Representation in the Media

    Representation in the Media is very important since it can change the entire portrayal of the reality created in the work. In the Hunchback of Notre Dame, representation is greatly used with two of their characters, Quasimodo and Esmerelda. 

    Quasimodo, a Hunchback, is the main character of the movie. He is the son of a Roma woman and has an Unknown father. Dom Claude Frollo (Archdeacon of Notre Dame) had reluctantly taken in Quasimodo to give him "salvation" although there was never an issue with him to begin with. Esmerelda, on the other hand, is a Roma woman who travels from city to city with Clopin and the rest of the Roma. Frollo's mission is to teach Quasimodo everything about Catholicism there is to know in order to give him sanctuary. He keeps him hidden in the bell tower to hide the fact that he is a "monster"' from the rest of Notre Dame.

    This movie uses othering to make Esmerelda and Quasimodo not only different from the audience, but from everyone else in the movie. The whole theme of the movie is to not judge others by their appearance, which doesn't only include how Quasimodo is a hunchback, but also speaks for the racism against Esmerelda throughout the movie. The opening song from this movie translated from Latin means "Someday, someday ...God speed this bright millennium. Let it come someday" which is sung to tell the listener that there is the hope that someday peace will come. That is said right before telling the story of  how Frollo found Quasimodo and singing the words "Who was the monster and who was the man?" Which is asked to tell that Quasimodo, despite his looks and being known as a monster, was the protagonist of this story who had done nothing wrong. Quasimodo is also a hard of hearing character, since the bells ring so loud in his ears all the time.

   

    Esmerelda faces a similar problem to Quasimodo. Frollo targets her since he dislikes how "impure" she is while she is just very involved in her culture. He tries to get Phoebus, who is in love with Esmerelda, to capture her so he can give her the option of salvation or death. These events later lead for Phoebus to also be discriminated against due to his involvement with Esmerelda, which had got him kicked off of the guard.

    Overall, the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame uses othering to represent disabilities, body types, POC, and women. The use of Dom Claude Frollo as the villain showed that ignorance can only get you so far and the powerful story of Quasimodo and Esmerelda had communicated that no matter who you are an how you look, it is what's on the inside that matters.