Jay and I went on the BEST date night this past weekend. We went to his cousins basketball game, went out for tapas/dinner and then went to see the Lorax in 3D. Jay is the best, he went to the theater ahead of time - got the tickets and the glasses - the movie has had a lot of hype and I was slightly concerned about seating (grateful for a partner who eases my mind). Aside from the fantastic date night, the main point is the move: The Lorax.
Brief Lorax and Dr. Seuss History:
The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler. As in most Dr. Seuss works, most of the creatures mentioned are original to the book. (From Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lorax
Dr. Seuss: March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer, poet, andcartoonist most widely known for his children's books. His first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected 27 times.
A few opinions I have of the film: (Considering this for publication too) This is my ROUGHH draft I wrote in 17 minutes.
The Lorax: Signs of Sexism and Sizeism.
Disney continues to teach our youth it is acceptable to
discriminate again women and fat people.
Some of you are thinking, common can’t we just enjoy the
movie? Well, yes. BUT, I think the movie would have been better without the
discriminating aspects. The point of the movie is phenomenal and clearly Dr.
Seuss was beyond his years when he originally wrote the Lorax over 50 years
ago. He obviously saw things that we did not (still do not clearly see), he
truly was an innovator. He felt strongly enough about his stories that he
pushed through rejection of publishers saying, ‘children will not want to read
this kind of stuff”. Well, they
were wrong and so is Disney for putting certain characters in poor light.
Breaking down sex barriers:
You wouldn’t hit a woman?
What? That’s a woman??
This scene of the movie shows that it is unacceptable for a woman to be tall,
aggressive, commanding, large, round or with a deep voice because you might be
considered a man if you are!! The Lorax (Orange character) here is discriminating against this woman and
assumed she was a man because of her height, commanding nature, size and shape.
RUDE. Disney common, you are the leaders of children movies! Can you realize
what type of messages you are sending to our youth? It is OK to make fun of
those who are different. Is it??? NO it is not. How do you think a young,
round, deep voiced girl would feel about herself after watching this?
I am not saying
that all Disney movies are so blatantly disrespectful and I do very much appreciate
that Disney used different body types, shapes and sizes in this film. However,
I wonder if that was influenced from Dr. Seuss and his depiction of the
characters from the book? Regardless of where that came from I think it is
great to show characters of all size, shape and color….even though this one was
lacking the ethnicity diversity. Showing that in order to be accepted you have
to be white…. Yikes.
And yes, I do recognize that the movie is an adaptation of
the book so all aspects will not be the same.
And Yes, I am hypersensitive to this topic because it is
what I study. For a moment, place yourself in the shoes of someone who is made
fun of for being different, in this case fat or unidentified with a certain gender.
It does not feel good. Once our movies, magazines, television shows,
newspapers, media and society as a whole stops discriminating against those who
are colored, large and transgendered the laughter will continue.
Last soap box: Sizeism. Not OK in my book. This move repeatedly
makes fun of the talles, largest, roundest and fattest member of the bear
family. Look at this picture below where the bears are eating marshmallows.
Notice who happens to have a mouthful while the others do not?
What assumption do you make about the bear with his
mouthful? Maybe he overeats? He is lazy and stupid in comparison to the other
bears? I don’t know about you but I know plenty of small bears (metaphorically
speaking of course) that eat a ton of marshmallows (again metaphorically) and
they are lazy and stupid but no one would ever assume that about them because
they are small. One more photo
from the movie…..
The Lorax opens the refrigerator to find, yet again, the
fattest bear in their eating sticks of butter. Really? Why the fat bear? Take a
second and ask yourself is this funny? If yes, why? This is really stereotyping
people who are fat and saying that ALL they do is sit around and eat fat.
Again, I don’t know abut you but I know large people who are active and don’t eat
sticks of butter all day. I hate this message of if you are fat this is what we
(Disney and the rest of society) thinks you do. My dream is to show fat people and fat bears in a better
light. The movie would have been just as good without these scenes that reinforce
the negative stereotypes of women and fat people.
I guess in a way I feel like I am speaking for those who
cannot or will not be heard. Each of us, in our own way, cares a whole awful
lot and if there is no action to better the world, nothing is going to get
better. So simply put, thank you Dr. Suess. Next time you watch a movie, be
aware of what you are laughing at and ask yourself, why is this funny? Am I
laughing at someone else’s expense?
Stepping of my soap box for a few days… Love you! Thanks for
listening
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