Angelina Jolie disappointed over lack of black Disney Princess

So, apparently at some point, Angelina Jolie commented that she is let down that none of the Disney Princesses are black. She had said:

“There still isn’t a Disney princess that’s African and it’s very difficult because our daughter’s getting into princesses right now and it upsets me.”

I’ve seen some fairly snotty responses to this comment. A talk show host (Laura Ingraham) actually went on a big rant about it, making reference to the world having larger issues to worry about and does Angelina really have to make such a big deal over something like Disney.

First of all, I don’t think anyone needs to remind Angelina Jolie that the world has a lot of serious problems. I’m not sure how often Laura Ingraham has headed over to Iraq, Darfur, or other war-torn regions to talk to refugees. I’m not sure how many conferences have had her as a speaker to address human rights. On the other hand, Angelina has been to those places, and she has raised awareness and money for human rights issues. Honestly, that entire statement was absolutely ridiculous. If it was Paris Hilton, then I could maybe understand, but Angelina champions people’s rights and the issues standing in their way on a near-constant basis. Does this woman even know anything about Angelina at all?

Second, yes, actually it does matter. While I hope my daughters grow up with better role models than a cartoon princess, at their young age they do love to watch Disney movies. I can quote Cinderella and Snow White by heart now because of all the times they’ve been played. I’m sure that Shiloh and Zahara both enjoy watching DVDs. The Jolie-Pitt family is very serious about making sure all their children have an understanding of their own culture of origin as well as others. Is it truly that unreasonable to be disappointed, as a mother, that your black daughter can’t watch a Disney film featuring a black princess?

I don’t know much about Laura Ingraham (other than the fact that the video cast her in a very obnoxious light), so I don’t know if she has children or not, but I would think that if she did she would grasp the importance for children to see dolls and cartoons and television/movie characters that look like them sometimes.

You can get all varieties of dolls in every skin color and ethnicity that there is. I don’t think it’s outrageous for Angelina to wonder why Disney hasn’t caught up yet.

So there you go PittWatch readers! Some of you have been asking for a new discussion thread. It’s the weekend, let’s discuss!

Here’s the video clip debating whether this is an important issue or if Angelina Jolie is making too much of it.

What do you think?

Image used with permission: Splash News Online

(source)

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