Heather Greene, Author at Miraselena

Merida Reinvented

Everyone is up in arms about Merida’s transformation as she enters into the halls of the Disney Princess “Hall of Fame.” Here is the comparison photo being passed around the internet depicting Merida from Pixar’s movie Brave (2012) and the new redesign. (Disney’s current website only shows the movie version.)

The film’s award-winning co-director, Brenda Chapman spoke out against the new “sexy” and “sparkly” Merida. She told Marin Independent Journal that ”There is an irresponsibility to this decision that is appalling for women and young girls…Disney marketing and the powers that be that allow them to do such things should be ashamed of themselves.”

A petition was formed at change.org. Angry fans are outraged by the not-so-subtle changes in Merida’s visual appearance. Her costume now has an off-the-shoulder, low-cut neckline and a tight-fitting curvy bodice. Her newly sculpted face have cat-like eyes with accented upper lids and higher cheek-bones.

Is this a problem? Not really

Sure, the Disney Princess machine has accentuated the sexuality of a character who really didn’t need it visually or otherwise. Brave’s narrative and Merida’s character reject gender conformity. Merida isn’t a typical Princess. She rips off her head gear and refuses to marry. The new girlie Merida undermines the movie’s basic theme.

However, Disney has redesigned all its princesses and has been doing it this for decades. It is nothing new. Look at Cinderella in the original movie from 1950.

cinderella still 3 — Disney’s Cinderella 1950

Now look at her on the Disney site today:

Look at Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1992)

Still from Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1992) — Still from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1992)

Look at Belle now:

Right from the beginning, Disney Princesses are imagined as the images of “ideal” beauty – a concept borrowed from the old fairy tale narrative itself. At the point in time when each movie was made, the concept of ideal beauty was different. Therefore, each Princess was originally designed differently.

By the time Disney left the fairy tale genre, this Princess character motif was an ingrained in the Disney Princess formula. Even those female “princesses” who are external to the traditional fairy tale found themselves created under the same standard. Borrowing from my personal study on Disney Princesses:

Esquire voted Pocahontas, “an original American Princess,” one of the top “Women we love” in August 1995 (Rudnick, 67). Although the article is tongue-in-cheek, Paul Rudnick describes her as “lusciously sexual” and writes, “she is a Bond girl, a forthright little greenpiece seeking racial justice”(67).

Pocahontas-Disney-Princess — From Disney’s Pochahontas (1995)

Each original princess is a time capsule of sorts. She demonstrates what typified “ideal” beauty to the American mainstream audience at a specific point in time. In order to keep marketing the princesses, Disney must re-invent them to reflect trends in beauty. It is similar to the re-invention of Mickey Mouse overtime. The product needs to be fresh and culturally relevant

Disney relies on these characters’ marketability. Disney needs little girls to want to be these characters. It is part of the storytelling process. It is a part of the marketing process. It is a part of our culture (for better or worse.) It is true that the princesses are very distilled, hyper-realized visual icons of femininity but they do have a place within our greater cultural text.

If this is normal Disney behavior, why has there been such outrage with Merida? Why don’t we protest the accentuated sexuality and sparkle of the other princesses? Merida is too young a character. She didn’t need a full make-over yet. She was relevant as she was. As Disney has admitted, they reimagined her in order to remove her Pixar-look and impose the Princess Collection standards. She had to fit-in.

In theory, I don’t mind that work. I love watching the visual evolution of these Disney creations. It’s great cultural fodder. However, Merida’s change was abrupt and contradicts her narrative purpose. Disney could have been more careful.

Other than that, it is time to move on and take the cultural battle somewhere else…

May 15, 2013Heather GreenePermalink Leave a comment

Evaluating our Response within the Pagan Community

The current issue of Witches and Pagans Magazine contains an editorial that has unwittingly become the center of attention. Written by editor Anne Newkirk Niven, the editorial discusses the Pagan community’s reaction to bad press. Anne suggests that “a solid dose of discernment” needs to be added to our “moral outrage” when reacting to discrimination cases and negative media situations.

Anne makes a good point and one that I advise myself. Evaluate your reaction before taking action. In many of these difficult situations, we have a natural and understandably strong emotional reaction. It may be anger, moral outrage, indignation or the desire to fight and get even. This is very human.

But… and this is a big BUT….the emotional reaction cannot define a public action. Calculated and thoughtful responses are needed in almost all cases. While the emotional response undoubtedly feels satisfying, such a response can cause more damage than good. It can attract unwanted media attention. It might generate a legal battle that could have been easily avoided.

Moreover, emotional responses are often disproportionate to the original offense leading to what Anne calls “touchy nerve syndrome.” Sometimes sh*$% happens and you just need to walk away, punch a pillow, vent to a confidant etc. Or do what I do… drink a glass of wine and sing along to “Do you Hear the People Sing?” from Les Miserables (the Original London Cast.)

