[ SECRET POST #4192 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4192 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 49 secrets from Secret Submission Post #600.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[type_wild]

Given that
A) No matter how purportedly "historical" in setting, Disney films are definitely modern in moral

B) They went out of their way to disconnect Tiana's poverty and gruelling workload from the background radiation of institutionised slavery within living memory of said historical setting

then yes, within the fairy-tale universe of the film, it's believable that Naveen will appreciate labour because he just needed to see that he could do it.

But if we make the musjudgment of looking at this through a real-life lens, I refuse to apply the description "labour" to the activity of performing a cherished hobby for a few hours every night. Certainly not if we take half a second to ask ourselves where Charlotte's family wealth came from and recall the economic system that replaced it. "Talents and skillsets" is the privilege of those who have enough money to turn down a job while looking for something cushier.

[(Anonymous)]

it's believable that Naveen will appreciate labour because he just needed to see that he could do it.

But if we make the musjudgment of looking at this through a real-life lens, I refuse to apply the description "labour" to the activity of performing a cherished hobby for a few hours every night.

These are essentially two separate points, and no amount of pseudointellectualism on your part will mash them into a coherent argument.

The two points you're trying to conflate are:

1. Did Naveen really learn to appreciate labor after his experience in the film? The film's straight answer is yes, but the audience might not be convinced by the evidence offered. That is fair.

2. Does an artistic pursuit even count as labor, even when performed for commercial purposes?

...to which your answer is appalling, and frankly offensive to the generations of musicians that made New Orleans their home. Have you ever even been there? Yes, let us take half a second to ask ourselves where Charlotte's family wealth came from and recall the economic system that replaced it. Yes, slavery built America, and capitalism is its reincarnation. We can accept all that and still celebrate the importance of music and its very prominent value in a city where the dinner is oftentimes quite secondary to the show.

At the end of the day, yes, it's a Disney film. Yes, it worked out very conveniently that Tiana's and Naveen's strengths and weaknesses complement each other so well, and that they can get their business off the ground so quickly. In "reality", Naveen would probably be forced to play on stage AND wash dishes. But he shouldn't have to, and since it's a cartoon, he doesn't. Do you want to criticize capitalism, or embrace it? Your cynical view of art seems to suggest the latter.

[type_wild]

The point I was hoping to make is that there's a bit of a difference between the existence where your survival is a matter of other people's willingness to pay for your performances, and being royalty with a trust fund who can perform purely because you enjoy it. If the point of the film was to teach Naveen a lesson about the value of effort, then let him feel the despair of his life and personal comfort being dependent on the heavy physical labour that was the lot of those who didn't have money to pursue their "talents and skillset". Let him face starvation and homelessness, let him toil with the sharecroppers, let him suffer something more than falling under a magical spell that is solved by getting the right girl to kiss him.

Of course, that wasn't the point of the film, and "you can do it if you just try!" is a valuable enough lesson for 21st century children in the west. Just... don't claim that Naveen playing in Tiana's house band is "work". Not when he's clearly back in his family's good graces and probably still the first in line to the throne. I'm a hobbyist who pay a bloody membership fee in an amateur orchestra, with several friends struggling with making a living as pros. Their uncertain income and their day jobs and their being incapable of planning life more than a month ahead is an admirable dedication to their art. It is also a life that is pretty far removed from Naveen's, at any point in the film.