Sunday, 23 November 2008
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What's Wrong with You Disney? -Violence in Children's Movies
by Mama Fox 
Disney movies. Just about everyone loves them, children and adults alike. But sometimes I really wonder about what the heck is going on with them.
In most Disney one or both parents are dead. Seriously. There are a few, like 101 Dalmatians and Mulan, where the parents are alive and well but just think about it. From Snow White to Lilo and Stitch, parental units are missing in a vast majority of the movies. There's been speculation that it makes the character more lovable, like a victim in some way. I just think it's sad, especially at this point where H assumes there's a Mama and a Daddy for everyone, including plants. It upset him when I explained that sometimes the Mama and Daddy plants are far away from the Baby plants because of birds or wind carrying the seeds away.
But okay, the movies aren't scarring him for life or anything just because of guardianship. He is just concerned. What concerns me is the horrible deaths that occur to the villains. These are kids movies! Yet we have a shot gun wielding psycho that gets hung by vines in Tarzan and a giant "sea witch" impaled by the broken bow of a ship and then struck by lightning in The Little Mermaid. The not super "super hero" in The Incredibles was sucked into a jet engine. That had to hurt. Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame falls into the vast lake of fire (symbolism of Hell. Go Disney.) which actually mysteriously disappears by the time that Quasimodo makes it down to the street. Scar in Lion King is eaten by his hyena minions, with a somewhat graphic shadow showing his throat being ripped out.
A lot of the deaths aren't actually shown. Lots of shadow and "off camera". But it's still implied. Heck some of those deaths disturb me, especially the Tarzan one. Yes, my children don't have a solid view of death yet but why do movies insist on killing off villains, in horrific ways? Why can't they go to jail? Or exiled or even just ignored while the hero of the story rises above and lives a happy life, like in Cinderella.
As my kids get older I worry more about the effect of media on them. We worry about violence on TV and sexual content. I have turned the channel quickly or sent the kids out of the room if something comes on that I don't want them to see. But what about violence in the cartoons? Killing is already a very abstract idea to small children so showing it in careless ways makes it seem normal and maybe even required. Bad guy must always die. No second chances. I want to teach my sons compassion and mercy. I just wish there was more of that in movies. It's hard enough to find kindness in this world without getting mixed signals.
What are your thoughts of violence in kids movies?
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Comments (84)
It is a good way to teach kids that there are lines that should not be crossed and that there should be consequences for crossing those lines, even lethal consequences. It is better to show villians as villainous, and then discuss mercy, rather than starting with always being nice. It is better to encourage strength and energy and then soften it with mercy, than to start with niceness and try to fortify it with strength. The harder virtues provide the foundation on which you can build. Sometimes the bad guys need to be killed.
I watched classic disney movies my entire childhood. I turned out all right.
Disney tones down the violence from the original stories -- a lot. I mentioned off-handedly in class one day that the Little Mermaid was supposed to die at the end; everyone in the room was traumatized. :/
In real life, the bad guys don't always go to jail -- they get acquitted, or never even tried, because the evidence isn't strong enough for the DA's office. The crimes get covered up and they're allowed to go on with their lives. People with enough money aren't prosecuted because no one wants to deal with it. Criminals transfer all their money to Switzerland, or escape to a country with no extradition treaty. The witness who stands up against the bad guys is shot in the street by the rest of the gang. The devoted wife is killed by a hit man for the inheritance. Serial killers are never caught, cases go unsovled, etc., etc.
I'd rather kids stick with Disney. At least there the bad guys have something happen to them.
(I still fast-forward through Mufasa's death.)
I agree that it is okay to introduce your children to new concepts like the girl who said that "not everyone finds a prince and not everyone is a good guy," but Disney is not a prime example of that. Everyone DOES find their prince, and the bad guy dies. I don't think I'm going to let my children watch Disney movies, not only because they're biased in some way or another, but also because I choose not to support Disney. Look into that...
At a young age, children won't understand it. At the age where they begin asking, it makes sense to tell the truth. There are a lot worse things in this world than violence in kids movies. Children aren't necessarily becoming more mature at an earlier age, but they are beginning to see things at an earlier age. What I'm trying to say is, them seeing a guy get sucked into an engine (or whatever you said it was) is probably not going to traumatize them.
