The Dark Truth About Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

hello and welcome back to the episode of generation films my name is american ben today we return to the world of disney animation to analyze the hidden messages in what is perhaps their heaviest film in prior videos we've done on disney classics perhaps at times we reached for stars among which our eyes do not belong and saw fire beckoning the heart to feel its light where there was merely empty space i suppose the nature of the youtubes and its algorithm requires such a fanciful way of reimagining mundane and simple stories as narratives composed in shadow we at times not deceive but simply extend the truth for the sake of meeting the demands of an audience seeking to be entertained but no beguiling musings no tempting words are needed to recast disney's the hunchback of notre dame as anything more than it already is a rightful ode to suffering those lyrics known so sweetly to every common man that which is produced by man himself whether he owes his heart to god or not the movie tells the story of quasimodo the unique looking gent who lives locked away in notre dame the famous cathedral in paris condemned to ring its bells in silence for all of his eternity of course the movie is based on victor hugo's 1831 novel of the same name which through its narrative decries the debasement of paris architecture and encourages thought as to the nature of fate and its immutability however we seek today to discover the disney film's thematic intentions and in doing so i hope that you will come to see that the hunchback of notre dame is a dark haunting film that discredits the institution of religion as a valid means to quell the terrible nature of powerful men and protect the innocent the story opens with the awareness of a gypsy puppeteer as to the spiritual underpinnings of paris and some say the soul of the city is the toll of the bell the soul of the city is the toll of its bells from which all holy things ring out and without which there is but flesh and blood in the form of men like frollo the city's minister of justice frollo is a man of god and endeavors in claim and perhaps so too in thought to purge the city of sin bringing these gypsy firm into the palace of justice you there what are you hiding he so earnestly in the name of god tracks down gypsies and their collaborators and heresy to purify paris of such ungodly beings he chases a gypsy mother with her child as she flees for her life to no avail and relinquishes not only her life but her infant to frollo as well on the steps of a church the church does not save the woman in time the first instance of religion's impotence in the film on the other hand in frollo we see a self-proclaimed man of god who kills a woman for only not being an adherent of proper faith and station he takes the baby this holy man and in the name of god and religion he justifies infanticide this is an unholy demon i'm sending it back to hell yet the practice itself of christian worship is not so simply the subject of vilification in the hunchback of notre dame no the narrative is some steps more sophisticated than that after all it is the archdeacon of the great cathedral who steps forward to save the child [Music] what's more frollo though malevolent null purposes is not so stales to be entirely maniacal in thought in action his faith prevents him from killing the baby after all yet it was his faith in the first place that would have justified the murder it's this paradox of colliding reasons both to do bad and to not that the movie asserts christian religious doctrine is apt to serve in any case frollo orders that the infant is to be confined within the walls of notre dame for the period of its life the baby becomes quasimodo the unique faced hunchback who lives to ring the bells of the cathedral and spends his spare time talking to gargoyles as your friends and guardians we insist you attend the festival me no the pope of course you on that note there is a video we could do asserting that frollo is right and quasimodo is nuts but that's for another day perhaps locked in a church prison quasimodo's day-to-day human interactions are limited to conversations with the clergy and lessons from frollo who has lived up to his word to watch over the boy a abomination b blasphemy see contrition he teaches him of sin seeing that he is a vanguard of righteous thought in action by his own consideration quasimodo wants to go to the festival of fools an annually held day of grand religious celebration festival excuse me but of course he cannot for he is beholden to the cathedral's innards to never let its air slip his breath but frollo does explain why he himself must attend the festival where quasi may not you go every year i am a public official i must go but i don't enjoy a moment frollo disdains the notion that he must subject himself to such debauchery but indeed as a public official he must frollo is a man of this constant contradiction he delights in action he would call sin but justifies his sins in the name of religion deeming them acts of public service and of god despite frollo being such a strict adherent of christianity he seems to be able to bend its commands to his will and thus religion has little mitigating effect on his nefarious actions though going to the festival is surely not one of them let's lighten up people on the other hand frollo explains to quasimodo why he must remain hidden away from public view the world is cruel the world is wicked it's i alone whom you can trust in this whole city frollo casts his oppression of quasimodo in the name of religion as a protective act and quasimodo with the church being the only world he knows and scripture is worth the only knowledge believes indeed that frollo is his savior one might imagine in this way that people and societies bound to tyrannical religious leaders cannot avoid taking what is truly an oppressive institution as a benevolent one as the institution itself prevails over all facets of society and hypnotizes the public we see how the hatefulness of frollo is reflected in the city among the common folk the movie presents paris as a city both consumed by religious practice and rife with discrimination a stark contrast when one would think the former would preclude the latter the hunchback of notre dame