Certain "educators" in the UK have pronounced Disney films as evil and have available to them lessons plans condemning various beloved Disney films.
From the UK's Telegraph (dated November 20, 2016, emphases mine):
Pupils taught Disney fairy tales promote sexism and domestic violence in online lesson planDisney has issued a statement:
For centuries, children have grown up with Beauty and the Beast, which tells the story of how a cursed man-beast is transformed into a handsome prince when an evil spell is broken by the love of a beautiful and gentle young girl.
But now pupils as young as 11 are being taught that loyal heroine Belle is in an abusive relationship with the Beast in which "her only asset is her sexuality".
A lesson plan available on a teaching resource sharing website reads: "The Beast does not attack Belle but the threat of physical violence is present.
"The movie says if a woman is pretty and sweet natured she can change an abusive man into a kind and gentle man.
"In other words, it is the woman's fault if her man abuses her. And of course, the beast turns into a handsome prince because ugly people cannot be happy."
Belle is just one of the Disney favourites portrayed as scheming bimbos who boost macho ideas about female slavery by their willingness to do anything to get a man.
Others include The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin's Princess Jasmine, and Snow White - branded a domestic skivvy for the seven dwarves.
"She doesn't mind house work because she is sure a rich young man will soon come and take her away," children are told.
"This is typical of Disney's movies. Young women are naturally happy home-makers. They wait - like Snow White in her coma - until a man comes along to give them life."
[...]
The lesson plan called Racism/Sexism in Disney, targetted at 11 to 16-year-olds, was uploaded by an unknown teacher in England for lessons such as RE and Citizenship.
It has been viewed more than 11,000 times and downloaded more than 5,808 times.
Phil Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley, West Yorkshire, said: "Parents will be horrified to think that their children are being brainwashed with this politically correct claptrap.
"Most parents send their kids to school to learn about maths, science and history - not to be brainwashed with garbage like this.
"The Government should stop this idiocy and ensure schools teach things that parents expect."...
“For more than 90 years, Disney’s timeless stories and beloved characters, including Disney Princesses, have been universal, relatable and relevant for everyone.Read the entire article HERE.
“They are loved by millions of children and adults across gender because it is their inner qualities such as determination, kindness, loyalty, humour, courage and wit that shine through and define them."
Lest you think that such nonsense is restricted to the UK, know that a few years ago a seventh-grade Honors English class in Fairfax County Public Schools spent an entire week watching the film The Lorax so as to promote environmental awareness. See THIS about The Lorax's message.
An entire week spent on watching an animated film instead of spent on reading classics or writing compositions! In Honors English! This was the breaking point for a particular student whom I know: she refused to return to school and is now homeschooled.
I've been aware of such "critical analysis" by leftwing academic loons of classic Disney films for quite awhile.
ReplyDeleteHollywood has obediently reacted by subjecting us to decades of "girl power" movies where the girl is the hero, dragging along a whiny, wimpy male character and defying malevolent, paternalistic father figures.
Thankfully, my kids always preferred the classics.
SF,
DeleteI think that most kids actually DO prefer the classics. They have merit and should not be scrapped in favor of a Hollywood agenda.
"... Once upon a time there was a wicked sprite, indeed he was the most mischievous of all sprites. One day he was in a very good humor, for he had made a mirror with the power of causing all that was good and beautiful when it was reflected therein, to look poor and mean; but that which was good-for-nothing and looked ugly was shown magnified and increased in ugliness.
DeleteIn this mirror the most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach, and the best persons were turned into frights, or appeared to stand on their heads; their faces were so distorted that they were not to be recognised; and if anyone had a mole, you might be sure that it would be magnified and spread over both nose and mouth.
"That's glorious fun!" said the sprite. If a good thought passed through a man's mind, then a grin was seen in the mirror, and the sprite laughed heartily at his clever discovery. All the little sprites who went to his school –– for he kept a sprite school –– told each other that a miracle had happened; and that now only, as they thought, it would be possible to see how the world really looked. They ran about with the mirror; and at last there was not a land or a person who was not represented distorted in the mirror. So then they thought they would fly up to the sky, and have a joke there.
The higher they flew with the mirror, the more terribly it grinned: they could hardly hold it fast. Higher and higher still they flew, nearer and nearer to the stars, when suddenly the mirror shook so terribly with grinning, that it flew out of their hands and fell to the earth, where it was dashed in a hundred million and more pieces.
And now it worked much more evil than before; for some of these pieces were hardly so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about in the wide world, and when they got into people's eyes, there they stayed; and then people saw everything perverted, or only had an eye for that which was evil.
