The Princess And The Frog Summary

In the introduction of “Disney’s The Princess and the Frog: The Pride, the Pressure, and the Politics of Being a First,’ written by Neal A. Lester, the reader would believe that the whole article is about tearing Disney down. By his introduction it would appear that the article would be consumed with every idea that Disney is racist and can only manage to create a white princess without any criticism. His thesis statement says that Disney rules over all cultural constructs such as race, class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. The article goes back and forth between critics calling Disney racist and African American mothers saying that the movie is wonderful and not racist at all. Lester never picks a definite side to stick with in his argument

It says, “Importantly, both Michelle Obama and Tiana are princesses because they wed princes.” Again, it is understandable to say this because they are both African American, like proved before, they are not the FIRST “princesses” to only be royal by marriage. Lester points out that Tiana’s hair is in an “elegant upsweep” but not long like Pocahontas’s. Again, if Pocahontas is not considered a princess, but a heroine, then why does it matter if Tiana’s hair is long like hers is! Further down in the same paragraph Lester says that it is a good thing Michelle Obama and Tiana both have the same straightened or processed hair so again, the importance of whether Tiana’s hair is long or not should not even be mentioned in the article. The article continues one with comparing the prince in the movie to Barack Obama. Lester cites someone complaining, “Even though there is a real-life black man in the highest office with a black wife, Disney obviously doesn’t think a black man is worth of the title of prince.” It is almost alarming that so many people believe Tiana should marry a black man just because our president is black. The article also says, “Little black girls out there should just shut up and be thankful to have something! Little black boys will have to wait another 20 years.” Typically little boys, white, black, or any race, have never really cared about princesses so why all of a sudden does everyone think they