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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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 Posted - 04/14/2007 : 09:28:19
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Probably one of the best things about Happy Feet is that it actually does try to teach kids something about the real world. While not everyone will like how it was done, at least it was attempted and tried to be accurate. I have to say that kids need to know that the world they live in isn't perfect, and life isn't perfect. It is one of the reasons why I hated the Disney movies like Pocohontas, which white-wash over the truth so that they "didn't upset the kids". Tell the story right or don't tell it at all.
What I think made Happy Feet work was that the younger kids could just watch and enjoy the animation and music, while older kids could get the message as well.
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Downtown 
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
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Posted - 04/14/2007 : 17:04:13
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Aargh! I gotta just stay away from the political threads. Third rail topics indeed.  |
Edited by - Downtown on 04/14/2007 17:50:49 |
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Tori
"I don't get it...."
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Posted - 04/14/2007 : 18:32:23
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quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
quote:
WHy ram this through kids heads???
Why on Earth not???? The movie as presented was hardly scary (at least in terms of its environmental message), and I just don't understand the desire to shelter children from intellectually stimulating ideas. My dad was introducing me to politics when I was eight or nine, and I'm grateful for it, even though I no longer agree with a great deal of his political views.
I don't think a children's movie is the place to do it. There's nothing wrong with educating our children and stimulating their minds. But kids have a lot to deal with and need plain fun. Keep their movies lighthearted and teach them some other way. There's nothing wrong with teaching environmentalism or any other politics but this wasn't the correct place to do it and I should add that politics vary from household to household therefore they should be taught at home. |
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Tori
"I don't get it...."
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Posted - 04/14/2007 : 18:33:28
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| On the same note, I have to agree with ChocolateLady, if you are going to do a historical film, don't change history to make it pleasing. But at least with Pocahontas you know what you're going to get. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 04/15/2007 : 06:55:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Tori
But at least with Pocahontas you know what you're going to get.
Sorry, but I don't remember seeing anything about her dying at the age of 22 of TB, or how the Powhatan lands were stolen, in any of those movies.
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Downtown
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
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Posted - 04/15/2007 : 16:02:59
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
But at least with Pocahontas you know what you're going to get.
Sorry, but I don't remember seeing anything about her dying at the age of 22 of TB, or how the Powhatan lands were stolen, in any of those movies.
Or becoming his wife while still a child.  |
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Tori
"I don't get it...."
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Posted - 04/15/2007 : 18:08:47
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
But at least with Pocahontas you know what you're going to get.
Sorry, but I don't remember seeing anything about her dying at the age of 22 of TB, or how the Powhatan lands were stolen, in any of those movies.
No, no I meant that they should have done it accurately and if they had done so you would have known what to expect and then chosen whether your child should have seen it or not. Versus taking them to see Happy Feet without expecting a political environmental message. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 04/16/2007 : 07:03:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Tori
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
But at least with Pocahontas you know what you're going to get.
Sorry, but I don't remember seeing anything about her dying at the age of 22 of TB, or how the Powhatan lands were stolen, in any of those movies.
No, no I meant that they should have done it accurately and if they had done so you would have known what to expect and then chosen whether your child should have seen it or not. Versus taking them to see Happy Feet without expecting a political environmental message.
Okay, I'll give you that. I didn't expect the environmental message when I went to see the film, either.
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 04/16/2007 : 20:39:10
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I also don't see the need to filter away all other perspectives from a kid's ears, which I don't think is feasible or desirable. I realize that I am a callow young man who is not even close to being a parent anytime soon, but I don't understand it. Even my own father, a fiercely right-wing individual, didn't have any real problem with me watching Captain Planet as a kid, although he did frequently comment that it was a stupid load of garbage.
I mean, seeing Happy Feet isn't exactly listening to 50 Cent here. "Save the Penguins" is a pretty broad message that's easy to get behind. |
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silly 
"That rabbit's DYNAMITE."
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Posted - 04/16/2007 : 21:10:45
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quote:
Originally posted by TitanPa
If Cartoon movies is the new way to help the Earth, then I can't wait for 'Camel Toes' The movie. Dancing camels start to glow in the dark cause some humans in the desert are playing with nuclear energy.