This happened because the very smallest bit had the same power which the whole mirror had possessed. Some persons even got a splinter in their heart, and then it made one shudder, for their heart became like a lump of ice ..."
Thus begins Hans Christian Andersen's most beautiful and beguiling of all Fairy Tales THE SNOW QUEEN. It is meant above all to teach without preaching the Power of Love to transcend all that is ugly, corrupt, cruel, disheartening and terrifying. It's allegorical connotation is unmistakable, but those in whom the smallest particle of the mirror in question has become embedded is sure to be both deaf and blind to the value and the virtue of this beloved tale.
...and don't get me started on Disney's cowardly retreat on Song of the South. I defied the PC police and got a bootlegged copy from Europe, and it has been a family favorite since the kids were young.
ReplyDeleteJames Baskett's character is tender and endearing, and at Disney's prodding, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for his outstanding performance in 1948.
I loved Uncle Remus as a small boy, and still do. I treasure his tales –– especial;ay the one about Br'er Rabbit and the Briar Patch, and the one involving the Tar Baby.
DeleteTrying to obliterate awareness of Uncle Remus is as absurd –– and offensive –– yes OFFENSIVE –– it would be if we tried to expunge Hattie McDaniel's magnificently endearing portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind from American Flm History.
I first experienced GWTW as a child of 12 during the movies first revival in the early 1950's. I was s excited by it that I grabbed the book from our library as soon as we returned home, and read all night and far into the next day –– then kept on reading for anther two days till finally I came –– very sadly –– to the end.
My conclusion at that time, now more than 60 years ago, was that MAMMY was the wisest, noblest, most lovable, most admirable character in the whole thing. It was MAMMY who kept everyone going through the worst times and who never failed to produce good, can sense advice to her, often wayard, often foolish Miss Scarlett.
Without Mammy GWTW would have fallen flat, and likely have been a vacuous, rather silly tale of a willful, emotionally immature woman's Triumph of Will which ended in the tragedy of her losing everything worthwhile in her existence.
In their maniacal zeal to seize Power and Control, the Left either ignores –– or completely misses –– the ironies, subtle nuances and delicious humor that give difficult, even tragic situations their character, color, allure, and unending fascination.
I'm not aware of any attempt to ban or restrict distribution of GWTW. But maybe your early exposure to the black stereotypes in this film and elsewhere contributed to your current (eccentric by today's standards) racial attitudes?
DeleteMakes me think that it might be wise after all to spare some thought for the cumulative effect of all these passive female characters on the girls and boys who watch -- and so frequently re-watch -- them.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you, and give you peace.
DeleteAMEN and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Jez,
DeleteI'm not aware of any attempt to ban or restrict distribution of GWTW.
I assure you that such bans and restrictions exist.
FT,
DeleteThe Uncle Remus stories are included in the homeschool group's American Literature course. Our textbook is politically incorrect.
FT,
Delete...It was MAMMY who kept everyone going through the worst times and who never failed to produce good, can sense advice to her, often wayard, often foolish Miss Scarlett.
Without Mammy GWTW would have fallen flat...
Spot on!
Really? Where and when was it banned?
DeleteWhat's the name of the textbook?
Jez,
DeleteSeveral public school systems have long since removed GWTW from the list of approved films -- for birth the classroom and home-viewing assignments.
Oh, ok - not really a ban then, just not used as a set text.
DeleteThey should use Cocteau's version of Beauty and the Beast instead.
ReplyDeleteThe beast in human form is so obviously gay it will really confuse their young minds.
(Insert FreeThinke Comment Here about the Sick-sties)
DeleteThe best childrens' works deal in broad archetypes and focus on universal virtues.
You're joking, but you've stated the actual agenda of some twisted freaks who've had some smashing success at confusing young minds. Damn them all to hell.
Don't know what it has to do with the 60's. The film was made in 1946 and Cocteau cast his partner as the beast/prince.
DeleteIt's widely considered a top 100 film.
From Ebert's review:
"Cocteau wanted to make a poem, wanted to appeal through images rather than words, and although the story takes the form of the familiar fable, its surface seems to be masking deeper and more disturbing currents. It is not a "children's film." Is it even suitable for children? Some will be put off by the black and white photography and the subtitles (brief, however, and easy to read). Those who get beyond those hurdles will find a film that may involve them much more deeply than the Disney cartoon, because it is not just a jolly comic musical but deals, as all fairy tales do, with what we truly dread and desire. Brighter and more curious children will be able to enjoy it very much, I suspect, although if they return as adults they may be amazed by how much more is there."
I don't criticize the film. As you state (or Ebert states), it is not age-appropriate for children, and that is where my criticism starts of the pop culture media.
