Home > Health > MOMania > Archives > 2008 > July > 15 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USWhat’s with the heavy topics in kids’ movies this summer?
Are you using them as jumping off points for discussions or hoping your kids didn’t notice?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I fully expected the “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” movie to be full of teachable moments, and it was, but I didn’t expect it when I took my kids to see Wall E last weekend.
Before going to see the Kit movie with my 7-year-old, we had a full discussion about the Great Depression. I told her how the stock market crashed, how people lost all their money and their houses. We talked about how parents lost their jobs and how families all had to pitch in to help make money — like selling eggs. We talked about how a lot of people are losing their houses today. (I didn’t want to scare her so I didn’t play that up too big.) We talked about FDR and his programs to try to put people back to work, and we talked about how World War II helped pull the country out of the Depression.
This movie was a great history lesson for her. I was worried it would scare her but it didn’t. I think she absorbed a lot about that time period. (I was so worried about preparing her for the historical background, I forgot to bring the doll to the movies.)
So we took the 5 and 7 year olds to see Wall E this weekend (Mimi kept the baby - thank you Mimi.) and holy cow it hit some really deep topics too, which I didn’t expect. Without giving away too much of the movie, it dealt with the evils of consumerism and materialism. It dealt with pollution and environmentalism. And it also dealt with man becomingly slovenly, fat and too dependent on computers and the evils of no human interaction.
That’s a lot of issues for a cartoon about a robot. I wasn’t even sure where to start with my kids when we got back in the car. I had to assess how much of it they got and then decide how much I wanted to point out if they didn’t get it.
Did you or your kids perceive these movies as heavy (not necessarily bad, but just heavy) for kids? (Or is that just the sign of a good movie — that is works on many levels?) Did you have discussions about them afterward? Did you point out things they may not have grasped? Or will let them figure those things out for themselves upon later viewings?
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment | Categories: Ethics of rearing kids today
Comments
By CP
July 15, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this
My kids haven’t seen Wall E yet (Grandma’s already said she wants to take them so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time,) but I noticed the “heavy” themes in Happy Feet. Environmentalism, humans interacting with the wild, etc. I actually thought the lessons of the movie overshadowed the film. What started out as a pretty good kids’ film turned out to be a “green” indoctrination. Which is fine if that’s what you’re trying to teach. I just don’t like to waste money paying for something fun with maybe a lesson or two in it when that’s not what it turns out to be.
I do think that movies turned out today are much more “aware” of today’s issues than 30-40 yrs. ago. I don’t really know if that’s good or bad. Even playtime is used for education now.
I fully support children learning about their world and knowing that they need to be good stewards of the planet also, but can kids not just play or enjoy a movie anymore?
By Mom E
July 15, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this
I saw the movie with my 7 year old daughter. She didn’t notice the messages in the movie. I voiced my concern about how the humans are betrayed in a negative light. She just liked the robots. Why can’t they make a fun movie for kids without indoctrinating them? I know the underlying messages will be in the back of kids minds.
By John
July 15, 2008 9:03 AM | Link to this
You should be careful of the messages movies instill in children. Would you child at a movie where the message is contrary to your beliefs?
By Jesse's Girl
July 15, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
Our family is already environmentally conscience…so this wasn’t such a surprise issue for us.However…our kids were WAY more preoccupied with the unrequited love between WallE and Eve. They were really pulling for the little guy! The Boy did comment one time about how fat the captain was and said he should get up and go for a run! The girls have never been into the American Girl thing…so seeing the movie hasn’t come up. Although, we did rent the Anne Frank story. When your children are old enough to absorb that, I highly reccomend it.
By JJ
July 15, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this
Jessie’sGirl Where were you yesterday? We had a great time, but I noticed you didn’t post……..
By MADMOMMY
July 15, 2008 9:36 AM | Link to this
I guess it just goes back to the old saying, see it first yourself before taking your child to see the movie, but in todays tough times, that might not be possible. Just read up on the movies as much as you can before taking them. Thankfully my daughter is young enough now that she doesn’t know what a movie is and maybe by the time she does get into movies they will be back to just being fun.