Wasn't that Sahara?
Good thing Roger Rabbit didn't try and sneak in a message about greedy developers. Oh, wait... |
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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 04/17/2007 : 03:07:39
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quote:
Originally posted by TitanPa
WHy ram this through kids heads???
Errmm, don't they teach maths at school and make it compulsory? Fishing sustainability is simply about simple maths. Nothing more, nothing less.
E.g., there is a school of 1000 fish. Lets assume (for the sake of the discussion) that in the absence of humans that they produce 500 new fish every year through breeding. But some humans come along and take 500 fish, so next year there are only 750 (the 500 that remained and the 250 that those 500 spawned). Next year humans take 500 more, leaving 250 which will be 375 left after breeding. Next year the humans won't even get their 500 as there will be none left after they take the 375 that remained. And how many the year after that? Zero.
It's just simple maths. Why would a maths teacher drop the fish and be forced to use numbers and write it as meaningless numbers? Such as:-
Year 1. 1000 - 500 = 500
500 + 250 = 750
Year 2. 750 - 500 = 250
250 + 125 = 375
Year 3. 375 - 375 = 0
It makes far more sense to use a real life analogy, eg, fish. You could equally use cows, sheep, rabbits, Uzbekistani Guinea fowl or whatever you like.
All the humans need to do is reduce the fish take to about 333 per year instead of 500 and you will never get to zero, the number will remain roughly static and there will be 333 fish per year for the humans for ever. Which will leave happy humans and happy penguins. In what way is this supposed to be "scary for kids"? 
But if teaching kids basic maths and teaching them how to be happy with a full stomach for ever is going to make them tree-hugging, pinko communist, terrorist, Democrat-voting, hippie, liberal, soft, weakling greenies then there are plenty of other movies you'll need to ban from your household. E.g., Alice in Wonderland (teaches that greed is bad), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (teaches compassion for the disabled and underprivileged), David and Goliath (teaches that might isn't necessarily right etc). |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 04/17/2007 : 05:54:41
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Sean, I agree with you, but I think the point is that unless someone told you beforehand, there wasn't any way you'd know that this movie had an agenda before you saw it. And that the agenda was presented with a heavy hand was a tad annoying. TitanPa just wanted to have an idea that this was what they were getting before taking the kids to see it.
However, my point was that I was glad that the agenda was there, since I truly believe we should give kids movies with lessons that are real, and not whitewash the truth - or history, for that matter. I can't recall when Disney started making everything lovey-dovey and taking the sad and/or scary parts out of their movies for fear they might damage the poor sensitive kids, but the quality of their films has suffered for it. The witches in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty weren't tame, and that scene from Bambi where <gulp>... well, you know, can still bring a tear. Those were amazing films, and I don't think I'm emotionally damaged because I saw them as a kid. But I think our parents knew about these scenes before they took us, and made appropriate (or not) decisions regarding our viewing of these.
(I say this because until I took my kids to see Fantasia, I had no idea there was the "Night on Bald Mountain" piece. If I had known, I might have known to take my younger son out before he got scared - which is what I'm sure my parents did with me.)
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Edited by - ChocolateLady on 04/17/2007 05:56:39 |
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thefoxboy 
"Four your eyes only."
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Posted - 04/17/2007 : 06:48:27
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And I thought this movie was about some stupid arse dancing penguins. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 04/17/2007 : 07:08:48
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quote:
Originally posted by thefoxboy
And I thought this movie was about some stupid arse dancing penguins.
I see you heard that Elijah Wood voices the lead part, then. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 04/17/2007 : 12:09:10
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| I agree with MrBadIdea, ChocolateLady and Sean. Children should not be isolated from what is going on in the world - they should just be protected from things that are too frightening for them. The message in this film is not menacing at all, as serious as it is. There is no reason at all to think that entertainment and learning need to be separated. Learning is enjoyable, especially for children. As for the point that different people have different values, so many values are peddled in children's films that one would have to boycott them all on that basis. Also, I see the message in Happy Feet as just accurate, so I wouldn't have much time for any objections to it. |
Edited by - Demisemicenturian on 04/17/2007 12:10:11 |
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Topic |
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Happy Feet - Hidden Agenda?
