Readings for 11/29

While I certainly do agree that we need to teach people to consume media critically, I would have to say that the article clearly came with an agenda. The author stated the need for children to "challenge" the standard ideas presented in their entertainment. Instead of challenge, I prefer to think that we should teach our children to be critical. As long as they are thinking about their choices, we should be accepting of the choices they make. Even if that means they choose something we wish they wouldn't. (As a parent, I must state here that as long as my children live in my house I will not permit them to make dangerous choices. But for the rest of them, I share my opinion, present my arguments, and then try to bite my tongue.)

Jill and Julie have both written about how they felt that old media should be shown for what it is: outdated. We can use those old entertainment vehicles to talk about how our attitudes about "others" have changed as well as how much work there is to do. We can talk about how culture influences what we, as a society, create. Rather than encouraging children to rage against the machine (as if because someone else thought of it, it must be bad), we must teach them to be part of the discourse that creates our society. We must teach them that they can also contribute to the art of our society and not just be consumers of it.

Let's face it: much of the things the author is complaining about are the direct result of our current culture. If you reach a certain age and you don't have a spouse, you're judged. If you don't have the right "look," something must be wrong with you. If you can't consume all the junk that's out there to consume, you're not as important. These messages are not always embedded into entertainment in a nefarious plot, but they are part of the fabric of the culture we live in. Sometimes marketing figures into the decision-making, and sometimes the artists simply aren't aware of the biases they bring to the table. That's why critical consuming is important.

While I was reading the article it occurred to me that the teacher could also have brought in written versions of the fairy tales to compare them. In the earliest versions available of fairy tales you can see some of the same stereotypes. It would be great to have some time to talk about why those stereotypes existed and even to bring in some history surrounding when the tales were first written down. The people who did the writing brought their own biases to the stories they recorded from storytellers.

There is a lot of information out there about the media our children consume and the toys they play with. I could go on forever. As I get older though, I get a little more mellow about all the injustices heaped upon our youth by evil corporations. If we don't want it, we need to find something more positive to replace it rather than just complaining about it. I find a lot of parents are unwilling to do that, and it's something outside of my control. It's just too easy to go with the flow. I sign petitions and do what I can to change the flow, but I can really only influence the consumers in my own house.