throughout its narrative presents numerous examples of sin or to use irreligious terminology corruption and abuse thriving in the city you know my last captain of the god was a bit of a disappointment to me and yet all of this evil is dismissed as righteous action when executed upon sinners who are deemed as such for acts not so obviously immoral frollo even suggests he's been engaged in a genocide of the gypsy people for 20 years i have been taking care of the gypsies one by one he speaks of them as rodents bugs undesirables whom it would be moral to exterminate again though a pious devotee of his faith and having memorized the sins by heart his god does not restrain him from mass murder despite furlough's warnings quasimodo sneaks off to the festival of fools where his master's disturbed psychology further reveals itself as esmerelda a beautiful gypsy woman begins to dance rather salaciously look at that disgusting display yes sir [Music] frollo scoffs at overt sexuality tis a sin and as such he must quash it meanwhile it is the quote-unquote sinful gypsy woman who while perhaps wholly ignorant of the commandments and holy tome of sins shows love to quasimodo who is humiliated before the public by frollo's guards esmeralda is good by nature she does not oblige dogma and yet she is so much more decent than the devout frollo esmerelda having angered the authorities with her hedonistic dancing and defense of quasimodo flees from frollo's guards and finds sanctuary inside of notre dame here the movie finally makes explicit what it had until now only been subtly suggesting that religion and its laws though potentially well-meaning are easily tailored by the iniquitous to fit their wicked pursuits frollo motions to arrest esmerelda within the church's walls before the dashing soldier captain phoebus claimed sanctuary for her i'm sorry sir she claimed sanctuary there's nothing i can do then drag her outside oh no you will not touch her however frollo still enters the cathedral and physically assaults esmeralda what are you doing i was just imagining a rope around that beautiful neck i know what you're imagining there's a sexual nature to this encounter and we see now that frollo lusts for esmerelda while oppressing her and in restricting her ability to dance suppressing her sexuality as well once again it is noteworthy that the clergy does protect esmerelda from the worst outcome here the church is an intermediary that can both be used for good and bad it is religion that is victim to human nature and not the other way around the archdeacon tells esmerelda you can't write all the wrongs of this world by yourself well no one out there is going to hell that's for sure well perhaps there's someone in here who can here he refers to god implying that humans by free will cannot overcome the evils of man and nature no matter what there will always be struggle and only by looking to the heavens can one find salvation from an imperfect world yet shortly after the archdeacon's words are subverted when we see how prayer manifests in his church the rich citizens of paris pray for god to bless them they are concerned with their personal suffering their personal shortcomings and lackings their prayers are then juxtaposed with esmeraldos [Music] she prays for others the poor the downtrodden and outcast the rich those so devout are blind to their selfishness esmerelda vermin in their eyes and a heretic is selfless and compassionate for the rich the church plays little role in correcting their materialism once again it is impotent we return at this point to the trial of quasimodo who is blind to his own suffering at the hands of those he views as his protectors he tells esmerelda but you're not like other gypsies they are evil who told you that quasimodo is pious and good but even someone of his nature may adopt hateful views when confined within a society that has institutionalized hate how can such a cruel man have raised someone like you cruel oh no he saved my life he took me in when no one else would once again quasimodo is actually grateful to frollo even though frollo does him harm and frollo executes this harm via the church itself a place that should in theory protect quasimodo from evils you'll notice how esmerelda still wonders how a man so decent might have been raised by a man like frollo and the answer i suspect the movie suggests is that nature cannot be broken only suppressed and quasimodo hidden away from the view of ordinary humans ringing church bells high above the city and its people is like an angel and angels are rarely easy to corrupt it is after this conversation that quasimodo begins to fall in love with esmeralda boy i do way to go love a boy love her boy oh no no no no thus we are presented with an uncomfortable dynamic in which precedent has led us to expect the charming prince to win the girl but so too do we feel for quasimodo and this love triangle will reveal itself to be a dynamic that is important to the themes of the film and thus we will return to it in a bit meanwhile esmerelda's potential suitors proved to be three as frollo toils with his passions [Music] he continues to repress his sexuality in the name of religious purity and one is led to wonder what would become a frollo sans religion it isn't so obvious that he'd be a better or worse man you know i am a righteous man of my virtue i am justly proud he believes he is virtuous and i think it's fair to argue that while he bends religion to his liking that his faith does at times restrain an even worse beast from breaking free still he's able to quite liberally bend his girl the witch face set this flame he casts the blame for his sin on esmeralda the woman her allure that of the devil he cries is too strong for man to resist this of course is not a new critique of religion that historically in many systems of faith women are off the scapegoats for man's sin or rather man finds ways to subjugate and oppress women with religion the same as he would without it still once again in the name of god frollo forces back his desires and projects the neuroses that result onto the public when he learns of esmerelda's escape from notre dame he fumes with rage i'll find her i'll find her if i have to burn down all of paris and his madness becomes unchained of religious restraint as he openly lusts for her now