One point I would like to make though, I think all the movies I saw as a kid had some sort of message or learning tool, I just feel today they are on more “hot button” issues instead of just focusing on the facts of life.
By Jesse's Girl
July 15, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this
Press junket for one of our “people”. I just LOVE DJ’s…..neccessary evil I suppose. But yeah…I was working. I did see the topic however. Looks promising! When I have a minute, I will read up!
By Penguinmom
July 15, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
Seriously? You saw the previews with the big mounds of trash and didn’t know it was going to be anti-consumerism? Humans had abandoned Earth and you didn’t know it was going to be about envirtonmentalism? At least there is some comfort in the fact that you figured out a movie about a girl in the 30’s was going to be about the Depression.
C’mon. I find it pretty unbelievable that these themes surprised you.
The enviro/’humans are out of control’ theme has been the main reason we have hesitated to take our kids to see WallE. I’m sure we will at some point (or rent it). But we’ll probably prep them before hand to explain the radical views some of the producers may have held.
By Vesta
July 15, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
I took my kids, ages 6 and 12, to see WallE and we loved it. My six year old thought WallE’s antics were funny and actually giggled through much of it. She saw it as more of a fairy tale, with WallE as the prince and Eve as the princess although she did comment that people shouldn’t litter! I had a great discussion with my 12 year old about playing video games all day and how it cuts us off from the people around us. He agreed and we spoke of how everything should be in moderation. While, I do think Hollywood has gotten a bit to “preachy” with their views it can be a wonderful opportunity to share your own with your children.
By Jen
July 15, 2008 12:37 PM | Link to this
Geez, don’t let your kids read Huck Finn or the Adventures of Tom Sawyer….might teach them about the evils of slavery and racism.
And don’t let them listen to ANY music by Woody Guthrie.
What makes America great is it’s LONG history of people speaking out.
And it’s not a new thing to try to start with the children…who, contrary to popular belief, do think for themselves…until grown ups wring it out of them.
By Biker chick
July 15, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
We took our kids to see Wall-E recently and although we knew it was about environmental issues, I had no idea how depressing, heavy and slow this movie would be.
It was a two-hour sermon about the evils of consumerism, materialism and poor environmental stewardship. The movie did not have any interesting action until about halfway through when the love story and the battle between good and evil really took off. When we left the theater, my husband, myself and our older kids felt as if we had been bludgeoned over the head with “greenness” for two hours.
From my view, it might be okay for smaller children who will enjoy the robots, but for those of us who pay for a movie to be entertained and to escape the depressing themes of everyday life, it is a complete waste of your money.
By The Greatest
July 15, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this
I thought Wall-E was phenomenal.
Maybe it hurts or annoys us because most of us are not good stewards of the planet…too lazy, don’t care, whatever. It will do the children good to see the coming reality of our rampant consumerism.
Any parents who condones or encourages the continuation of our disposable waste-filled society must not care about the world in which their kids and future grandchildren will have to live in.
By Numbers Guy
July 15, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this
You simply need to be sure that your kids see all the sides of a given issue and not accept the biased viewpoint presented as gospel truth. Take this kind of thing as an opportunity for discussion if your kids pick up on those themes.
But then, doesn’t that apply to everything?
By FCM
July 15, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this
We did Kit before the national debut…We took the dolls too.
I did not have a deep discussion about the Great Depression. I did tell them to pay attention to how it was in the 30s compared to today and how it was different.
Since we just went through Mom losing a job/finding work…thankfully no eggs or chickens in the house…a great deal of the film ‘hit home.’ Probably more for me than for the kids I was with…including my own. However mine processed it, and eventually said “Families make it right? In bad times and hard times they figure out how to keep going.” I told them yes, and then pointed out that even going to the movie shows that our family is making it…..Of course I do not worry them with the current econ climate—who would? Kit’s own parents did what they could to keep her from feeling it all.
Now, I am hoping we will see WallE soon. Plans fell through last time we tried.
