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The Little Mermaid (1989) and Tangled (2010) P a g e | 129 Princess Bodies, Commodities for the Wicked. A Marxist Reading of Disney's Animated Films The Little Mermaid (1989) and Tangled (2010) Ana-Maria NICULESCU-MIZIL Doctoral School in Communication Sciences, University of Bucharest [email protected] Abstract: Theoretical effervescence regarding on the one hand the social phenomena of body commodification as discussed in the context of organ transplant and commercial surrogacy industries and on the other hand Disney's princess culture and its making of the female body image entitle a Marxist reading of Disney's animated films The Little Mermaid (1989) and Tangled (2010). The present research relies on Marx's (1867; 2010) understanding of commodity as presented in 'Section 4: The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof' of his famous work 'Capital. A Critique of Political Economy', van Niekerk, Anton and Liezl van Zyl's (1995) on the ethics of commercial surrogacy, Scheper-Hughes's (2002) work on commodity fetishism and organ traffic to determine whether one can talk about commodification of the body or of body features in the case of the two Disney princesses, Ariel and Rapunzel. Due to the exploratory nature of the inquiry connecting the theoretical dots between Disney's princesses and body commodification, it cannot hope for closure, but only for leaving an alluring trail of breadcrumbs, as in Hansel and Gretel's story, to be picked up by the next research(er). Keywords: commodification; Disney princess; sociology of the body; gender roles; young femininity versus elderly femininity. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Analize – Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies • New Series • Issue No. 9/ 2017 © Ana-Maria Niculescu-Mizil. ISSN 2344-2352 (Online). P a g e | 130 Marx&Disney: Towards an Uncanny Encounter The interest for the present research and, shortly after, its conception are grounded on two utterly different directions of study, which are both gaining popularity within the academic and the journalistic community. One regards the concept of body commodification, which, in its most general meaning, refers to attaching economic value to one's body or bodily parts or features, therefore, turning it into an object of trade. In this respect, the present article will engage with theoretical issues of organ transplant and commodifying life (Scheper-Hughes, 2002), commercial surrogacy (Orlov and Orlov, 2007) and the woman's reproductive system as a space of power (Dworkin [1978] 1983) and emotional labour (Toerien and Kitzinger, 2007) or the commodification of emotions. The second direction of research, which finds itself at the very heart of the present endeavour, revolves around the journalistic concern about the 'princess effect' of Disney culture - promoting an aesthetic appearance, a submissive attitude and a fundamental urge to be saved (Orenstein, 2006; Hains, 2016). Disney's making of femininity and especially of young femininity is also of interest for the academic community. On these lines, Sarah Coyne advances findings which endorse the idea that the princess culture enhances stereotypically feminine conduct, is preferred by girls with a body image falling behind the so-called beauty standards and does not whatsoever foster pro-social tendencies in consumers' behaviour. Craven (2002) highlights the absence of mothers, new-borns and pregnancies in Disney's narratives and the iterative array of dead femininities. A recurrent theme of journalistic (Orestein, 2006, Bronson, 2009; Mechanic, 2011, Hains 2016) and social research such as sociology and psychology (Craven, 2002; England, Descartes and Collier-Meek, 2011; Johnson, 2015; Do Rozario 2004) refers to Disney's princess culture and its depiction of the feminine body. Therefore, the present study focuses on the concept of 'commodity' as it is explained by Marx (1867; 2010) in his fundamental work 'Capital. A Critique of Political Economy', by van Niekerk, Anton and Liezl van Zyl (1995) in relation with commercial surrogacy and by Scheper-Hughes (2002) in the context of organ traffic and its application on Walt Disney's animated productions The Little Mermaid (1989) and Tangled (2010). Due to the fact that there is no previous research on this particular matter to be found, the article is meant to fulfil an exploratory function, therefore, a hypothesis is not to be formulated. However, a research must always start with an inquiry. In this case, the core research objective refers to the following topic: are the main female characters of Walt Disney's animated productions Analize – Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies • New Series • Issue No. 9/ 2017 P a g e | 131 The Little Mermaid (1989) and Tangled (2010), Ariel and Rapunzel, cases of body commodification? On these lines, a qualitative analysis was performed on the film narratives and musical lyrics of the animated Disney movies The Little Mermaid (1989) and Tangled (2010). The qualitative