07 May, 2008
Good film is brain food
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Easy ways to make kids happy|Ottawa|Yaktivism
I was thrilled to learn about the coming international independent children’s film festival here in Ottawa. I really want to check out a few of the films although I’m not sure how we’re going to squeeze them all in. (Here’s a PDF of the program.) If you can go, please go. These kinds of children’s films aren’t available at your neighbourhood Blockbuster, which is sad, because they should be. Great films should be a part of every kid’s cultural repertoire.When the weather is nasty (like, HALF THE YEAR) Friday nights are Family Movie Night around here. This usually includes pizza too. The girls love it. I love it.
Mark and I are big film buffs, although slightly different kinds of film buffs. I’m the kind who doesn’t remember who directed what or can properly identify the actors. I get too involved in the films. I am always the first to feel the lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, hide my face in a pillow or laugh out loud. Mark knows the big directors. He has been way more films than I have and was a regular at the Bytowne. As a person who works in the television industry I think his appreciation of All Things Cinema goes beyond mine in terms of technical production as well.
Finding good films for kids can be challenging. Let’s begin with Disney Princesses. I have mixed feelings about the Disney princesses. Disney films are gorgeous. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, they are a sight to behold. They are works of art in their own right. I love fairy tales, and I have a special place in my heart for these films. But on the flip side, I also think there is such a thing as Too Much Princess. Letting your kid watch The Princess Collection (the three I mentioned above plus Jasmine; Ariel; Pochahontas; and Mulan, although the latter is a stretch) can’t be good for their brains and for their social development. Can it? My kids watch movies in an total all-absorbing slackjaw position. I can tell that everything coming out of the television set washes over them and settles into their pores like molasses. And because of this, I’ve always had a secret fear that my girls are going to grow up with a princess complex, happily sitting by and waiting for Prince Charming to ride up on horseback and whisk them away to a life of luxury and bliss.
(Does anyone else find it strange that, upon awakening, Snow White didn’t ask any questions of the guy who just kissed her? No, ”who are you,” or ”what happened,” or ”what day is it,” or ”why are those seven little guys standing over there are staring at me?” I mean really!)
I don’t want to read too too much into it. One a more rational level I know it’s just a film. But as I said, there is such a thing as too much.
Other kids movies – and I think I’m safe to say that when I say MOST I mostly mean U.S productions – lean towards the cheap & plenty model and are rather pitiful and predictable in the plot department. I find it pretty annoying, actually. The plots of these can be summarized thusly: (1) There are some fun-loving kids. (2) There is some kind of conflict. (3) The kids have to go up against an adult ”bad guy.” It’s kid vs. grown up! (4) And by the end, the kid triumphs over bad guy grown-up and everyone lives happily ever after.
It hasn’t always been the rule, but Family Movie Night usually includes a selection we can all enjoy. I can’t think of all the great films we’ve seen, but some of them include: Horton Hears a Who, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Chicken Run (we’re big Nick Park fans), March of the Penguins, and Spirited Away.
Japanese animated films are a wonderful way of exposing your children to a different culture and everything that comes with that (”Mum, is she eating rice for breakfast?”). In these films (well, the ones we’ve seen) the children have a different relationship with their parents and a greater respect for elders. Their worlds are a little more magical, and include sprites and spirits, witches and curses, and there are no anvils falling on unsuspecting heads. A great place to start would be with My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and Whisper of the Heart have all been great.
I think foreign films – fiction or non – give us a valuable opportunity to see what other people are thinking and feeling and give us a good brain scrubbing. And if we want to raise open-minded children we have to make sure their movie diet includes something other than wonderbread Miley Cyrus or the Olsen twins.
What say you?
