Earlier this year, when you called Walt Disney out as a sexist and a bigot, you made it fashionable to criticize him, and I have a gripe you failed to mention. Though some will continue to gamble their happiness on the throw of the dice, others will choose to take control, using time-tested techniques to create a relationship that grows stronger over time, not weaker. Robert Epstein (born June 19, 1953) is an American psychologist, professor, author, and journalist.He earned his Ph.D. in psychology at Harvard University in 1981, was editor in chief of Psychology Today, a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, and the founder and director emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in Concord, MA. In Giambattista Basile’s story of Sleeping Beauty, the already-married king eventually marries the young beauty, but only after she gives birth to twins — the outcome of his having raped her while she was still deeply asleep. (2014, Summer). At age 16, during World War I, he faked his age to join the American Red Cross. Copyright © 2020 Brandeis Magazine. So do two-thirds of second marriages and three-quarters of third marriages. Shit blows up. “Disney, you see, contributed to the failure of many marriages around the world. Thank you, Meryl Streep. All rights reserved. Walt’s obsession with escapism, imagination, magic, and animals were forged on their Kansas City farm under the repressive, abusive, cruel and loveless tyranny of his father who would allegedly march them to the woodshed and dispense his brutal punishments daily. There is a close precedent for this. Learn more about Disney … Millions of parents now read their children sanitized books that are based on the movie versions, not the original cautionary tales. Though this is a trajectory that is hard for Westerners to imagine, it is not uncommon in cultures in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He is considered one of the greatest people of the 20th Century. How Disney Sabotaged Our Love Lives. Thank you, Meryl Streep. Earlier this year, when you called Walt Disney out as a sexist and a bigot, you made it fashionable to criticize him, and I have a gripe you failed to mention. When one hears of “Walt Disney”, you can’t help but get a little bit joyful possibly crack a slight smile. Once that happens, couples will see this new form of empowerment as an option. Appearances notwithstanding, I am not a defender of arranged marriage, nor do I advocate it for Americans; we are too individualistic to make it work. Ways Walt Disney Made the World a Better Place 2. Today, we are bombarded daily by unrealistic messages about love and marriage — messages that make us think about leaving a relationship the moment our romantic expectations are dashed. Five years in, the love in the arranged marriages equaled that in the love marriages. Commitment, truly meant and honored, is the ultimate expression of vulnerability. From both my research and the research of many of my colleagues in the behavioral sciences, I have come to believe this process can be packaged in ways that will eventually empower millions of people in the West without importing arranged marriage itself. Yes, it can really be done. In the university’s early decades, parietal regulations kept the sexes at arm’s length. Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American entrepreneur, business magnate, animator, voice actor, producer, director, writer, and the eponymous founder of The Walt Disney Company. I believe we can do something similar for relationships: We can introduce into Western culture non-Western techniques for building love — exercises, counseling techniques, videos, workshops and rituals that will help us achieve what people in successful arranged marriages achieve (see sidebar). 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