The values of the world around us change constantly. While the moral, “Be a good person,” stays the same, what it means to be a good person changes over time. The only other moral that remains a constant throughout all the changes in society is that of true love. In most every children’s movie the good guy wins and love prevails (with the exception of the 1980’s The Last Unicorn). No one is willing to teach children that the good guys don’t always win and love doesn’t always work out. By watching television and movies a child can learn all sorts of things about what is acceptable. How does a person learn to be a good person? They learn it from what they are told as well as the world around them.
The 1950’s was an era of being perfect. The children were supposed to be helpful, families didn’t fight, and women were perfect. Even though TV was just getting started back in the nineteen fifties a lot of values can be found in the shows of that period. The children of the fifties grew up with shows like Lassie, Flash Gordon, or The Lone Ranger. They went to go see movies such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Lady and the Tramp (movies still commonly watched today). From these movies and shows kids learned all sorts of things. Kids who grew up watching Lassie learned that they should work hard and help out (maybe even warn someone if Jimmy falls down a well). From Lady and the Tramp despite learning that Siamese cats are evil, children learn that even the people on the fringes of society aren’t necessarily that bad, and that a person can change. From Sleeping Beauty and Snow White the girls learned that their prince will come to their rescue, while at the same time boys learned that they should go to their princess’s rescue.
The teenagers of today grew up with slightly less innocent shows. On television they watched Hey Arnold, Pokémon (the original), and Rugrats. In the theater and on VHS they watched The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. From Hey Arnold they learned that the girl who hates them probably has a hidden shrine of them in her closet. By watching Rugrats we learned the spirit of adventure and that it doesn’t have to be far from home. From almost any Disney film they watched they learned about love. They learned that you shouldn’t judge someone based on their looks from Beauty and the Beast, while at the very same time learning that all young women are beautiful (even if they just got attacked by a pack of wolves). It’s also learned that girls shouldn’t like someone just because all the other perfectly attractive girls in the town (all with blond hair) are going crazy over his biceps. With Aladdin they learned that even a “street rat” can find love, as well as learning from Jasmine that girls shouldn’t just marry the first guy that comes along and asks. From The Little Mermaid they learned that they should always follow their hearts and even when things take a turn for the worst it will all work out. And at the same time it is unintentionally taught that it’s okay to defy their parents in situations of love.
The tiny children of today have very little black and white in their media. They watch films such as Tangled and Megamind. By watching Tangled, children learn that the good guys always win, anyone can find love, and the looks don’t determine the person. The scene in the Snuggly Duckling shows that even the most terrifying looking people can overall be good. This generation of Disney movies is one where the villains don’t always look creepy. With the witch, children see that with a little help a main villain can looks just like any other person. In Megamind the “villain” turns out to be the hero and the “hero” he created turned out to be the villain. That creepy guy holding an axe might just be cutting wood. Same goes for the guy with the chainsaw. That sweet old lady that gives you money for mowing her lawn might actually be plotting to take over the world. The children’s movies of today are all about not judging and realizing that not everything is as it seems.
The older the children’s movie is the less shades of gray there are. In an old film such as the Wizard of Oz the bad guy is clearly defined with the characteristics of hideous green skin, a terrifying laugh and a black robe; while the good guys are defined with light clothing, beauty, and even a magic bubble. As you get closer to the present, the shades of grey increase, in the opening scene of Aladdin, the main character is being chased by the palace guards, but the villain still has a creepy look about him and even a laugh that shows his villainous nature. Get even closer to the present and films such as Despicable Me, where the main character is a villain out to steal the moon. The witch in Tangled only looks creepy when she’s old and even then she doesn’t look and creepier than an average old person. All of sudden villains don’t look like something that crawled out of swamp. They look like normal people or even if they have blue skin (Megamind) they turn out to be a good guy, while the actual hero decided that he wasn’t going to be one anymore because it got boring. No more are the villains required to be creepy looking and the heroes gorgeous.
The overall idea of a moral stays the same, but what makes that moral might change. The ideas true love and being a good person will always be there, but what it means to be a good person and what true love is change constantly. Without a doubt half the ideas a person has about love and morals come from the shows they watched as a small child.
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