DeleteAdults should not be "confusing young minds," nor peddling near-pornography and sexed-up and mass murderer halloween costumes.
You can teach children to be free thinkers without twisting their minds, but that is lost on much of the academic left (I don't aim this charge at you). My children are proof of that. I have a conservative son and a classically liberal feminist daughter, and both display a nimbleness of thought, excellent critical analysis skills, and a refreshing liberation from traditional ideological tethers.
All of this to be replaced with approved materials from the Office of Propaganda. And they are worried about Trump??? Beware the mote in one's eye.
ReplyDeleteThe article isn't specific on a couple things.
DeleteIs it referring to something wider than just a single lesson plan from an anonymous teacher?
Is the lesson plan actually used?
I'd say those questions are important.
As far as propaganda is concerned. This seems less prevalent than fundamentalists wetting themselves over the idea of evolution being taught and that fringe religious bias actually enters into classrooms in America.
As far as I've been able to discern, these lesson plans, written by only one teacher, are available and approved for use in the classroom. Such lesson plans go into a bank of lesson plans. At the end of the term, the statistics for actual use of the lesson plans would be available.
DeleteI applaud the effort to talk to children about abusive relationships. These are rotten situations that deserve some attention so that they may be avoided or at least finished quickly. So many women I know turn out to have something of this nature in their past or current situations, I think it's actually quite urgent to raise the subject with children before they start making mistakes, and I can see the value of using something familiar like a fairytale to introduce the topic.
ReplyDeleteAny parent who's glanced at their child's timetable is aware that there is a lesson called RE & Citizenship alongside the maths, science, history etc.
Jez,
DeleteIn my view, fairly tales should be enjoyed as such -- and not used to promote agendas. Children should be allowed to be children!
@SilverFiddle: my girls enjoy Brave and Tangled (Rapunzel). I think they're pretty well-made female-led cartoons, but I think you're right that it took them a quite a while and several failed attempts to work out how to do it.
ReplyDeleteAren't many of those "evil" Disney movies just retelling of tales over a hundred years old? If Disney makes a movie in 1959 of an 1812 fairy tale, how much liberty should they be given in rewriting the story to fit "modern" sensibilities? At which point does it become a different story?
ReplyDeleteShall we remake Moby Dick with Ahab commanding a Greenpeace vessel trying to save the whales to make it politically correct??
Mike,
DeleteGood points! Let the original stories be the original stories.
I'm not sure you want to read your children Grim's originals!
DeleteJez,
DeleteYou are correct that the absolute originals were modified to be more suitable for children. The absolute originals were gory stuff.
Forgot to say...
DeleteNevertheless, what we think of today as Grimm's tales -- edited, apparently, by the Grimms themselves when the earliest editions were deemed to be unsuitable for children -- have quite a long tradition -- to the point that they have become widely accepted and have inspired various art forms besides music.
“Can you not see, […] that fairy tales in their essence are quite solid and straightforward; but that this everlasting fiction about modern life is in its nature essentially incredible? Folk-lore means that the soul is sane, but that the universe is wild and full of marvels. Realism means that the world is dull and full of routine, but that the soul is sick and screaming. The problem of the fairy tale is-what will a healthy man do with a fantastic world? The problem of the modern novel is-what will a madman do with a dull world? In the fairy tales the cosmos goes mad; but the hero does not go mad. In the modern novels the hero is mad before the book begins, and suffers from the harsh steadiness and cruel sanity of the cosmos. ”
Delete― G.K. Chesterton
And many variations since, as long as they've existed. They are not sacred, I love an artfully re-imagined fairytale :)
DeleteThat Chesterton fellow makes an intriguing point.
Ducky,
DeleteGreat Chesterton quote. Do you know what work it comes from?
Jez, The Great Chesterton is a Brit, and one of the great Catholic minds of the 20th Century.
"The Red Angel" in the essay collection "Tremendous Trifles"
DeleteIt's from "Tremendous Trifles" (1909).
Deletehttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/8092/8092-h/8092-h.htm
Walt must be rolling over in his cryo-unit.
ReplyDeleteWe are so screwed.
ReplyDeleteOnly if we ACCEPT that foolish belief, Z. The battle against Evil is eternal. It will never end in humanity's earthly existence. SURRENDERING to EVIL by regarding it as INEVITABLE and UNCONQUERABLE hands the Devil his greatest victory.
DeleteOur job, as citizens of earth possessed by good will, is to RESIST and DEFY the Devil with every ounce of strength we can muster.
