The film Pinocchio stands as one of my earliest memories of interacting with cinema as a child. It is, personally, one of my absolute favorite children's films. One thing that has been a consistent awe to me in this class so far is how different the take-aways are in adulthood when compared to childhood. As a kid, and this is my current mind scraping the barrel for remembrances of what my child brain thought, this film was a colorful, light-hearted journey with a puppet. It's strange to watch the film now and not only re-live the things I felt as a kid but to experience something different altogether.
The morality side of children's media is something that has always existed. Our readings focused on the origins of fairy tales and different versions of one tale and how each presented their own ideologies. I believe that the didacticism of children's media is something that it kind of has to have. Where Son of Rambow lacked a bit of strong moral themes, it did still teach some sort of lesson about creativity and the importance of understanding within family members.
Pinocchio, on the other hand, teaches distinct and clear morals about right and wrong. It tells the child in big bold letters: DON'T DO THIS, and DO THIS. There are direct consequences and they are terrible and horrible. As a kid, the image that had been burned onto my brain was the one of a boy turning into a donkey. That fear of turning into a donkey if I did anything wrong remained with me for longer than it should have. So one tactic that Pinocchio seems to take on is a sort of 'scared straight' one. This was, and is, extremely effective. Even watching the film now, as an adult, it remains a terrifying image and event. I like that the film is able to elicit that same response in adults and children.
I know I mentioned before that the experience as a child can be different than the experience as an adult might have while watching a film. The thing that is remarkable about Pinocchio is that I feel like the experience was mostly the same. I got the same messages from the film when I was a kid as I did just last week. The difference is that now, as an adult, I understand the apparatus. I can see what's at work and how. As a kid, all you take in is the sequence of events and the emotions you're left with. You still understand, you still make meaning, you are just unaware of how.
That's kind of important, I think.
The morality side of children's media is something that has always existed. Our readings focused on the origins of fairy tales and different versions of one tale and how each presented their own ideologies. I believe that the didacticism of children's media is something that it kind of has to have. Where Son of Rambow lacked a bit of strong moral themes, it did still teach some sort of lesson about creativity and the importance of understanding within family members.
Pinocchio, on the other hand, teaches distinct and clear morals about right and wrong. It tells the child in big bold letters: DON'T DO THIS, and DO THIS. There are direct consequences and they are terrible and horrible. As a kid, the image that had been burned onto my brain was the one of a boy turning into a donkey. That fear of turning into a donkey if I did anything wrong remained with me for longer than it should have. So one tactic that Pinocchio seems to take on is a sort of 'scared straight' one. This was, and is, extremely effective. Even watching the film now, as an adult, it remains a terrifying image and event. I like that the film is able to elicit that same response in adults and children.
I know I mentioned before that the experience as a child can be different than the experience as an adult might have while watching a film. The thing that is remarkable about Pinocchio is that I feel like the experience was mostly the same. I got the same messages from the film when I was a kid as I did just last week. The difference is that now, as an adult, I understand the apparatus. I can see what's at work and how. As a kid, all you take in is the sequence of events and the emotions you're left with. You still understand, you still make meaning, you are just unaware of how.
That's kind of important, I think.
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