January 2013 - Jessica Marquis

10:01 PM

Week 3 - Inquiry

During our discussions of morality in children’s media, we observed how there is a common belief that children are born either good or evil. They are either the victims of the original sin, and therefore need to be corrected, or they are perfect, celestial beings and can do no sin. During our discussion of inquiry, on the other hand, we discovered that another opinion is that children are born completely neutral. John Locke stated that children are blank slates that need to be informed. The more knowledge they accumulate, the more human they become.

The clip we viewed from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was my favorite viewing this week. I remembered watching the “How to Make Crayons” segment when I was a little kid, and I was so surprised that I recalled it so clearly. This clip was a good example of inquiry in children’s media, because it was purely informational and educational. As someone mentioned in class, the difference between this and the didactic moral tales is that this video just informs how crayons are made, not teaching children to use this knowledge for good or evil.

We viewed Chang (1927) in class, and it fit with this inquiry topic well. Inquiry tends to be documentary-ish in nature, because it is pertaining to teaching. Chang was a really interesting film that informed what life was like at the time in the jungle of Siam, but it wasn’t purely informational like the Seahorse film. It was a narrative about a family, and their means of surviving in the jungle amidst wild animals. In this respect, it was similar to the lemming clip we viewed, though Chang didn’t feel as manipulative or subjective. While the film was educational as to worldly knowledge, I felt that it combined moral values as well. It showed the importance of family, community, and love. Inquiry can be strictly to teach, but I feel that it can also have moral worth as well, and Chang was a good example of that balance.

During our discussions, a book I read as a kid called “Germs Make Me Sick” by Melvin Berger came to mind.

The entire book has a purpose of teaching kids about bacteria and viruses, and how they make us sick. I always enjoyed books that taught new things that were so foreign to me.

At the very end of the book it teaches kids how to not get sick, and how to live a healthier lifestyle. In this respect, the book also has morals to it. It encourages children to take the things they’ve learned and apply them for good. Like “How to Make Crayons,” this book is informative and educational. Like Chang, this book takes practical knowledge and encourages good morals and actions to come as a result.

I agree with Locke’s views that knowledge is acquired by degrees. Knowledge is all we take with us into the next life, so it is incredibly important to gain as much as we can. I believe that this type of media is essential to children’s development, and adult development as well. It is never too late to learn something, and media is a wonderful tool.

8:28 PM

Week 2 - Morality

Jiminy Cricket: Now, you see, the world is full of temptations.

Pinocchio: Temptations?

Jiminy Cricket: yep, temptations. They’re the wrong things that seem right at the time, but even though the right things may seem wrong sometimes, or sometimes the wrong things may be right at the wrong time, or visa versa. Understand?

In our discussion of morality, we discussed archetypes in fairytales. Characters in these stories are either completely bad or completely good. We talked about the Big Bad Wolf that appears in so many fairytales as a representation of what society fears. We also discussed how so much of children’s media’s purpose is to teach kids right and wrong. When the characters are morally polarized, children are able to see more clearly the stories' teachings.

This video, The Man with a Turnip for a Head from HitRECord.org, fits with some of our discussion this week.

This story’s moral is stated at the end. “One cannot win when ashamed of one’s natural quirks… so parade them with pride.” Just like the Red Riding Hood fairytales we read in class, this story has a teaching purpose, but the moral has evolved to fit with what we are concerned with in the here and now. Just like the fairytales that addressed the fears of when they were written, this story reflects a very current concern. The story also fits the traditional fairytale structure, but the subject matter isn’t traditional, like one of the classic fairytales.

We watched Pinocchio this week during our discussion of morality in media. This is a coming-of-age tale. It’s a story following Pinocchio as he grows up, encounters trials, and overcomes them, until he finally becomes a real boy. Pinocchio obviously has several morals. Some of these include the importance of telling the truth, and learning right from wrong. I felt that in this story about growing up, the villains weren’t necessarily out to get Pinocchio. All of them were in it for their own personal gain. I thought this made it even more a didactic story about making good choices, instead of a classic fairytale. The villains in Pinocchio were just representations of adversity that will inevitably come in our lives; it is unlikely that our “villains” will be out solely to destroy us.

I enjoyed the W.W. Charters quote we read in class, and I thought it was a good summary of the purpose of morality in children's media. Media does have a huge appeal to children, and such a huge part of that media for children deals with right and wrong. I like to believe that children are affected and shaped by the pictures they see, and that by being exposed to media, such as these morality stories, they will be affected for good.

Week 3 - Inquiry

Week 2 - Morality

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