Cruella, Disney’s live-action reimagining of the infamous One Hundred and One Dalmatians villain Cruella De Vil, suffers from an unfortunate characterization problem common to many Disney protagonists: fridging their parents. It’s been an ongoing theme of Disney movies that an alarmingly high ratio of leading characters in Disney stories are orphans. While removing these characters—parents, loved ones, etc.— makes for a convenient method of streamlining these films’ narratives, the prevalence of killing or otherwise depowering them falls into a more troubling broader issue of placing certain groups “in refrigerators,” so-to-speak. And disturbing as this trope may be, Cruella does manage an interesting twist on the formula.
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“Women in Refrigerators” was first coined by Gail Simone to describe the trope prevalent in comic books wherein female characters are depowered—injured, raped, killed, etc.—in order to further the story of the protagonist, usually male. The term originated from Green Lantern #54 in which the titular hero’s girlfriend is murdered and stuffed in his refrigerator. This trend is well-documented and extends beyond merely the medium of comics or the genre of superhero stories. Women and minorities are too often “fridged” in media for the benefit of inspiring protective or other motivational qualities in white male…
