Response to "'You're a Surprise From Every Angle': Disability, Identity, and Otherness in The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

          In "Disability, Identity, and Otherness in The Hunchback of Notre Dame,"Martin Norden criticizes Disney's portrayal of its protagonist, Quasimodo as a disabled other. Norden argues that Quasimodo is very much separated from the "normal" people of Paris and remains that way throughout the movie. In typical Disney happy ending spirit, the last scene of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is that of Quasimodo being carried by a Parisian crowd. While this may seem like acceptance, Norden points out that he is still very much isolated from the rest of the community. He can never be one of them. He can never just be "normal."
          The fact that Quasimodo had to save the entire city from fire and an evil villain in order to gain only the respect of the townspeople is offensive enough. With The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney hopes to send out the message that beauty is only skin deep. However, this is very hypocritical because, as Norden points out, the animators working on the movie spent just over eight months trying to make Quasimodo kid-friendly. If he was too deformed or ugly, Disney wouldn't think the audience could ever accept him. That is exactly against the argument of the movie. Adding onto that, Quasimodo must be perfect in every way in order for the audience to forgive his deformity. Norden describes this as the film trope, "The Sweet Innocent."
          Norden ends the article with a sweet description of the budding romance Quasimodo has in The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. I, on the other hand, am not so optimistic for Quasimodo's love life. To me, Disney sequels don't really count because they are made by entirely different people. I don't think that the Quasimodo from the real movie has any romance to look forward to. Quasimodo only wants to be normal, but in this movie, I just don't see that as possible.