Okay.  So I’m turning into my mother. 

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy the humor of Shrek, Chicken Little, and Happy Feet.  It’s clever. 

But is it really necessary to have two heart-warming, endearing characters doing karoake to the Spice Girls “If you want to be my lover”?  Does the sweet heartsong of a penguin really have to include the words “I’ll make love to you like you want me to”?

I guess I just wish we didn’t rush our children to become acclimated to such concepts.  Movies that are marketed for children (even though adults enjoy them too, they ARE marketed for children–that’s what the happy meal toy is for) are becoming more and more britney.jpg“street” in an effort to reach children who are becoming more and more so, I suppose.  But who really cares which came first, the chicken or the egg?  The societal “development” or the marketing strategy?  The marketers are making conscious decisions to perpetuate the cycle.  Check out the Frontline documentary Merchants of Cool to get smacked in the face by the marketing world and it’s relentless manipulation of youth in the name of making a buck.  (By the way, you can watch this doc and many others at freedocumentaries.org)

When I was teaching third grade and began to notice the heavy makeup, short skirts (I don’t care if they’ve got shorts attached underneath…), and big hoop earrings dangling from the ears of 8 year olds, I began to look more closely at what they were watching and being influenced by.  Not that the makers of movies like Shrek are solely responsible, but they do offer enough evidence of the societal values that are changing children.  Thanks MTV.  Goodbye, Never-Never Land.  Cartoons aren’t for kids anymore. 

I hate that the innocence of childhood is nearly extinct nowdays.  Listen to a room of kids sing to themselves while they work intently… you’ll hear “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard” and “My lovely lady lumps” and “You can lick my lollipop”.  I’ve heard kids, kindergartners included, singing all these songs at some point in my teaching career.  Seriously.

Parents have never been more important than they are today.  Their competition is stronger and greedier than ever.

Now I’m going to return to my DVR and watch a documentary about eating disorders.  Wonder where THAT came from.