Being a mother of a two year old I watch a lot of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it is currently my daughter's favorite. I have begun to notice that this cartoon which is supposed to be teaching my child good things often sets bad examples. After having watched "Donald's Lost Lion" four or five times I began to be disturbed by the fact that Donald Duck has run around with Sparky his stuffed lion reeking havoc and apparently moving on to the next victim. [He causes Daisy to lose her sunglasses, Minnie's cat Figaro to run up a tree, and Goofy to break his surf board.] When we come in on the story Donald has lost Sparky and Mickey Mouse is aiding him in his search.
I can't help comparing Donald's search to Earl's attempts to change his karma in "My Name is Earl". He must go around repairing the damage he has done before he can find Sparky. Which I suppose is a good lesson for children to learn, but still I can't help thinking that it would be a better lesson if Donald had apologized and shown remorse when he actually caused the damage. It seems to me that the only reason he ends up helping repair the damage he has caused is because Mickey Mouse is helping him search for Sparky. I can offer plenty of other examples of undesirable behavior being re-enforced by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but that might take all day.
Perhaps the lesson to be learned here is that adults are not meant to watch these cartoons.
I have a lot of problems with cartoons and so-called "kids' shows" - heck, look at Disney's The Lion King. You have fratricide and all sorts of horrible things going on! The Little Mermaid? She sells her soul to be with a man. I could keep going but I won't.
ReplyDeleteI agree and have often had problems with children's shows as well. Disney and fairy tales in general do not always paint a very nice picture of women in my opinion. Most of the time they kill off the mother in the stories and there's always an evil step mother in the mix. Yeah maybe kids shows are best left to the kids :)
ReplyDeleteI have HUGE issues with the Disney Princesses. I mean they are pretty much all have only an absentee father and an evil mother figure. I was very happy when Tinkerbell came out because Tink is a strong female who conquers difficulties with the help of her friends. HUGE issues!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously I am beginning to think that Disney is not as child friendly as they would like us to think. I usually DVR episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and have recently taken to deleting the worst offenders...such as the episode where Mickey, Goofy, and Donald try to steal Boo Boo Chicken back from Willy the Giant after he bought it fair and square. Try as I might I just couldn't find any redeeming qualities in that episode.
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