Media Monsters: Militarism, Violence, and Cruelty in Children’S Culture
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MEDIA MONSTERS: MILITARISM, VIOLENCE, AND CRUELTY IN CHILDREN’S CULTURE By Heidi Tilney Kramer © Heidi Tilney Kramer, 2015. All rights reserved. This work is protected by Copyright and permission must be obtained from the author prior to reproducing any part of the text in print, electronic, or recording format. Thank you for being respectful and please know that permission will be granted in all likelihood due to the imperative nature of sharing this content. ISBN: 978-0-9742736-8-6 For Alex and the children everywhere: May we leave your world in a better state than when we arrived. Table of Contents Preface ......................................................................................... i Acknowledgments ...................................................................... v Introduction ................................................................................ 1 Chapter I: History of U.S. Media ............................................... 7 Chapter II: Music ...................................................................... 87 Chapter III: Education ............................................................ 125 Chapter IV: Television ........................................................... 167 Chapter V: General Influences on Kids .................................. 217 Chapter VI: Web-Based and Other Media ............................. 253 Chapter VII: Video Games ..................................................... 271 Chapter VIII: Film Industry/Movies ...................................... 295 Chapter IX: Children’s Movies .............................................. 305 Chapter X: Conclusion ........................................................... 407 Bibliography ........................................................................... 425 Kids’ Films Analyzed ............................................................. 453 PREFACE: “10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and the remaining 80 percent can be moved in either direction.” - Susan Sontag “We can never be gods, after all – but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.” - N.K. Jemisin “In a cruel land, you either learned to laugh at cruelty or spent your life weeping.” - Robert Jordan “More action! Less tears!” - Thee Silver Mount Zion I am a daughter. My father joined the Marines at age seventeen and caught the tail end of World War II. He lived in China for years and was involved in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. My father was a nurse, police officer, and drill sergeant who served in two branches of the military – the Marines and the Army. I was born at Fort McPherson in Georgia, where my dad ran the OB/GYN clinic, and I lived in Yokohama, Japan, for four years during his service. He retired after putting in twenty years of duty to our country. My mother read Winnie-the-Pooh stories to me and I was delighted with the blustery day adventures. I am also a mother. My son was born in 1996 and I began taking him to see movies when he was about three-years old. This was often a weekly – and sometimes daily – event. In 2001, I noticed a serious change in content: torture in G rated films. i His life began like the lives of many: Dressed in fuzzy onesies, his head cautiously cradled, he rested in the perfectly chosen crib lined with Beatrix Potter linens. Upon waking, he saw hand-painted images of Peter Rabbit and Jeremy Fisher on his wall. We gave him the finest clothes, the best of nutrition, tons of hugs. As a parent, I did all the things I thought imperative: Teaching him to be kind, making sure he knew the world was a nice place, reading Goodnight Moon and I Love You as Much on a daily basis. I began our collection of Disney movies early on, earnestly wanting to share with him my memories of Herbie, the anthropomorphic 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, from The Love Bug, and Pollyanna, the girl with the happy streak who convinces those around her to find reasons to be glad. Even before noticing disturbing content in Pixar’s Toy Story, we bought the direct-to-video Brave Little Toaster series. Despite the adorable voices, bright colors, and catchy songs, we sat with dropped jaws as the air conditioner character got so upset, he blew up, and we endured the horror trope action where horrid scenarios are faced by the anthropomorphized characters – little did I know this was only the beginning of swaying youth to appreciate ruthlessness. Violent, cruel, frightening, and militaristic images and messages now regularly appear in many films made especially for children and youth, including the following: A cow having a difficult calf delivery is abandoned by her veterinarian in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (PG, 2013); an entire family is placed on a torture rack and 9/11 imagery of a plane bent on destruction is seen approaching a city in The Incredibles (PG, 2004); Buzz Lightyear is shown as brutal captor over his friends