When Disney Teaches Us to Uphold Death more than Justice or Mercy

(via disneyprincess wikia)

I love Disney movies. They’re a nostalgic staple of my childhood, but like almost everything, when viewed from an adult perspective, they are far from perfect. One worrying trend that I see in childhood films is the idea that death is the same thing as justice. Disney is hardly the only company at fault for doing this, and this trope does show up in media designed for older audiences as well. But my experience with Disney was really the first time I was exposed to the idea that villains deserve to die awful horrible deaths. Even if the heroes initially want to show their villains mercy, the mercy will be misplaced, and very rarely will actual justice be done.

This of course begs the question: do villainous characters truly deserve to die, especially in such awful, violent, and painful ways?

Oh, My Pop Culture Zealotry: Religious Fanaticism in Fiction

It’s my opinion that the scariest sort of villain is the kind that believes that what they’re doing is truly good. Hell, a quick Google search tells me that a lot of people have trouble deciding whether Umbridge is more evil than Voldemort himself. This sort of villain is even more frightening when they think they’re doing God’s work, because for them, that’s the ultimate justification for their actions. No human force is gonna convince someone who thinks they have divine purpose to stop what they’re doing.

In Brightest Day: Quasimodo and Frollo

I love Disney. I think that Disney is a huge influence on my own pieces. The wide range of stories that Disney has cranked out, whether it be animated, live-action, or Disney Channel shows, has stayed strong throughout the years. While there are some bad Disney movies out there (I’m looking at you, The Black Cauldron,) the majority has withstood the test of time.

For my money, my favorite Disney movie is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The fact that this movie is underrated is a crime. Quasimodo is one of the warmer-hearted protagonists out there, and Judge Claude Frollo is in the top 5 of “most evil Disney villains.”