Inquiry and "To Be and To Have"

     One of the many things that separate childhood from adulthood is inquiry. As children, we are actively inquisitive. We wander in our backyard, looking at the grass and the trees. We find a dead animal, we poke it with a stick. We dig through the rocks in our driveway and when we find a pretty one, we pocket it. Inside, we climb on top of chairs and stools to see what the adults are doing on tabletops and counters.

     However, as we grow older, we seem to lose some of this inquisitiveness. We don't sit in the grass; we sit on a couch. Instead of looking at what is happening on the countertop, we walk past; unless someone is cooking something that smells good, then we stop. As adults, we are still curious, just not to the same degree as when we were children. Instead of exploring the world on our own, we will watch a documentary or something.

    Being inquisitive is how we learn and grow. As children, we do not know much so we are naturally more curious than adults, who know a lot more. So it is important to encourage and reward this inquisitiveness. The media we consumed plays into this natural inquiry that children have. In Macaulay's book, we learn how a cathedral is constructed. Most children would have only seen pictures of cathedrals, so by knowing how they are built can help make them more real. It could also inspire a future architect. I never knew how bells were made, so I found it rather interesting.
     The film we screened, To Be and To Have, focuses on a setting designed to promote and reinforce a child's curiousness: the classroom. Here, the teacher instructs the children in all things from learning how to write to being better people.

     My favorite part of the movie was when the two younger children were trying to use the copier. They had obviously seen their teacher use it, so they knew its basic function. But they had not been instructed on the copier's proper use. But that did not stop them; they were going to figure it out on their own. They put the book down and copied it. Once they realized it did not work, they repositioned the book and tried again. They each had their ideas on what was wrong and through trial and error, they would eventually figure it out.

     This is a prime example of children being inquisitive. They were trying to learn and figure out things on their own. I am reminded of a similar situation from Curious George. George sees the Man with the Yellow Hat use the phone. George decides he wants to try it to and causes a lot of problems. Luckily for the students in To Be and To Have, they were not escorted off to jail for being curious.

     Children are naturally curious. But that slowly goes away was they grow older. Good children's media should kindle this inquiry and keep it burning. Here is a guy saying stuff:

Morality and "The Jungle Book"

     Most children's media contains some kind of moral. And in the case of fairy tales, these  morals were surrounded by violence and adult themes. Many people might think that these stories are too violent to be told to children. However, if we look at these stories in their native context, we may discover that they were very appropriate for children. Historically, children grew up a lot faster then than they do now. Children used to be considered adults as soon as they could work the plow or give birth. And because they grew up quicker, it was necessary that their parents prepare them for adulthood. Many times this was done through the morals and messages in fairy tales.

     In Little Red Riding Hood, a little girl goes to visit her grandmother and gets eaten by a wolf. One moral of this story is to not stray from the path. Another would be to avoid avoid predatory people who would take advantage of you. (We mostly refer to rape, but the moral can be applied to other situations as well, sexual or not).

     In one of the earliest version, Little Red Riding Hood is able to outsmart the wolf and escape. One can see the moral here as "Beware but you are capable." Another version ends with the wolf eating Little Red. The moral seems to be "You are helpless so be careful." And in another version, Little Red is eaten but then is saved by a huntsman. The moral; "You are helpless but someone will save you." And then there is the modern, feminist version where Little Red Riding Hood outsmarts the wolf every step of the way and he can not even keep up.

     Fairy tales and been told and retold for hundreds of years. Many times they are adapted for their current audience. One modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood is the movie Hard Candy, directed by David Slade and released in 2005. This version of the classic story updates the environment and places the wolf as a pedophile, looking for young girls on the internet. But, in this story, Little Red is not some helpless girl, she is just as smart and cunning as the wolf and beats him at his own game.

     Here's an article about how retelling fairy tales shapes their morals.

     The earliest of children's were based around morals and this tradition continues up to this day, as can be seen in The Jungle Book. Mowgli seems to learn a new lesson from every person that he meets. From Baloo, Mowgli learns to not worry about things he has no control over. He learns that not everyone is trustworthy from Kaa. The vultures teach him the importance of friendship; this is further reinforced when Baloo "sacrifices" himself to save Mowgli. From Shere Khan, Mowgli learned the ugly reality that people will hate you for things others have done. And from all of these different characters, and through his adventures through the jungle, Mowgli learned that he cannot be what he is not. He can't be a bear; King Louie can't be a human. But, like many modern fairy tales and stories, The Jungle Book is lighthearted to make it appropriate for children.

     Teaching morals to children has been importance since the first child was born. Many times morals were taught through stories. However, while the morals may have relatively stayed the same, the content of said stories has changed. As childhood has extended, morality stories have contained less adult content and have become more "child friendly."

Class Intro and "Son of Rambow"

     In class we talked about some of our favorite children's media and what makes for good children's media. The media I chose was the book series called Animorphs written by K.A. Applegate. It is about teenagers who gain the ability to turn into any animal they touch. They use this power to fight off an invading alien force called the Yeerks. The Yeerks are parasitic slugs that take control of others' bodies; these people are called Controllers. It was written for a 9-12 year old audience. This was by far my favorite series as a kid. It was so exciting to see kids turn into animals and fight aliens. It captured my imagination like nothing else.

     I recently reread the series. And I was pleasantly surprised at how they held up. True, the writing is a little immature, but then again it wasn't meant for college students. But the characters and stories were engaging. However, the thing that stood out to me, and which is why I think it is an example of good children's media, is the complex and adult issues it tackles. I did not pick up on any of these as a kid, but they were there; they had to have connected with me subconsciencely or something. But the series deals with things such as war and the horrors and the consequences of it; morality, innocence, freedom, etc.

     In my favorite book The Departure Cassie ends up lost in the wilderness with a Controller named Karen. Until now, the Yeerks have been painted as pure evil. But in this book, we see that not all Yeerks are the same and that they are not all "evil." They are parasites, and that's what parasites do. Karen asks what makes a predator better than a parasite? A lot of them are against taking hosts involuntary are forming a rebellion.

     The Animorphs series is good children's media because it takes adult themes and makes them accessible to a younger audience.

     Animorphs deals with children becoming adults because they are forced into war. Son of Rambow also deals with the subject of kids becoming grown-ups, but in a different way. In the film, Will wants to watch movies and hang out with the wrong crowd. However, his overbearing religious mother prevents him.

     While the film overtly deals with strict, conservative religion, I could not help but see it as a stand in for adulthood. Will wants to play and watch movies. But, his mother and the brotherhood are against this type of entertainment. They want Will to give it up. As children, we play and are encouraged to be creative. But, as we grow older, we give up this type of entertainment in order to have jobs and fulfill social responsibilities. As adults, it is not really acceptable to play and have fun, for those are childish things. Like Paul said: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

     Animorphs deals with the loss of childhood when children are forced into adult situations. Their innocence is taken away. I feel like that Son of Rambow laments the loss of imagination and creativity that accompanies growing up.