Perfect Beauty and Moral Perfection: Looking for the ‘Disney Effect’ in the Figures of the Iliad
When we read the Iliad, we are repeatedly struck by the superlative nature of everything involved. This particularly relates to the aesthetics of the characters, their possessions and the entire culture around them. This beauty of everyone involved is ubiquitous as is the golden, shining and godlike nature of everything heroic in the poem. Spotting the ugly and those figures depicted as rather less than stunning is difficult. When these are brought to the fore of the narration, an implied moralisation is often conveyed with them — they are ignoble and oppose the code of heroism. Likewise, the figures who carry the most ‘moral’ and upright values, displayed through heroic behaviours, in Disney films are the beautiful and unblemished. Of the 57 Disney Classics, it is reckoned that just over 50 of them have a ‘good’ and victorious character who fits the mould of stereotypical aesthetic perfection in ‘society’s’ eyes.
The ‘Disney Effect’ has been coined in recent years to denote the possible harmful effects of Disney’s more generally well-known fairy tale stories on developing and promoting some of society’s most questionable values. Originally, it was used as a phrase to discuss the reinforcing of gender ‘normative’ values displayed in the films. Such reinforcing actions can be seen in Disney’s adaptation of J M Barrie’s 1911 Peter Pan and Wendy for their 1953 animation Peter Pan. The original novel’s illustrations by F D Bedford are at distinct odds with the film’s portrayal of Peter Pan, whose features are smoothed and softened as to make him more appealing to the viewers. So the ‘Disney Effect’ is the selection and development of some of society’s values in order to impress them on its audience as the norm. This has been criticised more recently concerning the portrayal of beauty and morality in the Disney dynasty’s films. The honourable figures in these classics display a physical perfection fitting of their spotless and pure personalities. In the same way, the villainous characters take their form in ugly, haggard witches or animalistic beasts and monsters. This link between beauty and morality seems to be shared and promoted both in the Iliad and Disney films.
To look at the similarities between the two I will pick a few case studies to hopefully illustrate the manner in which beauty and morality are connected. From the Iliad, I shall look at the figures of Thersites and Achilles. In turn, the films of Cinderella and Tangled — productions which span the space of 60 years — should illustrate Disney’s projections concerning looks and virtue. As with any reading or viewing, many meanings can be found and I think it is key to be aware of the contradictions that arise when looking at these pieces of art in this way. For example, Thersites — shaming Agamemnon and arguing with Odysseus in book two — displays some of the most valuable views and sense of justice in the whole epic concerning the rights of the individual in the face of dictatorial power. Also, the superior heroes in the epic poem are dark characters who commit atrocities, sentiments which agree with the ancient Greek proverb ‘beautiful things are difficult’ — in the sense of either the characters themselves or our efforts to interpret their personalities and actions. In a similar vein, many of the villains in the Disney classics exhibit some of the most human and relatable motives of all the characters displayed. Likewise, the heroines and heroes often appear as almost unnatural in their vastly underdeveloped and shallow personalities.
In book two of the Iliad, we meet the figure of Thersites during an assembly of the Achaeans. The assembly has been in uproar since Agamemnon has issued a test of the will of his forces. Odysseus violently brings order to the meeting and only one dissenting voice remains, this is the voice of ‘the loose-tongued Thersites’. He is then described as the ‘ugliest man that went to Ilios’. His discomforting physical defects include that he was ‘bandy-legged’ and ‘lame in one foot’. His ‘humped shoulders’ and his head ‘which rose to a point, sprouting thin wisps of wool’ are also noted. The poet describes that he railed against Agamemnon, ‘full of vulgar abuse’, even when the rest ‘stayed disciplined in their places’. Due to all this, the Achaians felt ‘furious anger and resentment at him’. It is interesting to see that the narrator details the vulgar behaviour of Thersites and then his ‘unpleasant’ aesthetic appearance. The poem portrays him so negatively that even with his reasonable assertions concerning Agamemnon’s ‘last outrage’ towards Achilles, ‘a much better man than he’, his ugliness is seemingly offered as an explanation for his ignoble behaviour. In a poem lacking an immoral enemy, the ignominy of Thersites acts, in his inglorious nature caused by his repulsive form, as an enemy to heroism. James Davidson neatly encapsulates this link of beauty and morality when inferring that the enemies of Timarchus (the target of Aeschines’ legal speech) could denote that ‘his very flesh contained a record of his morals’. This sentiment is obviously very relevant to that of the Iliad’s view of Thersites. That this figure was ‘hated most of all by Achilles’ offers further enforcement of the Iliad’s link between honour and beauty, particularly when we consider the poem’s beautification of Achilles.
