There Even A Hidden Message In Some Disney Films Sometimes.

You know I haven't seen the Walt Disney film Mary Poppins (1964) since I was a kid. But it always has been one of my favorites. Anyways, I think they are trying to say the Banks family is very dysfunctional. The wife is a "suffragette", and her husband doesn't even know what she is up to, basically. And it does actually contain some rather heavy or mature subject matter too, at least for children that age. One of them is found in the song "Sister Suffragette". Here's the video:

The song is very funny too. But it contains some cultural references that you'd have to be British, or at least of suffragist of the time, to understand.

In the song, she sings "From Kensington to Billingsgate, one hears the restless cry". Kensington and Billingsgate are two very different areas of London. Kensington is very rich and affluent. And Billingsgate is very poor, and known for is rough speech, whatever that means. So she's saying, from the richest to the poorest sections of London.

Also, she sings "take heart for Mrs. Pankhurst has been clapped in irons again!" Emmeline Pankhurst was a reformer and mover for women's suffrage in England. Basically she was the UK version of Susan B. Anthony. And she lived from 15 July 1858 to 14 June 1928. Interesting story too, because she died on June 14, 1928, only a few weeks before the Representation of the People Act (1928) extended the vote to all women over 21 years of age. Anyways, that's what that reference means.

Also, at one point, she lifts up her skirt, revealing her bloomers, and they shriek. Bloomers were invented by Amelia Bloomer (1818 – 1894). They showed very little flesh, but people thought they looked too much like men's pants, so people thought they were scandalous for some reason. That's what that joke means, in case you didn't know. Here are two links for that, in case you were wondering: Bloomers - Wikipedia Amelia Bloomer - Wikipedia

And you know, there is a big difference, some would argue, between the the suffragette and suffragist movement. I guess you could support both. But the suffragettes were considered radical, at least at the time. Susan B. Anthony and other so-called moderates would more properly be called "suffragists", believe it or not.

 

That's an interesting story. I really needed to know who invented the bloomers.... Lol.