Admittedly, sometimes the decision on whether to act or not-to-act is tough. And sometimes the “how-to-act” is even harder.

Getting back to the editorial, Anne did suggest that our community overreacted to the Fox News’ “trollish shenanigans.” She notes that Pagan media pundits failed to highlight the positive points of the story with the exception of Covenant of the Goddess’ media statement. Ironically, I’m both The Wild Hunt writer who failed to focus on the positive and the CoG Public Information Officer who wrote media statement that publicly thanked Mizzou. I’m not sure where that leaves me in all this….

Incidentally, I also wrote the Lady Liberty League article, published in the current issue of Circle Magazine, that reviews the entire two-week engagement with Fox. Did we, as Anne suggest, overact? No. Fox needed “corrective feedback” and the world needed to see that we do exist in force. Most Pagan organizations did respond appropriately. However, I do agree that there were some individual reactions on social media that were a bit over-the-top. That can’t be controlled. With the internet’s wild and wide availability, these very public over-reactions, good or bad, are going to happen (in every community.)

Anne, nor I, are suggesting that we stand-by and let our rights be trampled. We just need to get a little better at evaluating our reactions before taking public action. In addition, we need to spend as much energy in celebrating the forward strides, no matter how small, as in fighting those nasty steps backward. This is sage advice – something to which I personally adhere and also advocate within my own work – time and time again.

May 10, 2013Heather GreenePermalink Leave a comment

If Crash Davis was Pagan….

“Well, I believe in the spirit, the God, the Goddess, the horns on the head of Pan, the hanging man, high mountains, good wine, that the novels of John Grisham are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe that Set acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and designated campsites. I believe in the four elements, the May Pole, opening your presents on Yule morning rather than on Yule Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last a year and a day.”

Baseball_(crop)

(Adapted from the Crash Davis monologue, Bull Durham 1988)

May 2, 2013Heather GreenePermalink 1 Comment

My Pagan Theology

Teo Bishop created a crowd sourcing experiment from the Wild Hunt. He’s not sourcing cash to fund a project, he is sourcing information to enrich and inform a community – the Pagan community. Why? Because every so often, the “Paganosphere” goes down a bumpy path, for better or worse, in an attempt to define Paganism. Crowd sourcing this information may demonstrate (in a non-scientific way) the scope of the Pagan religious experience. If not, we can all just have fun looking into each other’s belief structures…maybe learn a little on the way.

What is my theology? To start, I need to focus on the words “God” or “Goddess.” These terms are at the center of Teo’s post but they have never played a big role in my personal practice. Growing up “none” has made many iconic religious terms (like God, Prayer, Faith etc) foreign and very difficult for me to digest. While I understand them on an intellectual level, I don’t typically use them to describe my experience.

As a practicing Wiccan Priestess, I have learned to adapt to these words in order to create and function within a group sacred space. Additionally, I do honor the concepts of deity in my own way. They come through in the natural rhythms of life and its seasonal celebrations and all of the found beauty within nature.

However, I do prefer the word spirit. I prefer the word energy. In my understanding, the universe is made up of pure energy, pure light and pure spirit – all of which manifests into many things and everything. I ground my practice in the elementals – Earth, Fire, Water, Air – and their manifestations. I focus on the Sun and Moon; the trees, the mountains, the oceans and stars. Through these natural and concrete manifestations of spirit, I find my connection to the beyond.

~Magickal Graphics~Last year, I wrote an interfaith article about the Tower of Babel. In that piece, I compared religion to language; religion being the way we communicate with and about a universal spirit. When I was young, I tried to understand spirit through the language of Judaism. That failed. However, I knew something mystical existed and kept searching. My first taste of intense spirituality was through literature, music and science. That eventually lead to occult practices (Astrology, Tarot, Herbology, Crystals and Fairy Magic) and finally Witchcraft. The rest, as they say, is history. Continue reading →

May 1, 2013Heather GreenePermalink Leave a comment

Art for the Ocean Conservation

Today many bloggers are talking about Ocean Conservation, the damage we are doing to ours waters and the effects on the creatures that call it home. This has been a passion of mine for many years. As a child I wanted to be a marine biologist. This sincere interest in the oceans, particularly ocean mammals and sharks, led to a deeper spiritual connection rather than a career. The dolphin is my totem and I still am pulled by the sounds of the sea.

Let me be clear. I’m not a sailor. I like stable ground. But I do love the ocean and its creatures. I have been known to camp out in front of shark week and have had a season passes to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta since its opening. On one Florida vacation, I became enraged with a large group of beach-goers who were poking and prodding a dying sea turtle. ”Leave it along and let it go back to the ocean and die in peace.That is where it belongs,” I screamed. Then I stomped off with tears in my eyes. Continue reading →

April 5, 2013Heather GreenePermalink Leave a comment