Kids have grown up watching those kinds of things for a really long time now, and the majority of them are perfectly normal; the ones who aren't normal? It's not the fault of the movies they watched, that's for sure.
Explain to them (in not-so-gruesome words) what is going on when they ask, don't lie about it. You can only shield them from that kind of thing for so long, as when they enter school and begin to socialize as they grow up, they'll learn a whole lot from the wrong people.
I watched Disney movies growing up, from Snow White all the way to Atlantis (however, I didn't see Treasure Planet until about 9 years after its release.) After our generation and our parents generation grew up watching these films and reached adulthood without psychological trauma, how can we be so alarmed at the prospect of our own children watching them? This is proof to me that as generations pass, we are becoming over sensitized and maybe even lazy; we are more likely to cover our children's eyes and ears--and our own-- rather than take the opportunity to explain important lessons. So before you panic about your wee ones witnessing a suggestive shadow-puppet mauling, think about how you felt when you saw the Lion King or Bambi, or the Fox and the Hound. More likely than not, you probably just covered your eyes during the scary parts, danced to the musical scores, and then sang the songs over and over in the bathtub later. But,if you did question the death of Mufasa and Snow White's flight into the forest, recall how your parents explained the situation to you. Better, if you are able to call your parents or an older relative who watched it with you, do so and ask what lessons they thought the movie taught. Use that to prepare yourself for the inevitable questions that make Disney movies such a powerful teaching tool for parents. Watch or remember the movie alone before you watch it with your children, and
decide how best to explain the parts that might raise questions ahead
of time. Then, once your children understand why Copper and Todd can't be friends anymore, you can rest assured that you will watch the movie again and again as a family, enjoying the songs and stories that have been entertaining families since the 1930s.
On a side note, for parents concerned about the "princess waiting passively for her prince to arrive" theme in regard to your daughters, consider having them watch more movies from The Little Mermaid and after; during my collegiate research into religion and popular culture, I found many sources on Disney's heroines and their respective roles. Starting with Ariel, the women in Disney's movies became more proactive and dynamic. At first, they were simply making the first move to go after Prince Charming rather than waiting to be swept off their feet, but as the repertoire expanded we were gifted with heroines like Mulan, who rushed into battle to save her father's life and her family's honor; and Pocahontas, who, while historically inaccurate, was an independent spirit in favor of making her own choices in life.
Having a parent missing makes it more real.
Disney wants you to be able to relate to the movie and more often than a parent is missing (or divorced). They want you to see that even in Disney nothing is perfect.
In a lot of the older movies that are based on fairytales they keep pretty close to the story. There would be no Snow White or Cinderella without an evil step-mother.
I'd like to see a Disney cartoon where a main character gets his lungs blown from his chest and the bad guy says fuck you cocksucker!!!!. Now that would be something.
I realize this is a VERY old topic, but I wanted to agree (somewhat). I actually found this blog while searching about the violence in Disney movies.
I grew up watching Disney. As a young child of the late 80s, early 90s, a lot of the more popular animated Disney movies came out or were redistributed around the time I would be the target audience. I loved them then. Tonight, I re-watched "The Little Mermaid" for the first time in probably 15 years (it's on VHS at my parents' house; I streamed it online :). I was a little shocked at how little I remembered accurately even though I have fond memories of "loving" it. I, of course, remembered the songs (word for word, I'm not ashamed to say), some of the dialogue, some of the scenes, and the overall plot, but little of the details involving Ursula and her death. It also seemed a lot shorter than I remember.
As a kid, I must have watched my VHS at least 100 times. At that point, my parents didn't have cable and we only had a couple of VHS tapes, so it was "The Little Mermaid", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Willy Wonka" for many years. I was apparently not scarred by the death of Ursula or the way her death was portrayed. In fact, I more distinctly remember the tunnel from "Willy Wonka" being much more frightning for me as a kid. I also was never aware of Disney's apparent Daddy/Mommy issues until I was an adult. I think it's much easier, as an adult, to lose that sense of magic a movie provides. How many children walk around the playground discussing the technical issues or plot holes of a movie? As a teacher, I can say close to none (okay, mayyyybe a handful, but I teach middle schoolers), but as adults, I feel like this is ALL we do. Ursula dies a rightful death (she was evil!), Ariel and Eric marry, Ariel has her voice and her family is there to watch her. It's a fairytale happy ending. Let's let the kids enjoy those... they're over way too soon.