endeavour focuses on the concept of 'commodification' as it is defined by several authors and aims to determine whether certain bodily features of Ariel and Rapunzel or themselves as a whole: (1) represent 'a value in use' (Marx, [1867]; 2010, 46), (2) possess the power of satisfying human desires (Marx, [1867]; 2010, 46), (3) are altered as a state by means of human labour (Marx, [1867]; 2010, 46), (4) are given economic value, meaning they are subjected to financial operations (buying, selling, trading and stealing) (Nancy Scheper-Hughes, 2002, 62) (5) are instrumental or a purpose in itself (Buber apud. Van Niekerk, Anton and Liezl van Zyl, 1995, 347) (6) are involved in transactions, that convey no emotional bearing and only focus on financial ends (Prokopijevic, 1990 apud. Niekerk and Liezl van Zyl, 1995). At a first glance, it might seem that the present article represents an attempt to bring a serious matter such as body commodification, which can be easily associated with most of the contemporary world's horrors, into a trivial realm of animated movies. Moreover, the research might appear to some as airy and even slightly inappropriate for the thematic of this number: Communism/ Postcommunism. Perspectives on Gender. However, it is not the case because starting from the popular image of the cave man dragging 'his' woman by her hair up to Marilyn Monroe's icon and Hugh Hefner's bunny wives, the concept of gender has always been constructed around the body in terms of body difference or body features. Therefore, the present paper is about gender, probably in its most intimate bearing. It is constructed around femininity, the configuration of traits, behaviours, experiences and roles commonly ascribed to girls and women. Furthermore, it revolves around the lived femininity, the embodied experience of being a girl or a woman, saturated with a subjectivity which, by means of popularization, establishes itself as normative. Women's bodies are and have always been a symbolical space of power and ideology as well as of opposition and resistance. Analize – Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies • New Series • Issue No. 9/ 2017 P a g e | 132 King of my castle1. Detachable body parts & commodification In a nutshell, contemporary times are those of Dr. Frankenstein with a hint of Steven Spielberg. Just a couple of days ago, Saudi Arabia offered its citizenship to a humanoid robot called Sophia. Yesterday, Newsweek wrote about Sergio Canavero's quest of the impossible - allegedly the doctor intends to perform the first head transplant at the end of this year, in China. Although the same article states that there are strong medical voices advocating against the success rate of such a surgery, it has been on the table for some time now and it is probably going to happen soon. So, transplanting a human head might still be Sci-Fi, but humanity has already witnessed human trafficking, organ trafficking and surrogate mothers, therefore, a discussion about gender, body parts and commodification in post-communist times is not only justified, but also necessary, especially from the point of view of an Eastern-European female researcher in the field of sociology and gender studies. Discussing about how recent biomedical developments and transplant technologies suddenly divide the world into organ givers and receivers, Nancy Scheper-Hughes (2002, 62) focuses on the ethical implications of turning such an intimate part of the human body into a commodity: 'The problem with the markets is that they reduce everything - including human beings, their labour, and their reproductive capacity - to the status of commodities that can be bought, sold, traded, and stolen. Nowhere is this more dramatically illustrated than in the market for human organs and tissues'. Furthermore, she argues that it is life itself that becomes the ultimate of commodity fetishisms as no more virtue is found in suffering and death. It all comes to prolonging life at all costs and with no consideration whatsoever for the social, long-term effects on the human condition and on society itself of such an endeavour. Organs' transplant issues place the life one already possesses in the position of a commodity fetishism. Another topic surrounded by ethical controversy in the works related to modern commodification of the human body is commercial surrogacy. This means that, in exchange of a fee or for other financial privileges, a woman accepts to offer her egg and womb or just her womb to conceive a child who will be delivered shortly after birth to a couple who remunerates her and who will hold all parental rights over the previously mentioned child. According to Orlov and Orlov (2007), critiques of this practice argued it equates with turning both children and the reproductive system of women into commodities, therefore, making a commodity from something 1 Named after a popular song of 1999 in which a robot woman is created. Analize – Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies • New Series • Issue No.
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