Nice Guys Finish Last

In Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I find a reassurance of Disney's "beautiful people" complex.  In all of Disney's films, each protagonist is physically appealing and essentially flawless in beauty. As mentioned in class, the waste line of most disney princesses are smaller than the circumference of their head, which is (in the real world) impossible.  Disney clearly wanted to switch it up a bit by making the main character in The Hunchback a little less than perfect. Quasimodo in The Hunchback is the quite the stray away from conventional Disney characters, but what Disney decides to do with him is what bothers me.

In the film, Quasimodo is the center of the entire plot line. They also show his emotional thoughts throughout the movie as well.  The audience is exposed to the fact that Quasi has strong feelings for Esmeralda, the beautiful gypsy whom Quasi falls for. I find that if Disney was going to have Quasi get denied in the end, essentially "friend-zoning" him by Esmeralda, why would they have Esmeralda send him certain signs that she was interested in him?
In Martin Norden's article, Disability and Otherness in The Hunchback, Norden emphasizes the belief that Quasi is simply too young mentally, and can't be with Esmeralda because of it. He says, "From such a perspective, there is little wonder why Quasi cannot have a mature relationship with Esmeralda; he is, despite his years, just a kid" (171).  Norden's belief that Quasi's self-esteem problems and mental youth will prohibit his capturing of Esmeralda's heart is simply ridiculous. There are many other examples of Disney "princes" being childish and immature.  Looking at Beast from The Beauty and the Beast, in his pre-beast form he was cocky and immature, essentially placing him under the category of "young" with Quasi.

When Esmeralda is trapped in Notre Dame and can't find a way to escape, Quasi helps her escape and she ends up kissing him on the cheek, flirting (debatable) during the process.  Yet, in the end Esmeralda chooses Phoebus as her "man".  If Disney had the intention of Quasi getting denied in the end, why would they lead him on with that display of affection from Esmeralda? By Quasi helping out Esmeralda, the movie's audience learns in the end the shallow notion that the beautiful people end up together, which is a message I wouldn't want portrayed to America's youth.

                                                                           

Sources:
Cheu, Johnson. Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability. Print.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116583/

http://millaindiedisneylists.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/phoebus-esmeralda-kiss.png

http://iohnson. Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability.