My sisters and I grew up knowing, loving, and reciting the Walt Disney films we saw... and if pressed I bet we can still quote, sing, and tell you the plot of almost every story.
Around 1995, several religious organizations began protesting the use of sexual imagery, explicit language, and revealing or insinuating visual messages supposedly present in the Disney films... and in some cases, they were right. Film artists have long made it a practice to slip little hidden images, moments, etc. into films since it was their own "private" world wherein only they and others with their talents and equipment could read the hidden symbols.
I found a website [http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/films.asp#drugs] that goes through these "Disney Urban Legends" and proves, disproves, or admits ambiguity about these allegations - and I have to tell you... it made me sad. When I was younger I didn't care about the sexual connotations, or look for the hidden meaning - I enjoyed what was a beautiful and a good tale that imprinted moral lessons of good and bad behavior into my mind.
Sometimes we are so easily led to look at all the bad, and to jump to the conclusion that things must be harmful to us, and that we must not allow ourselves exposure to them - and while this is true in some cases, I don't think it should apply to all.
If we do not get that exposure at some point, how will we know how to interpret it and turn away from its temptations and sinfulness? Keeping ourselves totally ignorant is, in a sense, opening ourselves to either major disillusionment or to a naivete that is dangerous in itself... we are cut off from ever learning to think for ourselves, or to make a conscious choice of what we know is right or wrong.
I love Disney. I still watch Disney. If I ever have kids... they will probably watch Disney. And while I won't be pointing out the hidden images and explicit conversations, I will answer my children truthfully if they ever ask. If I have brought them up to know what is good and what is evil, they will be able to divine the evil on their own... and to avoid it in the future.
What do you think? Is it more harmful to know and turn your mind to other things, or to remain in complete ignorance? I think I can see both sides... which makes me glad I'm not a parent yet...
4 comments:
This didn't make me sad. It enlightened me on a lot of stuff that I had thought the worst of. It makes me glad to understand that not everything we hear is necessarily true. Because I myself swore that the cat said "take off your clothes", and the priest, well...it was rather obvious as well. But thanks for the post. The cite was really neat I thought.
But what do you think about "ignorance" versus "informed decisions"?
my brain doesn't work over stuff like that very well. Way to bring up a controversial issue dingbat
"dingbat"... now there's a word that I haven't heard in a very, very long time... thank you for bringing it back into my vocabulary =)
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