Saturday, October 10, 2009

Disney Movies

Don't get me wrong, I love Disney and we own MANY of their movies, especially the princess ones...but hear me out here...have you ever noticed that most Disney movies are really not that healthy of examples for kids?  Primo example:  The Little Mermaid...

First of all, hardly any of these gals have mothers (including Ariel).  If they do they are step mothers and they are evil.  What's so wrong with a loving mother in the picture?  OK, moving on...
When it comes down to it Ariel is really nothing but a spoiled little brat.  She defies her father and puts her family and whole community at risk by doing just exactly what she wants to do (following a guy to the ends of the earth that she has never even really met).  And it all works out so NICELY.  I mean...come one.  Really, who wants your own child acting like that???!!!???

Love is always at first sight (or close to it) and so easily maintained and perfect.  It really is a ridiculous example.  I'm sure it's not just Disney, but they are the easiest to pick on I suppose.  It just goes to show how we as mothers have to be SO careful about our children and the influences they have in their lives.  I watched Disney growing up and I was able to go on to have happy healthy relationships, but can you see how a little girls' view of things might get totally screwed up if we weren't careful?  If they didn't have other good examples in their lives?  If they didn't have parents who talked to them about good decision making and relationships and other such things?

I do love Pixar and think that they have infinetly improved Disney's movie library.  The stories seem to be a little bit more "healthy", as well as entertaining for adults also.  But I have issues there too.  Have you ever noticed in "Cars" that they swear?  (I'm in Hillbilly H***!)  Thank goodness my kids haven't picked up on that, but I can see how easily they could.  Golly, you can't even trust Disney to be clean...oh and don't get me started on the little shows like Suite Life of Zach and Cody (Disney Channel)...I remember seeing a snippet of a show a few years ago and just being disgusted.  They had those two little boys on there who at the time were like 12 years old or something totally dating and chasing girls.  And who is their target audience?  Little kids I'm assuming.  Our kids really don't need to grow up that fast...really!  

On that note too...can I just say I really hate it when adults encourage that whole little boyfriend/girlfriend thing starting when kids are like two.  I know people think it's cute "oh Kelley's 'so and so's' little girlfriend"...but really I don't.  I think they will come to that soon enough without any encouragement from adults.  I mean really...as a mother how can you expect me to encourage it when she's 5 or 6 and then turn it off when she's 12 or 13 and have it suddenly be against the rules?  

OK, well back to bed with me...hopefully I can catch a few more minutes of rest before I have to be really up for the day.  I really hate it when I try to be healthy and go to bed at a decent hour and then I wake up at 4:30 AM unable to sleep!  Arggg....

8 comments:

rachaeljanae said...

My dad has always hated Little Mermaid for that reason. I banned Lilo and Stitch because my kids learned how to stick out their tongues at eachother from that movie, and they were walking around the house acting like Stitch or blaming messes on Stitch. Hmmm. You just can't be too careful. I get it.

Lauren said...

Maybe it is just because I don't have kids but I'll stand behind Disney. With all the other horrid stuff out there I am happy that Disney has done as well as they have. Watch more Beauty and the Beast ans Lion King.

Audrey said...

Yeah, Disney had to turn the Little Mermaid into a happy ending even though the original Hans Christian Andersen tale had her turning into sea foam. I copied this synopsis off of a website because it explained it more succinctly than I could:

"The essence of The Little Mermaid is that its story doesn’t want us readers to dwell on the heroine’s tragic end. Andersen wants to teach us the meaning of real love and sacrifice. In the end, the Little Mermaid has to make a choice between transforming into foam--the manner by which all mermaids supposedly die--or killing the Prince and his new bride so that she gets back her tail and her life. She decides to sacrifice her own life. This is real love."

Anyway, when I read your post I thought of Mulan, another girl who defied her family and ended up doing something heroic in the end. Of course Disney screwed up the true story that Mulan was based on...

Lorelai said...

Notice that in all Disney movies, animated or not, the parents are always single. In the animations the children are always defiant, even if it is not culturally accurate - Mulan for example. I also banned Lilo and Stitch for a while. Now I explain to my children how the kids in the movies are acting inappropriately and what the consequences will be if they (my kids) act the same way. And I remind them every time they watch the movie. For some of you that may sound like a bit over-the-top, but I've got really obedient children (not perfect, but obedient!) and they now know when they and others are acting inappropriately or if they are behaving well.

Andrea said...

I'm very much with you on your thoughts here. And how about many of the female characters being scantily clad?

Kristy said...

Andrea....yeah how about all of them since like Cinderella....forgot to mention that.

Anna said...

LOL, you are SO right about the Little Mermaid. I got into a debate about it in highschool. It was always my favorite movie because my best friend and I lived in the pool playing Mermaid. But ultimately, she was a spoiled brat. Beauty and the Beast is MARVELOUS. When oh when will that be released again? She is modest, compassionate, obedient, a truly beautiful person.

Joey said...

even beauty didn't have a mother in the movie.