Disney is traumatizing my 4 year old (1 Viewer)

[Denward]

Besides death issues, don't be so naive to think that cartoons with the Disney label are good for your children. My prime examples are, "The Little Mermaid" where Ariel

defies her father and tries to make the prince fall in love with her without talking

and "Beauty and the Beast"

where the girl falls in love with an abusive male

I'm sure there are others, but these are not what I want my daughter seeing while she's too young. I don't really consider myself a paranoid person, but after my friend who is a child psychiatrist pointed these out to me, I feel like I need to preview everything before I show it to my 20 month old daughter. While I'm not yet worried about these particular issues yet with my little girl, I always bypass the first scene of Toy Story 2 for her and the other night we popped in Treasure Planet for the first time and then turned it off because the beginning was quite violent.

 

[MarkHastings]

Lyle, I think most of us would consider a spoiler to be information that isn't given out during the commercials or trailers.

Not that there is a 100% definitive definition of "Spoilers", but common sense can usually lead you in the right direction.

i.e. Any character that dies in a movie should be a starting point as to what might be considered a "Spoiler"

 

[Lyle_JP]

Fair enough, but I think every trailer and commercial cleary indicates that there is no mother in the picture. Otherwise it would be about parents trying to find their son, not just a father.

Also, every newspaper review I've seen mentions the death. If it's a spoiler, it's one of the worst kept in film history.

-Lyle J.P.

 

[MickeS]

Denward, I a think a little rebellion is healthy for kids... but anyway, Ariel's behavior was a morality lesson, not encouragement. Just because something happens in a movie doesn't mean the movie is endorsing it.

The whole "mother dying" thing is really overused in Disney movies, IMO. Like the first reply in this thread says, I think it's mostly lazy writers who do it to come up with instant drama. I don't think it's good for kids to constantly see this.

 

[DonRoeber]

I hate to break it to you, but some kids need to deal with death outside of movies. My mom died when I was ten. Although I didn't prance around in the forest, I could definately identify just a little bit more with Bambi. And I did tear up during the beginings of Finding Nemo. One day I'd like to watch Nemo with my Dad
.

Having said that, Marc, I think your daughter is normal. Nobody likes it when their parents go away, especially when they're your world. But she'll grow up, and soon, she'll be in her teens, and won't want anythnig to do with you

Hrm, I suppose I'm not very good at the cheering up thing, eh?

 

[Kevin-M]

I've known at 4 people who were heavily sheltered as children, and they are all complete nutjobs now. Most of them can't deal with criticism of any kind and either burst into tears or try to pick a fight if confronted about absolutely anything. They're all in, or have been in, dysfunctional relationships, and their home life is like the mirror-world version of Leave It To Beaver(that's a bad thing).

The trend these days of placing blame on films, video games, and tv is absolutely abbhorent. A parent that can screen these media and allow their children to view what they deem appropriate is the right thing to do. But if you go too far, you run the risk of sheltering your child and eventually ending up with a 30 year old still living at home because the world is too big and scary for them to handle

It's alright for kids to view death and to be scared at times. I remember the first time my parents rented Aliens. I don't remember my exact age, but it was under 9, and I was horrified of the film. I kept my hands over my eyes so much I barely even saw the aliens. Needless to say, I didn't grow up to be obsessed with death or violence, and in fact Aliens is right up as one of my favourite sci-fi/horror films. Fear is part of a child's development, keeping them from it will only provoke an immature response to it later in life.

 

[Dan Lindley]

Think of all the fairy tales: poisoned apples, people being thrown in ovens, houses being blown down, witches, etc. etc. There is TONS of evil and mishap in kids fare. Maybe grownups are all kid-hating misanthropes. Or maybe kids somehow survive. Or maybe kids act out/feel out their anxieties by watchinga and reading all these things....

 

[Todd Hochard]

This thread reminds me that I need to pick up Grimm's Fairy Tales for bedtime reading with my 2 year old.

And, if Beauty and the Beast is the story of a girl falling in love with an abusive male, then I missed that point. I recall that she basically tells him to F&$& off until he quits acting like a jagoff. But, I've only seen it about a hundred times in the last five months. Literally- it's my daughter's favorite movie.

Todd

 

[Kevin-M]

Damn, that should be the box-copy.