Achilles is arguably the main protagonist of the epic and we follow his progression of extremity into some sort of humanity by the end. Achilles commits horrendous acts of violence and abuse throughout and perhaps the most shocking example that lingers for modern audiences is his sacrificing of twelve Trojan youths over Patroklos’ pyre in book twenty-three. However, although the impersonal delivery of the narrative is a theme of the epic, Achilles is never presented in a bad light. He is portrayed as regal, impressive, unquestionable, and everything a hero of his context should be. His beauty is one of the most broadcast features of his nobility and heroism to match this. Beyond the standardised epithets of the key heroes of the epic — Achilles is awarded ‘swift-footed’, ‘lion-hearted’, ‘godlike’ and ‘shining’ — Achilles and his striking and heroic beauty is often brought to the attention of the reader. An obscure hero — Nireus — receives his only mention as the ‘handsomest man that came to Ilios of all the Danaans, after the peerless son of Peleus.’ Achilles even boasts of his own beauty when he questions Lykaon’s motives for coming up against him, asking whether Lykaon realises ‘how fine a man I am, and how huge?’ His beauty is seen as extraordinary, a reflection of his excessive nature, much like Gilgamesh’s beauty in his respective epic is a match for his own supernatural energy — Gilgamesh, a hero whose physique was crafted by the immortals: ‘it was the Lady of the Gods drew the form of his figure, while his build was perfected by divine Nudimmud’. Even Priam, confronted by his children’s murderer, is so struck by his beauty that he ‘wondered [θαύμαζ’]’ at Achilles’ massive physique ‘for he was like the gods to look at’. Throughout the epic we are constantly reminded of Achilles’ beauty especially as a reflection or in relation to his boundless heroism. Nicholas Rynearson relates this promoted theme in the epic to the ancient political discourse of the kaloi kagathoi — a belief which ‘correlates physical beauty directly to class and character’. He writes that the ‘contrast between Achilles’ — his excessive beauty and heroism — ‘and Thersites whose base, servile and cowardly character is […] reflected in his fantastic ugliness’ constructs the ‘points of reference for the ideology of kalokagathia in the Classical period’. I would agree with Rynearson’s summary of this theme in the Iliad when he describes that ‘generally speaking, epic considers the connection of beauty and character to be irrepressible’.
The original Cinderella was released by Walt Disney in 1950 and appears as one of the flagship ‘classics’ in their tellings of fairy tales — this particular one based on the original tale of the same name by Charles Perrault. It was Disney’s 12th animated feature film and depicts the well-known story of Cinderella, a young woman who is living a dissatisfying life as an orphaned scullery maid in her own chateau whilst she is lorded over by her evil-stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and two stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia. Cinderella and Disney have become so intertwined that the castle that features in this particular film became the iconic Disney castle emblem. From the beginning of the film we are directed to view Cinderella as the embodiment of all things accepted as feminine and good. She is beautiful, in a very much limited ‘Americana’ and european beauty standards sense, and her meekness is accentuated to drive our sympathy for her and her situation. Cinderella’s kindness to the cute animals and nature around her furthers her own sensitive and mild morality. This goodness is mirrored by her beauty — her ‘open’ facial features, her blonde and straight, soft hair, and her spotless youth are all purposeful presentations to depict innocence and induce sympathy. That beauty is central to the morals of the story is highlighted by the cruelty of Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s tormentor in the tale. From the plot, we early on see that her behaviour is driven by her jealousy and hatred of Cinderella’s beauty. Alongside this, the two ‘ugly’ stepsisters are portrayed as also being driven by their envy and anger towards Cinderella’s natural beauty and therefore her goodness. Interestingly, despite the growth of criticism over the last decade for the manner in which Disney has decided to portray young women, in the live-action remake of Cinderella which was released in 2015, they chose to represent the beauty of the original characters as closely as possible. The portrayal of Cinderella and her stepsisters in this live-action remake very much still relied on the supposed delineation of attractiveness in the manner in which they are developed as characters. Drizella and Anastasia’s apparent lack of beauty in the face of Cinderella’s is what spurs them on to abuse their position of power over her. In both adaptations of the film, the ‘ugly’ stepsisters are almost excused for their behaviour in the face of such an imbalance of aesthetic appeal — their appearance is the explanation for their actions. Furthermore, Cinderella’s forgiveness of Drizella and Anastasia in actuality reflects much better on her than offering any sympathy for the sisters’ faults, the promotion of the beautiful and their inner goodness is paramount to the film’s message.
