Talking Points #4: Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

1. "Kenneth noticed that people of color and poor people are either absent or servants to the rich, white, pretty people"

This quote reminded me of the Carlson article when he talks about how homosexuality is never mentioned in the classroom, and when it is, it is that they were the first group to be diagnosed with AIDS. If homosexuality is only talked about in a negative way, as the group of people who have a horrible disease, than children, unless told otherwise, are only going to think of gay people only in this way. Cartoons have the same, if not even more an affect on children's lives because they are so prevalent. If a white child was to be brought up on these types of cartoons they would only see one representation of people of color, and assume that people of color are the servants of society. These cartoons also have a negative affect on children of color as well. If a African American child is only seeing their race represented as servants to white people what kind of message is that sending to them? They are not being taught that they have every opportunity to succeed and do great things, only that they are doomed to a life of waiting on others.

2. "Both these tales [Cindy Ellie and Cinderella] leave young women with two myths: Happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption- in their case, through new clothes and a new hairstyle."

While reading the new version of Cinderella, Cindy Ellie, that this article included, I found it ironic that it is supposed to be "A Modern Fairy Tale" and yet it is essentially exactly the same story, just told using different vocabulary. The original Cinderella story takes place a long time ago, a time where women were treated and thought of as inferior, belonged to their husbands, who were their happiness, and because they really could not move up in society their only means of improvement was a change in personal style. This is certainly not the case at all today, and yet as the quote says the "modern" version of the story still teaches the same ancient lesson. It is as if the author of Cindy Ellie thought that by making Cinderella a black girl, instead of a white girl, and making the setting more modern that that would be enough to make it "modern". It is made evident by this example of a modern fairy tale that modernizing cartoons/fairy tales isn't simply about changing the main characters race and way of speaking, it is about completely changing the mindset of the characters and the lessons that is set forth for the reader.

3. "Women's roles in fairy tales destroy reality- from Jessica Rabbit's six mile strut in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? to Tinker Bell's obsessive vanity in Peter Pan. These seemingly innocent stories teach us to look for our faults. As Tinker Bell inspects her tiny body in a mirror only to find that her minute hips are simply too huge, she shows us how to turn the mirror into an enemy...And this scenario is repeated in girls' locket rooms all over the world."

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was one of my all time favorite movies as a kid, and I can honestly say that the only thing I remember about Jessica Rabbit was always thinking that her dress wasn't very nice, probably because of the extremely high cut slit and excessive amounts of cleavage showing. I don't think I took much notice to those types of things in the film, I was more concerned with the comedy of it but I think this is because of the values my parents taught me.
Anyways, back to the quote, thinking about these things now, it is no wonder why so many girls suffer through eating disorders and poor self image when we are told from the second we're old enough to watch TV that we must be a size 0 to fit in and be beautiful. I think most of us think of things such as magazines and regular TV shows/commercials as being to blame for teen girls (and adult women) having such a poor self body image, but this article made it clear that we are made to believe these things long before we are even old enough to pick up a magazine.

I found this article to be extremely easy to read. It was amazing to see just how much the media, even something that just seems to be a simple childish cartoon, can shape our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and those around us. This article made it clear that children's entertainment needs to change. We are all trying to move towards an equal society, regardless of sex, age, gender, race, etc. but how can we expect that to happen when our future generations are still be taught old ideals through the shows that they watch on television?

I must say however I didn't necessarily completely agree with everything in this article. For starters, I don't think all Disney films need to be banned from our children, like some of the students in this article thought. Do we need to make children's entertainment more diverse, and represent reality? Yes, of course. But should the movie Cinderella be taken away from every little girl in America? No. The article also talks about how the girls in the class wanted to change the race of the actors but not the "class or underlying inequalities" of characters such as Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White, I think this is because while you can can change the race of a character by simply having a actor of color play the part, but how can you change the class of these characters without completely changing the story? Cinderella's story is based on the fact that her rich father has died and she is left with no money from her evil step-mother/sisters. Ariel is the daughter of KING Triton, changing her class would completely change the story. I could go on and on but I think you get my point.

I think it is important to make children aware that these fairy tales take place a long time ago, when things were different and make sure they are exposed to a wide variety of different kinds of cartoons that accurately represent different races, classes, etc. I think some of the more offensive cartoons should certainly be kept away from children. It is clear from this article though that what children are seeing is having a negative affect on them and a change needs to occur.