Tuesday, July 1, 2008

pixar saves our youth from existential meltdown


my childhood relationship with film consists mainly of memories of disney animated films, with some star wars, batman, and wizard of oz mixed in, but for the most part, its safe to say most young adults these days are working off a youth filled with disney princesses, songs of love to come, and princes saving the rescue.
I know, its been said a million times over how problematic the fiction revolving around valiant princes and damsels in distress can be.




(If you aren't familiar- these stories promote the image of the helpless, thin, attractive, young woman who can do nothing but wait for a man to save her and close the drama of her existence with a kiss and marriage; meanwhile, men are given the sporty, heroic, strapping, young, handsome man whose sole purpose in life is to rule other people and save women who can't help themselves.... of course, its more complicated than this, but i digress)


BUT with the opening of WALL-E this past weekend and all the talk of PIXAR flooding the media, it dawned on me that perhaps one of the reasons this company is so great for children (and adults) today is their offering of animated films that focus our attention on issues perhaps more urgent, more age-appropriate (?), or dare I say, less psyche-damaging than the constant barrage of love stories and fantasies that have historically worked along side romantic comedies for ages, pushing the idea that a woman's troubles are all solved by a man and a marriage.
So, in this brief entry, I just want to say thank you to PIXAR for kicking Disney's ass.






This, of course, is not to say that I love some Little Mermaid from time to time.

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