In order to do it, however, we must first learn the true meaning of GOOD. That means the abandonment of negative thinking and a full. out, whole-hearted embrace of God's Truth and Love.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I agree but, when we read so many stories like the one AOW did here, and hear what our children are being taught, and the ridiculous stuff that's happening in America today with the flag, or the anthem, etc etc etc., I think I can say "We are so screwed" ...
DeleteWho's resisting and defying? typing blog comments with what I call our "righteous, indignant fingers" isn't much against the onslaught, and we owe our children more...and we owe our country more.
And yes, embracing God and praying for the end of the foolishness is never a bad thing!
they SURE DO, AOW..but they're working two jobs, shooting themselves up, or at the country club....and, at least in the better parts of LA, the kids are being raised by Mexicans. Nobody cares anymore. We need to awaken CARING about our kids and this country.
DeleteI SO WISH Trump was far more articulate and less thin skinned...so he could talk in positive ways to encourage what we are suggesting here....darn.
But look at Obama! A Black president with a bully pulpit and well loved in the Black community...ever hear HIM ONCE encourage young people NOT to kill each other, to speak better English, to get a good education? Not ONCE. unbelievable.
My objection to agenda-driven matters such as the matter presented in the blog of the blog post:
ReplyDeleteThe Be-Politically-Correct-Or-Else! Police are ever in search of something to decry -- never mind that the merit of these outcries is ZERO and the argument for condemning "the target of the moment" is so very thin.
I think that all can agree that talking to children about abusive relationships is important. But it is not necessary to rework beloved fairy tales to introduce the topic.
LET'S QUIT TAKING CHILDHOOD AWAY FROM CHILDREN!
I undersand and basically agree, AOW, but we must realize that it is entirely possible for anyone with an imagination to READ possibly unintended MEANING into ANY story.
DeleteThe meanings we CHOOSE to EXTRACT from tales ancient and modern reflects the content and quality of our UPBRINGING.
The mentality fostered by Modern and post-Modern Influence worships Ugliness and tends toward Cynicism, Suspicion, Resentment, Anxiety, Dismay, Hopelessness, Chaos, Violence, Despair –– and all other fundamentally NEGATIVE views of Life.
If we are raised by dour, beetle-shelled atheists, or false, self-righteous Christians, who see nothing but "Sin" and "Damnation" in the activities of their fellow man, we all live accordingly.
Negativism is determined to undo all that has been salubrious in human history and replace it with a grim, pseudo-realistic, doctrinaire vision of life as an unbeatable foe. Raised in such an atmosphere we doubtless adopt the self-destructive, suicidal worldview of the Left and other maladaptive human beings unenlightened by faith who have remained strangers to Joy and Gratitude all their lives.
The Democrats long ago became The de facto American Communist Party –– the part of the Left. The behavior of leftists never fails to deliver its usual over-generous ration of Clamor, Dissension, Pessimism, Ill Will, and Desire always to Undermine, Sabotage and Destroy anyone and anything it does not favor.
ReplyDeleteAbove all the Left wants always to engender, Fear, Loathing, Disappointment, Anger, Derision, Dejection, Despair, Envy-inspired Malice and Lust for Vengeance whenever and wherever it can.
This in my view is what's bound to come from a militant rejection of God, a repudiation of His Son, Jesus Christ, a vehement Rejection of Altruism, and a flat out Embrace of Atheism, gross Sensuality, Humorlessness, and selfish, unbounded Materialism.
Fath, Hope and GRATITUDE don't seem to exist in a typical leftist's vocabulary. Neither do Whimsy, Humor, Comfort, Joy and Cheer.
Sour, bitter, witless, humorless Captiousness, relentless, ruthless Antagonism, and an entirely unwarranted Self-Righteousness defines the Left.
Is it any wonder these poor, deluded souls are so miserable al the time? Is it any wonder they have waged a senseless WAR against CHRISTMAS?
LAST YEAR'S HOLIDAY VISION SOON to CHANGE for the BETTER
Delete____ Holiday Howl ____
There’s nothing to tout.
There’s nothing to buy.
The stores have run out.
Your funds have run dry.
Baracklaus Has Captured Our Town!
For his mill you’re just grist.
He thinks fun’s a crime,
So he clenches his fist,
When you seek a good time.
Baracklaus Has Captured Our Town!
He monitors your reaping.
He’ll ration what you take.
Whatever you try keeping
He will grab for others’ sake!
So, you’d better not sing,
You’d better not dance.
Obama’s the King,
He might look askance.
Baracklaus Upon You Will Frown.
Baracklaus Has Captured Our Town!
He’s the stick-thin man
With the big black ears.
HE’S CAPTURED OUR TOWN!