Analysing the Jiminy Cricket generation

[CareBlair]

".....Read Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, written circa 1880, and then watch Disney's animated version released in 1940.

Everything you need to know about the demise of the American ethos is implied in Walt's radical emasculation of the original's theme. Collodi's story dramatises the slow maturity of an impetuous boy who finally learns, in Chesterton's words, how "to love the world without trusting it." In Disney's version the moral message, as sung by the boy-puppet's literal "conscience," Jiminy Cricket, is this: that "fate is kind," that dreams come true "out of the blue," that "no request is too extreme."

At least four generations of American kids have been raised on this hymn to narcissistic entitlement, which is the Disney Company's virtual anthem....."

from "Analysing the Jiminy Cricket generation" by Matthew Mehan
Wednesday, 02 August 2006
The immaturity of today’s youth has been shaped by decades of prosperity and consumerism, says cultural commentator David Bosworth in this interview.
http://www.mercatornet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=334

 

[dementia412]

I've always found it interesting how movies have given us moral teachings that make no sense. Take Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.... everyone picks on him including our beloved generous old fat man Santa ... they only change their tune when he becomes usefull to them because of his deformity. The same goes for Dumbo.... what if that nose and those ears had never been good for anything, would they have gone in for plastic surgery or been exiles for their entire lives!? Poor little Jumbo Jr. never even gets called his own name.... his best friend (the mouse) calls him Dumbo!
In fact, I say Dumbo is about interracial children, mom didn't have ears like that.... no way, think maybe the African and the Asian elephants were mixxing it up

 

[manning]

Or maybe everyone has something to contribute.

 

[mytwotinks]

Isn't the message in Dumbo and Rudolph that we need to look past appearance and see that everyone has something to contribute to the world? And maybe I am really shallow, but I thought that the message in Pinochio is that even if a lie gets you out of trouble in the short term, a lie is always trouble in the long run. I haven't seen Pinochio in years and years so maybe I am just clueless.

 

[dementia412]

The thing about Rudoloph and Dumbo is that nobody likes them UNTIL they can contribute, the real leason should be that we should love and include them even if they cannot contribute in any way. A deformity shouldn't have to be good for something for the person to be acceptable.
I prefer Shrek in which Fiona realizes that she doesn't have to be "human prettty" to be worthwhile and loved.
When I watch movies with the kids I use those things though,, "see even Santa can be wrong and say mean hurtfull things, we all make dumb mistakes"

 

[DancingBear]

The Pinocchio stuff is taken out of context. It's "IF your heart is in your dreams" that "no request is too extreme." So it has to be sincere and come from the heart--not just consumerism there.

Also, the line "anything your heart desires can come to you" follows "Makes no difference who you are."

Aside from picking apart the song, Disney's Pinocchio is still a story of a little scamp who must learn the value of honesty and love in order for he and Gepetto to become a true family:

The Blue Fairy says:

Yes, Pinocchio. I've given you life.
Why?
Because tonight Geppetto wished for a real boy.
Am I a real boy?
No, Pinocchio.
To make Geppetto's wish come true will be entirely up to you.
Up to me?
Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy.
A real boy!
That won't be easy.
You must learn to choose between right and wrong.

Then at the end of the movie, as the Blue Fairy returns to grant the wish, you hear again:

Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy.

Of course, that doesn't fit Bosworth's summary at all.

 

[mytwotinks]

The thing about Rudoloph and Dumbo is that nobody likes them UNTIL they can contribute, the real leason should be that we should love and include them even if they cannot contribute in any way. A deformity shouldn't have to be good for something for the person to be acceptable.
I prefer Shrek in which Fiona realizes that she doesn't have to be "human prettty" to be worthwhile and loved.
When I watch movies with the kids I use those things though,, "see even Santa can be wrong and say mean hurtfull things, we all make dumb mistakes"

I see what you're saying, I guess that I have always thought the message was that Dumbo and Rudolph were unfairly judged and that we shouldn't do that because it was wrong. How would they make that point if the characters were accepted despite their deformities. I agree that the real message should be that we should accept a person even if they can not contribute anything, but I think that the movies each go further and say that everyone has something to contribute.

 

[I Love Pluto]

Life was simpler for the Jimminy Cricket generation. We were told everything. We did not question. So - why try to analyze? It really won't make sense.

 

[SpaceAce]

It seems like the "pendulum" has swung so far from where it was with the Jiminy Cricket generation. Like alluded to in the earlier post, back then there was no blurring the line between an absolute right and wrong, and nobody questioned authority...I see those Disney films as reflecting the mores of the time, not an attempt to change mores for the future...

Anyway, since then it seems like popular culture has swung the pendulum so far that not only is there no clear-cut right and wrong, but that there is almost no right or wrong at all for most young ones. We're teaching 'do it if it feels good' through our movies, shows, and video games.

Before I'm done with the post, however, I must say that there are still many many strong families out there who really do a good job of rasing great young people. I hope not to offend, but I would say that many teenagers are more kind than elderly folks today. Maybe I just deal with too many crabby ones...sorry.

 

[Fitswimmer]

Anyway, since then it seems like popular culture has swung the pendulum so far that not only is there no clear-cut right and wrong, but that there is almost no right or wrong at all for most young ones. We're teaching 'do it if it feels good' through our movies, shows, and video games.

We're teaching an entire generation that "tolerance" means anything goes. There seems to be a fear that if we set boundries for children, or even for adults that we are limiting their potential. Please. I find it interesting that we expect our kids to choose not to do drugs,but when it comes to sex or alcohol we say "oh, well they're going to do it anyway, so lets serve them at our house and take their keys or let's make sure they have enough birth control" They aren't animals with no control over their hormones! They're human beings with free choice! You can choose not to drink, you can choose not to have premarital sex-just the way you can choose not to take drugs.

There's no sin in setting boundries and making rules for ourselves and our children. There are still things that are just plain wrong and no amount of rationalization will make that go away. I think a lot of the complaints we see on the Theme Park board about behavior would disappear if our society would get back to believing in a basic sense of right and wrong.