Talking Point # 4

Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us by Linda Christensen

This article talks about the importance of questioning the cartoons, movies, books,that we have watched and read while we were young. It also put us in categories like sexist, racist, and stereotypes and violence. Everyone has watched a Disney movie or seen cartoons on tv and read books on these three subjects.  They were always all over the place, there is no way someone wasnt able to watch or read these things. 

"Many student don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising. no one wants to admit that they've been "handled" by media. They assure me that they make their own choices and the media has no power over them-as they sit with Fubu, Nike, Timberlands or whatever latest fashion rage might be."

This shows that the media does influence people even if they really don't think that it as. You see new clothes on television and magazines and people automatically feel like they need those products. Girls see other girls on television wearing certain things and they go out and buy those things because they are the latest fashion and will be more womanly then other girls that don't have these products. It goes the same with boys, they buy things so that they can stand out and feel more powerful. the media does have a lot of power over us and many people do not realize this.

"Look, Ursula the sea witch is ugly and smart. hey shes kind of dark looking. the young, pretty ones only want to hook their man; the old, pretty ones are mean because they are losing their looks. Kenneth noticed that people of color and poor people are either absent or servants to the rich, white, pretty people." 

I never really noticed this before but a lot of cartoons do have the white people being the rich and successful people and the colored are usually the ugly poor ones. i was thinking about Cinderella, she is a white girl who lives in a house of ugly white people. She goes to the ball and meets a handsome white prince. there was no part in that story where there was a colored person that was all dressed up and looking beautiful. A lot of stories are like this. Sleeping Beauty, again you have a white girl and a white man being all rich and beautiful and you have a darker person being the wicked ugly witch that causes the beautiful white girl to fall asleep forever. Its never the other way around. the only story that i can think of is Pocahontas, you have a beautiful Indian girl falling in love with a rich white man. Its a step up from the other stories, at least you have a colored person being a beautiful. But the only thing is that she has to marry a white man. Also, in the Lion King, you have the dark lion being the bad guy and the light lions being the good guys. There is also a lot of violence in the movie that shouldn't be in there. Cartoons are very different once you look closely at them. 

"for some the lesson doesn't end in the the classroom. many who watched cartoons before we start our study say they can no longer enjoy them. now instead of seeing a bunch of ducks in clothes, they see the racism, sexism and violence that swim under the surface of the stories."

I have noticed the same thing as i looked back at the cartoons and stories. every cartoon that i watched when i was a child were very sexiest and racist and most of them they were violent. Even Tom and Jerry is very violent. blowing and shooting each other. I first thought that it was just funny but  really it isn't any more. violence shouldn't be part of a young child's life and sexism shouldn't be either.These stereotypes are put into people of different classes, races, and sex which may not be accepted by the outside world but also as a self-realization and acceptance. you have to look close to see these things, and if you don't see them then you aren't looking close enough.

I liked this article because it really opened my eyes on these cartoons. i never really noticed these things before but now that i really look at them i notice everything. The media has been influencing people for the longest time and it even starts when they are young. children are told that you need to have money, and you need to be white and beautiful to be successful. But everyone needs to realized that you don't need any of that to be successful and happy. you should be yourself and not have the media influence them.