Kong: Skull Island (2017)
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No news from trope island.
Read MoreBehind These Castle Walls, Part IV: Dumbo (1941)
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We're still in the 40s with our Disney movies and now we get to the famous elephant who is known for the slur everyone else uses for him. That is a good indication for the weirdness of this movie. It is a movie I had seen before. For its short runtime, it is not very entertaining and feels stretched anyway. It also does not have the same artistic skills the previous movies have shown.
Read MoreThe Daniel Quinn Files: Ishmael (5)
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Last time, we arrived at the end of the myth we tell ourselves about the origin of mankind. That we are working through a constantly progressing development which makes us better and better until humans, the top of the species, will be able to control everything. But Ishmael promised to tell a different story, a story about knowledge of having a way to live which we deny even exists. I’m not sure how much of a “secret” this is anymore, but I still like that part because it goes beyond what we think is there, uncovering what is right in front of our eyes.
Read MoreBehind These Castle Walls, Part I: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
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Ever since I read J. Zornado’s revolutionary important book Inventing the Child, in which he examines children’s fiction and its underlying messages, I looked at books and movies in a different way. Among all the brilliant things this book achieves, what spoke to me in a special way was how he dissected Disney movies, specifically The Young Mermaid and The Lion King. Uncovering their themes of parent authority, gender politics and identity manipulation was a big revelation to me. And ever since then I wanted to look at Disney movies, which are so beloved and popular until today, and see if I could figure out which ideas they sell to kids. So, today I’m starting a new series in which I’ll chronologically go through every major animated Disney movie and try to analyze it closely. I’m not the first one to do this, but I hope I have something new to say anyway. I have seen most of them already in the past, but I will watch them again with different eyes now.
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Inventing the Child - Random Protest, Dog Retirement and Happy Cows
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My daughter (almost 3) loves reading books. I (almost 34) love reading books. There might be a connection. But because I’m me, I can’t help but look closer at the books she reads. Children’s books are full of ideas what kids are supposed to think and they are also full of stereotypes. If you want to read books with your kids and care about what they take away from it, you have to look very close and you have to think what you tell them or if some books need extra explanation. I’ve collected some examples, negative and positive ones, mainly from non-fiction books and since my daughter never gets tired of getting new books from the library, this will probably not the last time I’m doing this (and I’m sorry for some of the bad quality of the photos, I’m not a professional book page photographer). The title of this series refers again to J. Zornado’s incredible and mind-changing book Inventing the Child, in which he takes a look at children’s literature and shows the horrible things we read to our kids for decades.
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