Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Linda Christensen talks about the deeper meanings and messages behind cartoons and how they influence children. Christensen wants us to analyze the cartoons that we see on tv and the movies that children watch to find the racism, sexism, and the attitudes towards rich and poor people. Christensen wants people to come to terms with the way they have been manipulated, even as children, to accept social norms and common stereotypes.

“When we read children's books, we aren't just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated.”

I thought this was a powerful statement. Especially because at first glance it sounds completely paranoid. Youths being manipulated by literature? But, reading is good, right? We're supposed to read Sleeping Beauty to kids before bed. Thinking of children's stories as anything more than entertainment seems silly to some people.

It's when you take a closer look at some of the things that we've seen or read as children when things become kind of scary.

Reading this article automatically reminded me of Sunflower the Centaur from Fantasia. The scene featuring Sunflower is now banned, and was first removed during the editing for the re-release in the late 60's.

This is the YouTube Link where the video of Sunflower can be found. You only have to watch the first minute to see how she's portrayed.


“Kenneth noticed that people of color and poor people are either absent or servants to the rich, white, pretty people.”

The Pastoral Symphony is a short musical piece in the Fantasia collection which shows many pretty light skinned (and furred, I guess) centaurs just relaxing and getting pampered by cherubs. And one of the centaurs has a little black centaur, named Sunflower, as a servant to shine her hooves and puts flowers in her hair.



This is Sunflower. Need I say more? The exaggerated features are meant to be offensive, not to be a creative portrayal of a black centaur.


“Tyler pointed out that the roles of men are limited as well. Men must be virile and wield power or be old and the object of “good-natured” humor.”

Wow, right on the spot with this cartoon.

The cherubs see handsome, light skinned (furred) male centaurs coming and try to make the vain female centaurs even more beautiful by fixing their hair just right and adding things like fancy hats. The female centaurs are completely obsessed with how they look, you can tell just by the way that they act.

The male centaurs are handsome and confident and all handle themselves as if they could be prices or men of power. They all act the same, just like the females do. They're the same character painted different colors.

When the male centaurs come, another disturbing thing happens.


The centaurs pair up. Except, they don't just flirt and pair up and fall in love, the pinkish red male centaur goes after the pink female centaur. The blue male centaur goes after the blue female centaur, and the two centaurs with yellow hair get together. What does this tell kids? Well, it tells them that the best match is someone who looks the most like you. Which, if possible, makes the portrait of Sunflower even worse. They're not just saying that darker skinned people are beneath lighter skinned people, but also implying that there shouldn't be any romantic relations between people who are different.



Later in the cartoon, a fat drunken man is brought in by the centaurs. He acts very foolishly and flirts with the female centaurs. This just brings us back to the “old and the object of “good-natured” humor.” He isn't handsome or very young and he's fat, but he engages in humorous activities like chasing around the female centaurs and trying to dance with them.

I focused my response to the reading mainly on one example that I think is exactly the kind of message that Christensen wants people to be aware of. If you were to ask parents straight out

“Would you encourage teaching your child that black people are beneath white people, that beauty is the most valuable thing a woman can have, that men have to be powerful and strong in order to attract a pretty woman, that old fat men drink a lot and like to flirt with younger woman, and that dating should be strictly limited to the people who are the most like yourself?”

do you think they would support most of those ideas? Probably not. Any parent who does needs to take FNED 345 at RIC. I think that's what Christensen is trying to say. We don't support many of these messages verbally, so it's time to start finding the hidden messages that are being sent to children so that we can stop them.

I don't think that telling a little girl not to watch Cinderella is the right thing to do either. Let her watch it. Then TALK to her about it. Explain how people used to think about woman, and how she should think of herself. I think once every little girl is told that being a princess doesn't have to be their biggest wish, many more creative ideas will open up to them.

The same goes for all the little boys out there who were screamed at for even picking up a Barbie doll. It's ridiculous and poor little boys have it the worst. At least little girls can get away with playing with trucks if they want to, male children are so limited to the things that they're supposed to like that it's sickening.