in the surveillance-laden dystopia and prison/concentration camp satire, Toy Story 3 (G, 2010); gruesome horror action is presented as a house is taken over by the spirit of a woman teased literally to death in Monster House ii (PG, 2006); women are depicted as psychotics in Ratatouille (G, 2007); there’s a chilling amount of assorted weaponry in Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, as well as subordination of non-English speaking workers (PG, 2010, 2013); and Maleficent (PG, 2014) basically shows a roofie date rape scene where she is drugged and her body viciously violated. Thankfully, my return to college taught me how to be media literate; that is, I learned to deconstruct the messages raining down on us hourly and I taught this to my son. He is now better equipped than most – including me – to catch when the media tries to scare us and make us mean. This is the answer to what I consider the most pressing problem of our time: Learn the many ways in which our views are formed and teach what you learn to youth. We do not have to be helpless and allow our work as parents, educators, and responsible adults to be cast aside in favor of the latest video game or television show. I am not for censorship of any kind; I, too, love this media, but I do think there’s a problem. Once we show our youngsters what is happening, the battle should ease; when the new generation sees how they are being manipulated by big media and its obsession with brutality, they themselves will take over the work that we are starting, and they will want to be a part of creating a more caring world. Whether real violence or representations of violence, there are well over a thousand studies which state that violence – even between cartoon characters – is harmful to children. Period. Glorification of militarism has real-life implications. In addition to the countless on both sides injured and killed during wartime, there is another statistic: “Every day, 22 veterans take their own lives…As shocking as the number is, it may actually iii be higher.” 1 And another: “[In 2012] there were 349 suicides among active duty personnel – almost one a day. That means that there are now more suicides among active duty soldiers than there are combat deaths.” 2 On duty one winter decades ago, my father accidentally killed a man he mistakenly thought was trying to steal food/weapons from a military storage facility in China, having aimed to injure from a great distance. He had yelled for him to stop twice in Chinese beforehand. He tried to find the family of the man to explain what happened, to apologize, and to take care of them the rest of his life but he was unable to accomplish that mission. This haunted him all of his days. The point is: War takes a toll. My book is ultimately dedicated to those who try to do the right thing under difficult circumstances and to the humanity in all of us, especially since there are fewer and fewer depictions of that humanity for children. 1 Moni Basu. “Veteran suicides may be more than 22 a day.” CNN. Updated 12:08 PM EST Nov. 14, 2013. http://www.cnn.com.html. 2 Melanie Haiken. “Suicide Rate Among Vets and Active Duty Military Jumps – Now 22 A Day.” Forbes. 2/05/2013. http://www.forbes.com.html. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: There is no way I can adequately thank the countless who assisted in my quest to uncover what’s happening in the world of children and in media generally, but I will try. First and foremost, my own child must be acknowledged for making me aware and for his tireless assistance and patience in dealing with a sometimes present, occasionally pleasant mom. University of South Florida professors Silvio Gaggi, Robert E. Snyder, Daniel Belgrad, Andrew Berish, Elizabeth Bell, Kimberly Golombisky, Michelle Hughes Miller, Diane Price- Herndl, Ednie Garrison, Kersuze Simeon-Jones, and Nancy White, and Eckerd College professors Margret Skaftadottir, Catherine Griggs, Nathan T. Andersen, and Robert Doody for reading, critiquing, and inspiring, and especially Patti Cooksey for her unlimited patience. Thanks to the work of Angela Y. Davis, Judith Butler, and Michel Foucault who helped me to see it all for what it is. Special thanks to my near and far family and friends who supported me in every way possible, especially financially, while I worked on saving the world as opposed to getting a real job. To Steven W. Mock, Physician’s Assistant extraordinaire, for the better title, and for saving my life on more than one occasion. To friends at Tampa’s Felicitous and Mojo coffee shops who encouraged me daily to keep going. And to every other kind, unsuspecting human who listened intently to my soapbox speeches while simply there to take my train ticket or fix the plugged drain. To these and other heroes everywhere who daily do work they believe to be right. v INTRODUCTION: “The technique is wonderful. I didn’t even dream it would be so good. But I would never let my children come close to the thing.” - Vladimir Zworykin: Comments of the developer of television, interviewed on his 92nd birthday, 31 Dec ’81.