i can't help but sense here that the movie is entreating the viewer to find a common bond with frollo that may sound ludicrous and repulsive but in a way many of us can identify with him through the human condition this is a tortured man who as any being cannot escape the living hell of his mind something that connects all humans evil and good together we are in one way or another victim to the circumstances of both nature and early nurture over which we have no control a decidedly deterministic idea we found this gypsy talisman on your property have you been harboring gypsies our home is always open to the weary traveler have mercy my lord esmeralda's beauty makes frollo unleash violence on the whole city he hunts down the gypsy house by house and those who will not comply shall face death and flames even children are not beyond the reach of his murderous rampage [Music] and he does indeed burn the entire city to the ground in the name of god but truly he does so to satiate his unrestrained lust the toxic cocktail produced from the mixture of madness and repressed sexuality back to quasimodo though who in the cathedral must witness esmerelda kiss the ailing phoebus he is justifiably heartbroken oh how hard it must be to never have anything good and then to have to watch the one he loves embrace another such is the cold reality of the world and yet quasimodo does not act out in spite promise you won't let anything happen to him i promise thank you on the contrary he agrees to watch over phoebus as he convalesces now think about this contrast frollo lusts for esmeralda and will kill her and burn the city down if he does not get her meanwhile quasimodo who has every reason to hate the world persists in kindness and does not relent to anger when the woman he loves does not love him back two men of faith and both simply do as their natures predict despite their equal piety before the church when frollo finally captures esmeralda he orders her execution via burning at the stake the archdeacon tries to intervene but he is stopped by frollo's guards again the impotence of the church is on display now we see in full revelation the truth of religion's capacity to restrict the demonic acts of powerful men it can do nothing rather the powerful man becomes the god choose me for the fire frollo doesn't just bend religion to his will he decides what is sin and what is not and condemns the guilty to hellfire he then orders his men to storm the church captain sir sees the cathedral notre dame's holy walls have no power to stop frollo they never did whatever be his commands shall the morals of society cater to them i will not tolerate this assault on the house of god silence your fool but frollo does not succeed because the people rise up against him they will not stand by as he destroys the church and the city perhaps this is more of a hugoen call to protect the integrity of paris architecture but disney's intentions maybe are to vindicate the mass of men as individual good-natured actors after all when quasimodo first reveals his face to the public they embrace his so-called ugliness we asked for the ugliest face in paris [Music] it's only after frollo's guards start throwing fruits and vegetables at him that the celebration descends into a riot and this is all part of quasimodo's epiphany all my life you have told me the world is a dark cruel place but now i see that the only thing dark and cool about it is people like you most people have the nature to be steered toward righteous action though it might not seem that way when they are ruled over by tyrants and corrupt institutions our world often seems as but a reflection of the worst people those who hold the reins of power those whose voices ring throughout the land most clearly the toll of the bells is the soul of the city but a tyrant is its voice in the end it is a bit of an act of god after all and poor architecture that saves esmeralda quasimodo and the entire city [Music] but quasimodo would still have perished were it not for the watchful eye of his friend the kindly captain phoebus who stops his fall i suppose miracles are worth hoping for but people on their own can do a hell of a lot of good once more the soul of the city is the toll of its bells that which sing the tune of divine grace but cannot be wrong without the hand of man oh and of course quasimodo doesn't get the girl instead he selflessly unites phoebus and esmeralda some might proclaim this to be a bad message to send that the handsome prince ends up with the woman and the hunchback is happy to lose out and remain alone but this is mistaken thinking see winning doesn't mean winning a person good endings are not found in gaining the kind of control over a person that comes with a sexual relationship such as the endeavor of the frollos of the world who seek to gain mastery over people through religion quasimodo finds victory in letting go of anything that might make him bitter he is kind to people even if they don't give him what he wants this is good for goodness sake [Music] the people embrace quasimodo and paris reawakens free of the sickness set upon it by frollo as the better natures of mana rise forth to flourish a good ending that religion has little hand in one way or another and that's the video i'm kind of losing my voice but i hope you did enjoy if you did give it a big thumbs up or a small thumbs up whatever the thumbs up is just give it that um comment down below let me know what you thought of this video excited to hear your opinions subscribe to this channel hit that damn notification bell um for now my name is american ben and i'll catch you next time generation films peace

Channel: Generation Films

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Keywords: disney, disney film, theory, disney theory, the hunchback of notre dame, the hunchback, quasimodo, frollo, esmerelda, judge frollo, phoebus, the hunchback message, meaning, hidden meaning, hunchback, symbolism, disney symbolism, disney animation, adult messages, inappropriate disney, secret message, disney hidden meaning, subliminal message, disney dark secrets, hunchback of notre dame secrets, dark truth, dark disney, disney easter egg, film theory, disney movie, disney secrets

Id: OQ3F1QtPv-A

Length: 20min 44sec (1244 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 13 2020