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Even heroes have the right to bleed
Oct. 4th, 2007 01:32 pmTaken Jeshi's comment from Blue's journal:
( If there's one thing the 80s and 90s share, it's honesty )
The fact we still talk about Bambi's mom today says a lot about its impact.
Have we gone that low to truly oppress ourselves? To censor death, special meaning, and that these characters are human like anyone else? Are we that spoiled that we can't afford risks anymore? That we sugarcoat life for the "good" of the children?
I miss the days when villains win, but hope still lies in a band of freedom fighters who never give up despite all odds. What happened to the mouse trying to rescue her family and sick son from the farmer's plow? Hell, as much as I hated Cinderella and as much as I bawled to death when the stepsisters ripped her dress apart while Lady Tremaine watched with a cruel smirk, I'd rather have my emotions played with and challenged then let my brain turn to mush by some forgettable movie that doesn't let me think. That's it's always comfortable, always "something for the kids to like." Just because the target audience is children doesn't mean dumbing down the story itself. Children have another sense of understanding, children listen. They soak up anything and root for their heroes--who didn't play as their favorite character when they were younger? Hell knows I've played with my Polly Pockets and wished I was Belle.
Nowadays, it's like the Disney Princesses are just glamour figures on a poster or whatever. It's about marketing and well... they feel empty. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad they're still around--hell, Aurora and Jasmine's a better role model than Bratz anyday. XDDD! It's... I don't know. Whenever I pass by birthday cards, birthday party supplies, etc. it's like the number of kids series provided gets smaller and less varient, or recycle the same stuff over and over. Back then, we must've had Pokémon, Transformers, Latest Disney, Barbie, TMNT, etc. now we've got... what? Shrek, Dora the Explorer, PotC, ancient Chicken Little stuff?
Not saying stuff like Pirates is bad or anything. I just miss when we had adventure. We're locked inside our houses now, and we're taught it's bad to be a kid--I mean, look at the 5-year-old that dresses like Paris Hilton and wears her mom's makeup. The racial slurs and misogyny that reigns the rap music teens listen to. It's bad to imagine, it's bad to think, it's bad to know the truth--it's bad to be you.
There's a big difference between being responsible for your kid or sheltering them. Being responsible is not letting your 6-year-old watch "Dawn of the Dead" 'cause the zombies and blood and gore are gonna give her nightmares and traumatize her and she wouldn't understand the humor of some dark jokes. Sheltering your kid is suing Disney because "OMG I JUZT RENT3d DIS MOVIE NOW MAI KIDZ CRYIN' KUZ BAMBI'S MOM DIED. U SHUDVE HAD A WARNIGN IMA GONNA SUE!111!11!1" I watched movies with death in them all the time. Did I cry? Yes. Sometimes. But I understood that it's a part of life. How are these kids, when sheltered from larger issues such as death, going to handle the real world, where people's heads are being blown off in Iraq? Is it an illusion to them? That it's something that happens to "someone else"?
I seriously worry about our future. Kids's future. I mean, really.
