search

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Film Review

Essay details

Please note! This essay has been submitted by a student.

There are many stereotypes about disabilities in the current mass media, to outline a few main points Disneys’ The hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) musical film was chosen because of Quasimodo, who is deformed by his hunchback and rings the bell in Notre Dame, on a mission and journey to gain acceptance in the French city of Paris. Quasimodo has been hidden in the bell tower by his master Frollo. Frollo murdered Quasimodo’s mother on the steps of Notre Dame after she claimed sanctuary and therefore as a punishment by the priest sentenced him to raise the deformed child as his own. This film has many controversial issues such as the racism shown by the large mistrust and hatred of the Gypsy population, however the prejudice towards the unfortunate Quasimodo is worse.

$45 Bundle: 3 Expertly Crafted Essays!

AI-Powered Writing

Expert Editing Included

Any subject

Get 3-Essay Package

This paper will start with Quasimodo’s self perception, secondly the view of other people towards Quasimodo and why and lastly a reflection. Firstly, Quasimodo has a very negative self image, he thinks he is ugly and a monster this is due to his master Frollo telling him this over years. Quasimodo is ashamed of his looks but is curious of all the people he sees. He console himself with the stone gargoyles that come to life when he is alone, the gargoyles of which there are three have different personalities and occasionally persuade him to do things he usually wouldn’t do such as go out of the tower and into the festival of fools where the people of Paris hold a celebration to all that are ugly and foolish. Quasimodo thinks of himself as an ugly monster, this can be witnessed when there is a musical number and Quasimodo sings “ I am deformed …, and I am ugly …, I am a monster”. He believes that this is true and is afraid of the reaction from others if he is to present himself, Quasimodo goes against his masters’ orders and attends the festival of fools where he ends up being crowned the king of fools much to the dismay of Frollo. Quasimodo has a very negative self perception because he believes his physical disability means he is a monster and that he is too ugly for any human to truly love therefore seeks comfort and friendship from the stop gargoyles that are most likely hallucinations due to his loneliness and need for interaction that he is lacking because of being locked away in the bell tower. Secondly, the citizens of Paris see Quasimodo without acceptance to his deformity and are subsequently scared of him. At many points in the film Quasimodo was referred to as a a monster, a prime example of this is in the first few scenes with Frollo, the first one being when Quasimodos’ mother was killed and he first lays eyes on him, Frollo says “ A baby? A monster !” And then walks over to a well where he intended to drown and kill the infant.

Quasimodo was saved in this scene by the archdeacon, this is because Frollo killed the infants mother after she has requested sanctuary in the halls of Notre Dame causing him to have a stained conscious, in order to clear himself of some wrongdoing he followed the orders of the archdeacon and raised the “ unholy demon” as his own child. Frollo was ashamed to be linked to Quasimodo and therefore kept him inside the bell tower of Notre Dame. The citizens do not view Quasimodo well refer to him as a “ creature “ at the beginning of the film where the gypsy puppeteer is telling the story of the bells to a group of children. It is also shown that the citizens do not accept Quasimodo as a human, and when he shows up to the festival of fools they believe his face is a mask, Quasimodo then won the kind of fools due to his “ hideous “ appearance and when first discovered they are told not to panic. The festival of fools parade does not end well for Quasimodo as one of the soldiers throws a rotten tomato at him, to which the crowds mimic and tie him down, this style of public humiliation of Quasimodo only shows that the citizens are not willing to accept and be comfortable with his condition. The stereotypes shown in the film are that people with a physical disability like Quasimodo tend to have a negative perception of themselves which may cause them to think that they are ugly, deformed and a monster and should therefore hide themselves away from the publics view.

The film also showed that people are not kind to people with a physical disability and may make fun of them by calling them rude and demeaning names such as monster so much so that it effects the person with the disability. The self view of Quasimodo is different than the view of him by the public this is because, he will look for the kindness and acceptance in a persons heart where as the public assume the worst and cause him pain and suffering. After going into detail about this film I have learned that many children are exposed to dark and violent scenes that may cause them to become unwelcoming and unaccepting of people with physical disabilities.

Get quality help now

MasterLaban

Verified writer

Proficient in: Movies

4.9 (455 reviews)
“He was an absolute wonderful writer and had a great amount of patience with me as well as following all directions very accordingly. ”

+75 relevant experts are online

More Related Essays

banner clock
Clock is ticking and inspiration doesn't come?
We`ll do boring work for you. No plagiarism guarantee. Deadline from 3 hours.

Apologies!apologies

This feature is still in progress, but don't worry – you can place an order for an essay with our expert writers

Hire writer

We use cookies to offer you the best experience. By continuing, we’ll assume you agree with our Cookies policy.