#“fixing” what people regard as problematic of these movies. i don't think disney creates them with the purpose of replacing the original

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I will never understand why some people feel the need to defend the indefensible.

#txt #i read a post that sort of defend disney la remakes/adaptions #they said that they were they are “own” thing and that they weren't there to replace original movies #and they don't ruin your childhood #now i don't think these movies will ever ruin my love for the classics #but stating that they are their own separate thing is fucking bullshit because they still take so much from the original movies #that it doesn't allow them to be their ACTUAL own thing. the only remake that did truly manage to be its own thing is the cinderella one #which still has the best la disney prince and the best la remake disney relationship #and as far as the replacing thing goes... i mean disney created these movies mainly to get to keep the copyright of these movies and #“fixing” what people regard as problematic of these movies. i don't think disney creates them with the purpose of replacing the original #but it presents it as more “mature” and “fleshed out” than the original movie because of the simple fact that it's live-action #so in some way they are being arrogant about their mediocrity #people like that are part of the problem. you are enabling this mediocre bullshit to go on #i can't stand the disney fandom because of shit like that. y'all are incredible with how much bullshit y'all accept from this company #as demented delusional heated and even downright rude as the star wars fandom can be they actually have BALLS unlike disney fans #and bro justified it by saying that marvel gets to create multiple universes with their characters. what a great comparison because the #multiverse-type stories are almost always shit and a mess 😭😭😭 the spiderverse movies are the only ones that dealt with this correctly #disney fans pls stop being goddamn pushovers. pls stop making excuses for this goddamn company #“their own separate stories” FOH 😒 #lame ass fandom. this is why i stan these movies on my own. i realized most disney fans are a lost cause

[airasora]

I'm... Let's say extremely close with a white passing Rroma person (if I said exactly how I'd be disclosing who they are and they don't want that). Sometimes genetics are weird; they have green eyes and a similar skin tone to Quasimodo, and reddish blonde hair. Some of their siblings look like Esmeralda or Clopin. They also explained to me that unfortunately, a likely explanation for Quasimodo's og appearance is that the man we see with his mother isn't his biological father, and that he's the product of a gadje (non-Rroma -it is not an offensive word as far as I'm aware, it's like "goy" meaning "non-Jew") sexually assaulting her. Historically it's the most likely explanation. (As evidenced by latter attitudes toward Esmeralda; Frollo may have been the only one to go insane over her but she's definitely regarded as an object of lustful desire by most).

Florida.Florian on YT and TikTok is a Rroma person who makes really informative videos about his people and culture. Several of them are about HOND and one of them touches on the issues (historical and racial) with the "Jehan fix", after precisely mentioning how Quasimodo's appearance unfortunately lends itself to the stereotype you mentioned. I'd highly recommend giving it a watch as I'm really not qualified to speak this far out of my wheelhouse any more. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that you like it, not at all, just that you probably want to be aware of the background that that kind of story has, based on what I know about you as a person (basically, not racist, open minded, and someone who wants to learn). Plus the channel is just plain enjoyable, he's very good.

Personally, I always thought the intention, accidental harmful stereotypes aside, in the design, was so Frollo could further "other" Quasimodo from his people. After all, we see he's trying to raise him to be as racist as he is but while being aware that his mother was Romani. If their typical skin color and features are something else he doesn't share with them, it's another weapon in Frollo's arsenal to explain why he saved him and why he's different from those horrible evil g-psies, the same way his deformity others him from everyone else. I'm thinking especially of the scene where he accuses both Esmeralda and Quasi's mother of being incapable of love, and the Rroma people at large of the same, while at the same time stating that a poor soft-hearted deformed child had no chance to not fall in love with the evil witch. Could also explain why Quasimodo talks about his own people as "them" and parrots Frollo's rhetoric, despite being fully aware that he IS part of "them".

No matter how you put it, this story in its most original form is already VERY problematic to say the least. Yes, this is my favorite Disney movie and Disney stage musical, but that doesn't mean I'm a big fan of its original source. When you create stories like these, there's unfortunately bound to be prejudice, presumptions and historically problematic or incorrect information. I'm not claiming that HOND is good Roma representation, not at all. I like it as a fictional story and that's it.