Introducing The Next Generation Of Leaders And Thinkers

Disney’s Most Overlooked Feminist Icon

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If you ask someone their favorite Disney movie, there are a handful of answers you’re likely to get. The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Frozen!

    The Hunchback of Notre Dame will almost never be among them. Why? Well, the 1996 film is certainly not the average Disney flick. Its dark plot, unattractive hero, shockingly inhumane villain and deeply symbolic themes make it a bit hard for kids and adults alike to grasp. When it came out in the nineties, it did poorly in the box office, due to it be overshadowed by Toy Story coming out with superior animation the previous year. These factors make it quite possibly the most underrated Disney movie there is, which obviously means that it must have the most overlooked feminist icon, too.

    I think it’s safe to say that The Hunchback is probably not a movie your parents showed you when you were five years old (unless your parents are my parents) and you might have never even seen it. That means you don’t know Esmeralda, Disney’s very own diamond in the rough.

    Esmeralda is a Romani woman who dances in the streets to support herself. She is stereotypically thought of by the citizens of Paris as a thief and a seductress, purely because of her ethnicity, her occupation and her “provocative” outfits. She captures the attention of the film’s main antagonist, Judge Claude Frollo, when dancing in the Festival of Fools. He immediately becomes infatuated by her, but that feeling is replaced by fury as he watches her defy his attempt at making an example to the public by unfairly punishing Quasimodo, the movie’s disfigured protagonist. Esmeralda displays her heart of gold by saving Quasi from Frollo’s cruel humiliation, exclaiming the iconic line, “You speak of justice yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help!”

    As the film continues, Esmeralda continues revealing admirable traits. She is one of the only characters throughout the film to show unconditional kindness to the hunchback himself, as well as fighting for the safety and acceptance of her people constantly, even when threatened with death.

    She is commonly disregarded as a sex symbol or a character only present due to her aesthetic appeal and representation of a minority. Due to her attractiveness, she is sexualized by Frollo, the main villain and a grown man, and almost put to death when she denies him sex. (Yeah, this is a kids’ movie!) Because characters throughout the film constantly sexualize Esmeralda and disregard her significance as a social justice warrior, the movie’s audience tends to do it, too.

 Though Esmeralda never once shows an ounce of selfishness, she does not receive the credit she deserves. In her only musical number, “God Help the Outcasts,” she sings about wishing for society to look upon her people in a more positive light. God help the outcasts, hungry from birth, show them the mercy they won’t find on Earth…I ask for nothing, I can get by, but I know so many less lucky than I. Please help my people, the poor and downtrod. She deals with racism—being referred to as a g*psy through out the whole film and not being accepted in her home city, Paris because of it—slut shaming, being unjustly wanted for witchcraft/demonism, and being the victim of an obsessively lustful man over twice her age. Somehow, she still puts her people before herself. It blows my mind that most people do not see how empowering Esmeralda really is.

    She is often criticized for eventually ending up with Captain Phoebus, who—like Frollo and Quasimodo—has been infatuated with her since the beginning of the film. But, like many blogs and articles will point out, Phoebus was the only one of her pursuers to view her as an actual person. Frollo blamed Esmeralda for his fierce attraction to her, calling her a siren and a witch, while Quasi viewed Esmeralda as an angel and believed she could do no wrong. Both of these mindsets are extremely toxic. Esmeralda ended up with Phoebus, who shared her ideas on justice and risked death in order to do what he believed was right.

    Ultimately, Esmeralda is the most overlooked and outspoken feminist icon Disney has. Though we may not know her views on abortion or her political stance, Esmeralda is a character we can all identify with in some sense. Forget, Anna and Elsa, Esmeralda did more than “not need a man”. She put others first, didn’t judge based on appearance, stood for the oppressed people when no one else would, refused to take no for an answer (when it came to her people’s safety) and never gave up on her desire for equality. Though she was removed from the Disney Princess lineup in 2005, she is and will always remain to be one of the most influential Disney “princesses” there has ever been.

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