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Happy Feet
To keep "Movie Theater Etiquette" on topic, I created this thread about this seriously fucked up movie that I had the pleasure of seeing today.
Check out this for more, but here's just a run-down:
From the article
"Well what if I were to tell you that the overall metaphor, that the overall themes of Happy Feet are that of A) there is nothing wrong with individuality, that society can actually benefit from it,
the ecological devastation unknowingly caused by man on the environment and the need to stop it, C) the evils of keeping animals in captivity, D) it being okay to defy your elders for the sake of “the truth†and, oh yeah, E) The evils of religion. Wait, what? Back up a second. Did I read that right? The…evils…of religion?"
Weather or not I believe in these statements is irrelevant. But the way they are presented in this film, I have a serious problem with. This movie is supposed to be about penguins dancing and singing to R n' B, not environmentalism. Now, if they had just kept it as a sub-plot, then it would have been fine. But no. The first 45 minute: Mindless penguin joy. Last 45: A disturbing, dark, and twisted view of humanity.
And these ideas aren't even hidden. They are plainly put out there in dark spiraling montages. They really went too far.
So, by all means, go see Happy Feet. Witness it for yourself.
Check out this for more, but here's just a run-down:
From the article
"Well what if I were to tell you that the overall metaphor, that the overall themes of Happy Feet are that of A) there is nothing wrong with individuality, that society can actually benefit from it,
the ecological devastation unknowingly caused by man on the environment and the need to stop it, C) the evils of keeping animals in captivity, D) it being okay to defy your elders for the sake of “the truth†and, oh yeah, E) The evils of religion. Wait, what? Back up a second. Did I read that right? The…evils…of religion?"Weather or not I believe in these statements is irrelevant. But the way they are presented in this film, I have a serious problem with. This movie is supposed to be about penguins dancing and singing to R n' B, not environmentalism. Now, if they had just kept it as a sub-plot, then it would have been fine. But no. The first 45 minute: Mindless penguin joy. Last 45: A disturbing, dark, and twisted view of humanity.
And these ideas aren't even hidden. They are plainly put out there in dark spiraling montages. They really went too far.
So, by all means, go see Happy Feet. Witness it for yourself.
Comments
If you aren't a little kid, or you don't have a kid of your own, why are you wasting your time watching this kind of movie? If you disagree with the message of the movie, don't take your kid to see it. Even so, I bet that most elementary school kids will only think one thing upon seeing this film, and that is "yay penguins!" It's just like that episode of Powerpuff Girls where Mojo Jojo is going to get butt-raped in prison. The joke went right over the heads of the intended audience, but it provided some laughs for parents and babysitters watching with their kids.
Conclusion, this isn't a big deal. Who cares?
Also, a joke may go right over the head of an intended audience because it is quickly begun and quickly finished. This drags on for the whole second half of the movie.
It is easy to think that someone with a claim about a kids movie like this is "reading to much into it". But trust me, this is different.
Maybe I shouldn't care. I mean, I'm just a teenager who was dragged to see it with his parents because they thought the penguins were cute. And Robin Williams was rather hilarious. But Scott, there is absolutely no reason for you to care. By the time that generation is ruling the world, you will be old and won't care about how the rest of the race handles it, or maybe you'll be dead. But then why would their parents care? They have nothing to loose, they'll be almost done before they get too much of a chance to screw up the world. Now that you mention it, I can't find any reason to not let a 5 year old play GTA, or watch any of the Saw movies! Thanks Scott! Now I'm gonna go and tell my 9 year old cousin that it's ok to kill!
...
Sorry, I was trying to make a point. Kids are not stupid. They take in every influence that they are given to form their personality, philosophy, and themselves. Now, Scott, if you can find one conclusive study that movies do not influence children in any way, I'll take back everything I said.
...
Damn, that turned into an angry post. Forgive me. It resembles my new favorite picture.
I...liked Captain Planet as a child. I'm pretty sure I still know all the lyrics to the theme song.
Happy Feet's trailers not having a hint of the socio-political critique to come is somewhat sneaky, I think, but since when have trailers been entirely honest about movie content? The really young kids might take something away from it but it won't make much difference unless many other media outlets are putting out the same message and the slightly older kids will catch on easily and make derisive comments about it. No biggie.
As it stands right now there is evidence for both sides, so we can't give a complete answer without more research. What we definitely can say is that there are kids who see all sorts of stuff and turn out fine. There are kids who don't see anything and turn out crazy. There are kids who play GTA and then kill someone. There are kids who don't play GTA and turn out fine. Based on those facts alone it is only logical to conclude that the influence of the media is not the only factor going into changing kids minds. They used to say Rock and Roll and bubble gum were teh evil, look how that turned out. If you're a good parent, some penguin movie is the least of your worries.
Oh, god, I hope I'm not turning teh evilz batshitz crazies!