“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in
itself.”
-
Potter Stewart
I straddle the fence where censorship is concerned. The
proud-scholar side of me hates the idea of restricting information. The helicopter-mom
side of me sets parental codes on anything possible. I hate televisions shows
like South Park and Family Guy. Why take something intended
for children – cartoons – and fill it with adult content?
Am I being too Wilhelm Grimm here? I do not want my
daughter watching a show with sexual language and content. It infuriates me
that seemingly child-appropriate television is anything but.
I
do NOT want to explain things like this to my daughter…
With that being said, we love Tom and Jerry. Old school cartoons are the best! Can I get an amen?
Oh, wait… it that a gun? That’s right, Tom Jerry are
known for beating the fresh hell out of each other. Bettelheim made an astute
point about the joyous struggles of parenting, “the most important and also the
most difficult task in raising a child is helping him to find meaning in life.”
Am I hurting my child by keeping things from her? I do believe that censorship
has a tendency to make things more appealing. Why did I read Fifty Shades of Grey? I wanted to know
what all the fuss was about! I wanted to get in on the controversy. Whether I
am arguing for or against something, I want to be an expert on the matter before
I do so. Am I enabling my child by keeping things from her? Am I a hypocrite
for allowing her to watch shows that are blatantly violent while forbidding
shows that are overtly sexual?
Bettelheim said, “The acquisition of skills, including
the ability to read, becomes devalued when what one has learned to read adds
nothing of importance to one’s life.” So which version of Puss in Boots is more valuable? The one where a young miller’s
apprentice is underestimated but later rewarded for his hard work, or the one
that examines the objectification and subjugation of women?
As a nice, honorable, hardworking person, I know these
characteristics are not always rewarded. The idea that the nice guy gains his
riches for being pure of heart is, to put it mildly, a fairy tale. Though Angela
Carter’s version of the tale is considerably more “adult,” it teaches valuable lessons
about “bro code” and demonstrates that evil knows no gender. With that in mind,
I see Bruno Bettelheim tucking his toddlers in at night with Carter’s Puss in Boots.
No comments:
Post a Comment