Subliminal Messages: Overactive Imaginations or Scary Reality?

Before I start, why bother mentioning subliminal messages as a Progressive U topic? Well, I feel this is an interesting subject to debate, and whether or not they can affect children may be important in determining their future. If it affects them, does this create bad children? Well, that's a topic for another blog. Let's start with Disney subliminal messages first.

Go on YouTube.com (helps out if you have a fast Internet connection) and type in “Subliminal Messages” in the search box. You’ll get a ton of results, ranging from raunchy Disney secrets to messages hidden in classic rock songs. Are there really subliminal messages? I can tell you now that there is no definitive answer to this question. This is like asking if you believe in aliens. Though you might believe aliens exist, your best friend might think we’re alone in the universe. It’s an opinion thing, in other words, and most “facts” should be taken with a grain of salt.

You may have heard some interesting things about Disney cartoons and how the artists stuck improper references in there. I remember hearing about a few subliminal messages in The Little Mermaid when I was on the bus in middle school. Someone assured me that the priest had an erection. I didn’t really believe this at first. Then my friend on the bus, RJ, told me it was true and that on the cover of early editions of The Little Mermaid was a male reproductive organ. He emailed the cover to me later that day. Hidden among the turrets and towers of the castle: a penis. A noteworth fact is this cover was recalled and replaced by a new one. Perhaps that was the greatest piece of evidence.

Probably the rudest subliminal image in a children’s cartoon occurs in The Rescuers Down Under. There is a scene when the two mice (Bianca and good ol’ what’s his name) are riding on the back of a seagull. The seagull dives down next to a building, and in the background you can see windows flashing past. Play it slow, and…what was that?! In two whole frames (very difficult to see if you don’t expect it and look hard) is a naked woman. It’s not a cartoon or anything. It’s a real woman, standing smiling at the window baring all her glory and (I think) holding a mug of beer or something.

In Aladdin, there is a scene when Aladdin is confronted by the tiger when going to visit Princess Jasmine. When Aladdin is out of the shot and you see Jasmine, you can hear Aladdin saying “Good teenagers, take off your clothes”. However, the line is supposed to be “Good kitty, take off and go” (or something similar to that). So this leads me to my conclusion:

Subliminal messages: Real or not? With the two instances in The Little Mermaid, you might just need a sick sense of humor to believe you’re seeing a penis in a towers or the priest with an erection. In the rescuers, perhaps someone altered the video clip and hundreds of Internet surfers are reusing this footage for their own videos, thereby spreading the rumor. Perhaps Aladdin really is saying “Good kitty”. In each of these incidences, the video uploader has already told you what to look for and what you will hear. If I hadn’t been told outright that Aladdin was telling teenagers to take off their clothes, I probably wouldn’t have noticed any problem.

Here’s my take on all of this. I do believe there are subliminal messages in certain mediums. Some can be believed, like the woman in the background of The Rescuers, but some, like Aladdin’s suggestive line, have been conditioned for you because someone has TOLD you what you will hear.

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