to make a movie that is universal yet speaks to a specific audience at the same time. Refer to the movie 'The Color Purple' and if you want it in an animated movie I would like to direct to the movie 'Mulan'.

Obviously I am not Chinese or a woman but for some reason that movie speaks to me as well since many of the struggles she faced as a woman growing up in a sexist Chinese society reflects some of my own struggles. I was so moved by the end when all of China bowed to her and it was partially because I was allowed to be taken on an emotional journey with the character. And that allowance was through the themes of sexism and general underdogness that added to the effect of her finally overcoming. Same with Color Purple. I cannot tell you how many white woman I have met who were so moved and empowered by that movie and it wasn't just because Oprah was in it. It was because so many womenhave been abused and put down by men in their lives and those themes along with the slight theme of racism used in the film allowed many women to connect with the piece. Now if they had made Mulan or Color Purple in the same way they did PatF as in say there is a struggle and that the odds are against but never really show it then both movies would fall flat.

PatF is relying on the fact that the older viewers already know their history so they as in the filmmakers will not have to put any effort into trying to tell you. That works for some movies like 'Brother Where Art Thou' where during the KKK scenes we already knew what they were able and were aware of the danger but in this movie where the central character is African American and during this period unless you actually SHOW the struggle and adversity they have we're not gonna buy it. It doesn't matter what I know about history is this is a period piece essentially and if you are going to be doing a period piece dammit you better do it right.

Even the idea that Tiana is poor didn't really come off to well because well firstly they never really said it and two they never really showed it. I know there's a rule about show and not tell but if you don't show or tell barely anything but still expect for the emotional invest and payoff to be the same you've got another thing coming. We saw a hint of her community and there were hints that she was poor but honestly if I were a kid I would of just thought the house was small. They didn't let us know that she really needed to make money and be successful and get out of her neighborhood. It looked pretty nice I don't know why she would want to leave or atleast that is what I would think if I were a kid watching this movie.

To sum it up this movie was too tame and that was it's downfall. It keeps it from being a great movie and makes it just an okay movie.

"That's enough excitment for me I'm going back to Maris"-Niles