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What We Have Learned From Media: Part 3

Disney Is The Root Of All Evil

You may not realize this, but Disney is the dark underbelly of a depressed teenage culture. In my internship (in which I am producing a video yearbook for high school students) the kids had a chance to make a presentation of some kind for a film festival. Overall, about 8 schools partook, each school making one project. What were the projects about? Every one was about one thing: depression. Three or more had drug and alcohol use. Five or more had death. One had an unwanted pregnancy. Every single one had a teenager in high school reaping the rewards of a world bent on their personal destruction. There was not one uplifting video of any kind. After the fourth scene where a guy looks in a bathroom mirror and then splashes water on his face and looks into the mirror with a look of utter desperation/devastation I started to feel a little bit embarrassed. But why? What is causing all this depression among kids who have nothing to be depressed about?

Disney.

Let's take a look at the premise of Finding Nemo, a recent Disney film. Happy family loving each other. Mom is brutally killed. Kid is kidnapped and dad must search for him. Kid is only consoled through the help of his wacky friends pursuing crazy antics.

Let's look at Bambi. Happy family. Mom is brutally killed. Kid must cope through wacky friends pursuing crazy antics.

Let's look at The Fox and the Hound. Happy family. Mom is brutally killed. Kid must cope through wacky friends pursuing crazy antics.

Let's look at The Lion King. Happy family. Dad is brutally killed. Kid must cope through wacky friends pursuing crazy antics.

Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Best, Dumbo, Lilo and Stitch......dead mothers.

So we have kids growing up on Disney (and basically all kids are) and they are not only constantly subjected to "getting used to" the idea of having parents brutally killed, but then they are told that they can make it on their own with the help of some fun and crazy friends who will sing and dance and make all the pain go away. I'm not sure who decided that the basic premise of every Disney film would be devastating tragedy...and then COMEDY!!! WEEE!!! No wonder kids are so depressed. We wean our children on death and destruction and then teach them to rely purely on their friends since parents are never in the picture.

I think when I have kids I will raise them solely on the entertainment of sock puppets.
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