[UA] Darkening Children's Tales

[Tim Toner]

----- Original Message -----
From: Nick Wedig <mrteapot at disinfo.net>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 5:15 AM
Subject: Re: [UA] Darkening Children's Tales


> Try naming a Disney movie where the main character has both parents.  Most
are orphans or missing a
> parent (typically the mother), often for unexplained reasons.
>

Actually, what I find as a more disturbing trend is how Disney dances about
morally justified murder.  In the past, it was okay to slay the bad guy,
because, if you didn't, he'd come back to menace you yet again, or even kill
you right off.  Now, however, Disney is faced with a dilemma of what to do
about villains when the hero can't kill.   Villains can't be exiled, because
they'll come right back (a la Jafar in Aladdin).  They can't be reformed,
because there's no finality there.  Heroes can't kill, because Disney would
like to create a world where all killing is wrong.  So what happens?  Stupid
stuff, actually.  Most of the time, the death is accidental, which tells
kids that they need not worry about combatting evil--it's so stupid, it'll
more than likely collapse in on itself in a few years.


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