Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Unlearning The Myths That Blind Us (Extended Comments)

In Christensen's "Unlearning The Myths That Blind Us," she explains how cartoons have a strong influence on kids at an early age. A fellow classmate of mine Stephanie Warren recently wrote a reflection about Christensen's article and made a lot of good points. The first thing Steph said that I really liked was about Christensen's idea of "Secret Education." Steph goes on to talk about how parents let their kids watch programs without realizing outcomes they could possibly have. So many cartoons/characters make violent, racial, or stereotypical references, and with kids watching these cartoons who knows how they interpret from it. 
Another thing Steph brings up about the article is how one of Christensen's students asked why there is no black Cinderella? I really like how she answers this with another question to viewers of this movie. She says "Do we think of these things while watching Disney movies." Something I would like to add in here is why are all princesses have perfect bodies? This is telling young girls that princesses are perfect, and if your not like them your not a princess. After Steph talks about the Cinderella question, she goes on to talk about "Thomas the Tank Engine." I fully agree with her that "Thomas," was a very good show for kids because it was very neutral and had some good lessons in it.
The last thing I liked that Steph did was reflect on what she watched when she was a child. I like how she just looked at the title of "Wait Till Your Father Gets Home," and realized the gender stereotype in the title itself. Shows like this were loved by a lot of viewers but it's taken a while to see that there was heavy stereotyping going on in it. Lastly she talks about how she watched "Tom and Jerry." There is lots of violence in this show and this could have a negative effect on children, as Christensen points out. Also Steph adds in how she could remember a maid in a lot of episodes and how she was black, and heavy set. Like she said, she never questioned it. Until now when we think of it, and how racism and gender rolls are portrayed in the show. 

One thing I would add in to this would be how Christensen says that there can be a lot of sexism in Disney movies we may not realize. Like how the females are trying to get a man, and how the men usually are trying to save or rescue the females. 

Points of Discussion? How many shows can you think of that have "Secret Education" in them? 

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