When I worked for Disney I read a great deal about Walt. He was asked about his dark moments in film (Bambi’s Mom, among them) and he said something like This is life. It has good moments and bad moments. If we never dipict the bad/sad ones…the good/happy ones don’t feel real or right. I think that legacy lives on in today’s movies…probably can be directly credited back to WED. All those movies (CAMP ROCK) where everyone gets along in the end just seem unrealistic…but have teaching moments too.
By PHR
July 15, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
I read about Walle before we went to see it. I knew that there were deeper themes than a cartoon normally has. Many of the reviews commented on how the love story in the movie outweighed (no pun intended) the rest of the moral lessons.
After we saw it with our son (who is 6) we asked him what he thought. He just liked all of the different robots.
By DecaturCyn
July 15, 2008 2:36 PM | Link to this
I saw Charlotte’s Web decades ago and, to this day, I cannot hurt a spider. I suspect that many messages don’t have an impact immediately, but they may resonate over time as the child expands his or her frame of reference. Approaching difficult subjects through movies, exhibits, etc., can be a healthy, non-threatening way to explore a variety of new perspectives.
By Julie
July 15, 2008 7:18 PM | Link to this
We haven’t seen it yet, but I can’t wait! If you don’t think humans have gotten completely out of hand with materialism and ruining the environment, then you’re living in a dark hole. I don’t feel the need to explain an animated “kids” movie beforehand -I will happily answer questions if they arise afterward. If I KNOW the film is going to have a disturbing scene or something that will have a huge impact, then I will talk about it prior, but for smaller children, how about just letting them go and enjoy it and whatever they get out of it. If it happens they get the message that we’ve become a slovenly bunch with way too much concern for things and way too little concern for our natural world -then YEA! And kudos to Jen -she’s right -current socio-political themes in our entertainment are as American as apple pie. One interesting note -growing up where and when I did, if it weren’t for the multi-racial and multi-cultural scenarios I saw represented in tv and movies during the 70s and 80s, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be as open-minded and non-racist/bigoted as I am now because until college my life was pretty much still all lily white, Christian, and very homogenous/middle class/conservative (with the idea that anyone else was strange or wrong). I’m thankful for a lot of messages in entertainment -they truly can have a very positive impact.
By Together for 12
July 16, 2008 7:03 AM | Link to this
I think Jen is kind of on the right track.
Think about movies years ago. Ones that come to my mind first are all the Disney “princess” movies. Those were quite indoctrinating if you think about it. All of them were about how the female character had a bad problem and only finding “the right man” to get married to would save her from her situation. So young girls for decades were indoctrinated that finding a guy & getting married would cure your problems and you could “live happily ever after.”
Even more modern movies like the 1st “Shrek” movie had some of that in it. If you go through just about any kids’ movie, I think you’ll find some underlying message they’re trying to push. It just wasn’t quite as obvious as ion “Wall-E” perhaps.
By Matt
July 16, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
WOW All I did was ask my 8 y/o son if he enjoyed the movie Wall-E. When he said yes with a smile, I asked if he was hungry and we went to lunch.
I’ll be sure to look for, and explain the hidden message in every movie from now on, and forget about hoping my kids are having a good time.
These are kids for crying out loud. Let them enjoy themselves while they can. Life lessons will happen on their own. You don’t have to force them during a cartoon.
By Dianne
July 16, 2008 6:29 PM | Link to this
It’s just a movie folk’s. Enjoy the time you spent with you children. Don’t look for all the hidden messages. If your child has questions, answer them. It’s more time spent talking and spending time with them. They grow up to fast….treasure EVERY minute
By Enna
July 16, 2008 7:08 PM | Link to this
As a kid, I always appreciated the fact that my family would talk about movies after we watched them. It caused me to get things - even simple things like plot points or characters’ motivations - that I had missed (because I was only 4 or 5 or 6). There’s only so much of a heavy, abstract theme that a little kid will get, whether it’s you or the movie bringing it up. I think it’s beneficial to talk about these things anyway, so that the child can grow up used to analyzing the message of the things s/he watches and reads. That’s a valuable skill to have as an adolescent, when you start being exposed to things that maybe your parents didn’t pick out.