Challenging the Influence of Media on the Culture of Children

 

 Good Versus Evil

My relationship with Disney, cartoons, and children's culture is vast and varied. As a child born in the 60's to having children born as recently as 2013, I have seen many movies, cartoons, toys, books, and games depicting a multitude of characters. I bought the toys, movies, and costumes for my children but did not take notice of the stereotypes portrayed. My "white privilege" blinded me to many of the ways we are "educated" to see the world. It all seemed to just be a simple form of entertainment. If I were to say what the purpose or moral of the stories were, it was usually about good versus evil, with goodness prevailing. I now view media with a more critical eye, although it can distract from the enjoyment of the movie.

In our reading from chapter 7 in Rethinking Popular Culture and Media, Linda Christensen writes about how children are indoctrinated into a way to act, live, and dream. She discusses how she challenged her students to critique what they saw in some of their favorite children's media. Her purpose in this was to have them recognized the danger of imbedded stereotypes in media. She states, "First, I want students to critique portrayals of hierarchy and inequality in children's movies and cartoons. Then I want to enlist them to imagine a better world, characterized by relationships of respect and equality." (Christensen, 2014, p 176). Initially students were not happy to realize they had been secretly influenced on how to view themselves and the world. Christensen then ask them to take that dismay and turn it to action by having them share their findings with others so that "Instead of leaving students full of bile, standing around with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads about how bad the world is, I provided them the opportunity to make a difference."(Christensen, 2014, p 186).

Here is a link to see some of 10 Painfully Racist Moments in Disney Movies They Want You To Forget 

A good article to readn is Trapped in the Mouse House: How Disney has Portrayed Racism and Sexism in its Princess Films