Reality- Kids Movies

[Marshall B]

Recently I've become fascinated by existence. Just the basic fact that we are alive in this moment in time. I think I've always wanted to explore this but it's pretty hard when as a child we are given bs answers as to how and why we got here and told those reasons were the truth. It's confusing as hell and I want to go off an a religion bashing segment but that's not why Im posting.

The fact that we have the ability to make decisions. Free will, consciousness etc.

Would kids not eat this up? My ears would perk up as a kid anytime someone talked about something regarding ethics or truth. That's why I'm OD'ing on it as an adult. I never had it as a child. Children would love philosophy. Love it. I dream of free market schools where morality, philosophy, reality etc could be studied and discussed on a daily basis.

Which brings me to my question. Are talking bears the best way to teach kids about the world. Would they just get bored otherwise? Could we not have people? Most of the Disney movies are jungle animals acting as though they were humans. Jungle book, lion king, Robin Hood etc. When the movies have actual people in them there's magic. Ex: sword in the stone. Anyways Im not real worried my 2.5 year old would try to pet a tiger in the wild but is reality not interesting enough? Do we need silly magic shit? Is there any kind of kids show that's just cool stories of kids being kids? Am I being a grouch? Sorry if so. But to me this all segways into the kids liking these action super hero movies as adults. Never really stopping and appreciating how cool reality is. Yea just boring ole reality where apes turn into super humans, the sun we see on a daily basis is a million times bigger than our earth, and things do fly. Humans being one of those things just not with a superman costume but with a giant steel machine through the sky. I dunno. Maybe it's the 50th time of of watching lion king that got me.

[Better Future]

Have you seen Lazytown? The superhero is an Olympic gymnast The main character is just a normal girl who sings songs about teamwork and doing your best. Best kids show I've ever seen.

 

 

[DaVinci]

So the issue is how childhood interests segway into adult interests? Your post sounds a lot like that rant from Simon Pegg that he made recently. That their is an infantilization of society.

 

To be quite blunt is this really that important? So someone watches the Avengers rather than staring at the sun and pondering the universe. So what? A thousand years ago people stared at the sun and then cut a kids head off as a sacrifice to it. So the fact that people are like "Hey that movie was cool!" isn't the most pressing issue to me. I would rather people be participating in these voluntary past times than chopping and hacking at each other for life.

[Marshall B]

Don't know who simon pegg is but I'll look it up. And the infantilzation isn't exactly what I'm talking about but that makes sense.

I'm more so wondering if kids shows could talk about ethics, reality, society, the world, etc without the mystical stuff so that they may better understand reality. Or without using talking animals. I think it's great to have an imagination. But should we start out with reality first. Mastering that by using whatever show/movie etc helps you do that. Then the other stuff.

Is it really that important? I dunno. That's what I'm wanting to know. If it stops a tiny little brain from better understanding reality then yea I guess it is important. Just something I think about while watching movies with my kids.

[DaVinci]

Don't know who simon pegg is but I'll look it up. And the infantilzation isn't exactly what I'm talking about but that makes sense.

I'm more so wondering if kids shows could talk about ethics, reality, society, the world, etc without the mystical stuff so that they may better understand reality. Or without using talking animals. I think it's great to have an imagination. But should we start out with reality first. Mastering that by using whatever show/movie etc helps you do that. Then the other stuff.

Is it really that important? I dunno. That's what I'm wanting to know. If it stops a tiny little brain from better understanding reality then yea I guess it is important. Just something I think about while watching movies with my kids.

There is nothing wrong with teaching kids that stuff, but even for adults trying to teach those topics is difficult. In terms of entertainment it can be tough to make anything educational first and entertainment second without feeling like you are being beaten over the head. People don't generally go to entertainment for an ethics lesson, though there are exceptions.

 

What would you propose? How would you teach children complicated topics in a simple way?

[Marshall B]

Have you seen Robin Hood the Disney version? That same story/plot/dialouge but with people. The whole movie is about how mean ole king johns taxation is killing the poor. They even mention the word taxation. Like 10x. Every time it's mentioned its in a very negative way.

Robin Hood does have one line in the movie about how they are robbing from the rich to give to the poor but of course the only person he robs is the evil king who is stealing from the production of the poor. He's obviously just getting the people their money back.

Anyways that exact same movie but without animals and with humans. Then the ones with humans always involve more magic. So it's magic with humans or no magic with talking bears.

[DaVinci]

Have you seen Robin Hood the Disney version? That same story/plot/dialouge but with people. The whole movie is about how mean ole king johns taxation is killing the poor. They even mention the word taxation. Like 10x. Every time it's mentioned its in a very negative way.

Robin Hood does have one line in the movie about how they are robbing from the rich to give to the poor but of course the only person he robs is the evil king who is stealing from the production of the poor. He's obviously just getting the people their money back.

Anyways that exact same movie but without animals and with humans. Then the ones with humans always involve more magic. So it's magic with humans or no magic with talking bears.

What's wrong with the talking animals?

[Donnadogsoth]

I'm on your side, Marshall.  I wonder too about  how bad it is for people to become addicted to outrageous fantasy, all the worse so when they are young children.  They don't need it.  Amish live without it and they turn out okay, as far as it goes.  There's no reason a child needs to be exposed to cartoony, carnival-glass, and ultimately often simply ugly and misleading versions of reality.  Some things are cool, but it's debatable whether "cool" is something we should encourage.

 

I think it matters because we're trying to construct the ideal society, and so in that regard every aspect of it matters, especially the education and entertainment of the young.  Right now we, almost to a man, exist inside structures of addiction that distract and distort our understanding of reality, to the point where reading a reasonably heavy book is a chore for most adults and probably tear-inducing for most children.  And these structures are becoming circumambient and intensified.  Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death describes this.  It's not just the quality of programming of media products, it's the quantity.

[shirgall]

What I like is outrageous fantasy that connects back to the real world without hitting you over the head with some message. For example, The Incredibles emphasizing the strength of a family that builds mutual support of its members. Nothing wrong with escape as long as you return. If the children are always trying to escape, there's something to investigate.