Another example of a more recent Disney film which appears to wish to portray a link between that of beauty and goodness is Tangled. A reasonably contemporary film, released in 2010, it loosely tells the story of the German fairy tale Rapunzel from the collection published by the Brothers Grimm, but with a much lighter tone to suit the audience and plot line. Once again, the link between the ‘good’ characters and their beauty is furthered by the contrast with the ‘bad’ characters’ lack of aesthetic appeal. The heroine, much like the Cinderellas, is formed in the image of innocence and beauty to mirror those same traits in her personality. Her hero in the film — Flynn Ryder — is also based on a mirage of masculine attractiveness although he contains a slightly more modern raffish element — in both physicality and personality — which the slightly more dopey, ‘manners-based’ Prince Charming of 1950 didn’t require. Mother Gothel embodies the flip side of the links of beauty and goodness made by the heroes of the tale. Although she uses Rapunzel’s hair to prevent her own ageing, she is not the picture of acceptable beauty and her facial features denote this — her hooked nose, heavily-lidded eyes, squared off face and curly, black hair — all features which clash with Rapunzel’s embodiment of female european beauty standards. Furthermore, we get glimpses of the true hideousness of Mother Gothel, although aided by her ongoing youth, whenever she is challenged or questioned by Rapunzel or situations which pose a threat. This is shown in the grotesque manners in which her face contorts before the audience’s focus in order to reveal her inner ugliness, which the blessing of youth can only just about hide, and grant the viewer access to the representation of her twisted nature. As the story progresses, the good characters induce sympathy for their cause and efforts whilst Mother Gothel loses all elegance due to her increasingly desperate hold on Rapunzel and her gift of youth. When Ryder (later becoming Eugene) cuts Rapunzel’s hair to free her from her gift-cum-curse and Mother Gothel, Gothel’s cheated years finally catch up with her to reveal her in all her hideousness and we are left with the image of Disney ugliness — elderly, grey, wrinkled and twisted — a physical depiction of Disney’s concept of evil as well. The final link with beauty and goodness is symbolised in the return of Rapunzel to her biological and, happily, regal parents who are equally, extraordinarily beautiful — reminiscent of the happy coincidences we witness in Greek novels concerning the beauty of the exposed, high-class infants who outshine the pastoral youths around them.
From the above examples, we see that many works of literature and entertainment aim to promote an evident link between the beautiful and their goodness and the ugly and their respective wickedness. For Thersites, in a work of art without a solid sense of right or wrong, his ignobility, present in his questioning and ridiculing of superior heroes, is embodied in his relative ugliness in the face of excessively beautiful characters. Here, Achilles acts as the opposite to Thersites. He is beautiful, and so he is heroic and this applies the other way round. His excessive beauty is the most fitting expression for his excessive heroism — the most positive personality trait a character can be granted in the Iliad. Likewise, in the characters of Cinderella and Rapunzel we see that they manifest this connection between beauty and morality. They are examples of stock beauty standards for their respective eras and their roles as heroines, alongside the subsequent morality that goes with this, accentuates their goodness in the reflection of their aesthetic appeal. The ‘bad’ characters of both films act as confirmations of this belief as their unsightliness is a representation of their wickedness. The Disney classic Sleeping Beauty is the most obvious example of ugliness and immorality being linked in the form of the character of the evil fairy Maleficent and her inhuman, disfigured physical appearance.
So, indeed, we are easily able to witness the link between perfect beauty and moral perfection in all of these works. Another question is posed by this though — who influences who? Does society influence the art or does the art influence society? Concerning the ancient cultures which the Iliad was formed in, the challenge is very difficult when attempting to reconstruct societal ideals and thoughts. However, we should bear in mind the contemporary success of the poem and its continual appeal for thousands of years which should indicate some level of interplay and appealing relevance between the work and society. Yet, even for films which are much more contemporary, such as the discussed Disney classics, the problem of placing who the instigator of such stereotypes and models is very complex and on the whole leads to a divergence of opinion. Although it is exceptionally difficult to decide which element — society or art — reflects which, concerning this particular case, we see that the Iliad and discussed Disney films both contain examples which share the same connection of beauty and morality.
