Examining Disney Channel || Media Criticism Blog

Disney Channel is just one of many highly successful and influential subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company . For decades, The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries have shaped the cultural landscape, creating concrete ideas about race, gender roles, class, sexuality and sexual orientation for people of all ages, offering a new company and its products (usually networks and their TV shows) to society at each age demographic stepping stone. The Walt Disney Company’s habit of maintaining its power and influence as well as its core ideas and values through this process of reinforcement at every possible turn had become an integral part of culture for the U.S. and countless nations around the world. Anywhere in the world that The Walt Disney Company can access, has undoubtedly been shaped by it, whether this is consciously recognized or not. This is not to say that The Walt Disney Company has been the sole influencer around the world of societal opinions, many pre-existing gover...

Disney Channel approaches class stiltedly, interweaving a less obvious but still omnipresent depiction of the American Dream, creating clear divides between racial and economic classes, but ignoring depictions/ groups that they don’t value, and glamorizing those that they do, consequently creating a similar value system for their audiences. One of the prevailing, yet most unnoticed, problems with many TV shows across networks is the creation of an unrealistically wealthy environment. Disney Channel is not exempt from this. They positively showcase the hardworking middle class, while depicting them as far wealthier than they are/ should be considering their backstory: a letdown for children when they grow up to realize how difficult wealth accumulation can actually be, as well a false marker of ultimate wealth success that can stunt those who would go farther. From shows such as  Good Luck Charlie  to the more recent,  Stuck in The Middle , large families are depicted...