"Beauty and The Beast - A timeless tale about a girl and the monster she basically tells to F&$& off until he quits acting like a jagoff."

 

[Lyle_JP]

But if you go too far, you run the risk of sheltering your child and eventually ending up with a 30 year old still living at home because the world is too big and scary for them to handle

Which, funny enough, is a central theme of the movie "Finding Nemo".

-Lyle J.P.

 

[Jonathan Burk]

The two most "disturbing" scenes in animated films to me are the death in the Lion King and Finding Nemo. While some have accused these scenes as being "cheap", it should also be noted that these are the two most successful animated films of all time. Obviously audiences didn't feel like they were being manipulated.

I think these scenes give a very solid anchor to the story, and make them resonate with us emotionally. If these movies were not well made, then the deaths might have felt cheap.

Entertainment Weekly did a write up on some of the things that make FN so special. They talked about how originally (and through much of production), we didn't see Nemo's mom die at the beginning. We learned about it as the story progressed, through flashbacks and such. But that made the character of Marlin seem too whiny and neurotic throughout the film. It's only after we experience the trauma with him that we can relate to his anxiety, and understand his drive to face tremendous danger looking for his son.

Oh, and Disney/ Pixar isn't traumatizing your 4 year old. You are. It's your job to monitor what she watches. If you aren't willing to watch everything first, then at least check out www.screenit.com for any material that might frighten or disturb her. My 4 year old has seen it and really enjoyed it. No anxiety here. I read up on the movie, and talked with her about what happens, and she was OK with it. But when I do show her movies that disturb her, I don't blame the studio.

 

[rin]

Oh, and Disney/ Pixar isn't traumatizing your 4 year old. You are.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Holadem]

Oh, and Disney/ Pixar isn't traumatizing your 4 year old. You are.

:rolleyes

--
H

 

[Joshua Clinard]

I didn't realize that there were people left in the world who had not seen the Lion King, and Bambi. And I wouldn't consider the death of the mother emotional at all. There is no time to get attatched to her in 90 seconds. After the first 5 minitues, you really don't even realize that the mother is missing/supposed to be there. They really could have left it out of the film, I guess they put it in there to show where Nemo came from.

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

Well, since these films have elements that are obviously aimed at getting children to rebel against their parents, they should be banned immediately!

Come on! A 20 month old kid is better off watching the Wiggles anyway than the stampede from the Lion King and the whole Beauty and the Beast supports abusive relationships argument just blows my mind!

Incidentally, why is this still in the Home Theater Software section? I wouldn't have even wasted my time to open it but it was in the index there this morning!

 

[Todd Hochard]

"In the Wiggles World, In the Wiggles World ... You're all welcome here, so let's give a cheer, welcome to the Wiggles World."
It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps the TV is on too much in my house. (Not actually, people are naming the couple of things we do watch).

Oh, and Disney/ Pixar isn't traumatizing your 4 year old. You are.

WAY over the top.

EDIT- my daughter thinks Aladdin is too scary. The whole Jafar thing in the beginning had her going "turn it off, Dad."

 

[MarkHarrison]

If it's a spoiler, it's one of the worst kept in film history.

When I read any type of reviews ahead of time, I tend to avoid the details and skip right to the score they give. I intentionally avoid any review of the movie itself. That's how I managed to avoid hearing this until now. In fact, I generally avoid reviews altogether. If I want to see the movie, I'll go regardless of what some newspaper guy has to say. At most I just like to get a sense of if audiences are enjoying it or not.

 

[cafink]

What exactly is the point of using a "spoiler" tag to hide the name of the movie while leaving the spoiler itself uncovered?

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Although my 4 yr old daughter has seen most of the Disney films, I tend to agree that Disney does include a bit too much death in their films. I think a lot of Disney animation is geared for kids over 6, at least. Its difficult to "discuss" death with a 4 year old in anything but an abstract manner. Four year olds aren't ready for the "he killed his brother on purpose so he could have all the power" discussions. Luckily, these points go over the head of small children, however, are they absorbing it without being able to rationalize it?

The opening of Tarzan is pretty creepy. The tree house of death, blood and all... "Daddy, where are Tarzan's parents? Oh, Tarzan's parents just got ripped apart and eaten by man eating tigers, honey.. They're gone." There is NO way to make a child fully understand that scenario...

 

[Steve_Tk]

Old yeller :frowning: