You Can (Not) Be Imaginative

I'm not sure how to respond to that article. This is probably because I love Disney (even if its mostly just for the animation). When the author of the article spoke about Alice in Wonderland and how they believe that it discourages imagination, I was awestruck. I adore Alice in Wonderland. It is a fascinating, creative, and beautiful story. For me it provides a constant reminder to always be more imaginative because the mind is infinitely creative. This article dumbed down my favorite story to foolishness that is supposedly telling girls to avoid creativity. (I will admit that the books are better than Disney's movie).

While the article didn't hit the bullseye, it didn't entirely miss the mark either. Disney is an imperfect studio that often gets some facts wrong, or changes the point of a story completely. Even though the author makes a few decent points, and backs them up with sufficient evidence, she seems to take these movies a little too seriously. Her point is that these animated films are changing young girls' perspective on life, but what little girl is going to look at a Disney movie with such critique? The evidence that the author provides is so subtle that it likely has no effect on children. For Alice in Wonderland, she states that at the end of the movie Alice becomes afraid of her imagination and wants to go home. Well sometimes imagination is and sometimes you do want to go home, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be creative. Look at how much fun Alice has in the beginning of the story, and how by the very end she stands up to the Queen (and avoids decapitation).

Perhaps I am including too many personal feelings into this, but if we look at everything through too critical of a lens then aren't we killing our own imagination?

The one idea that I do agree with is that Disney (as well as other production companies) should not be   sending the message that girls only have one option in life; MARRIAGE. Why is it that the movie always ends when the female protagonist gets married? It's because some people are convinced that a girls adventure ends when she is married, and so the movie should end there too. Not everyone gets married, and for those who do it is not The End. Young girls are likely to watch these movies and think that because their favorite characters always get married, then they should too. (For some reason I never felt this way. Instead I always imagined myself as the male protagonists rather than the females. I suppose that could be another topic for discussion because some children will associate with their favorite characters instead of the ones that match their gender.) By refusing to show girls that they have options, you take away bits and pieces of their imagination.

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