Happy Feet
We went to see Happy Feet today. I can’t really say too much. It’s obviously a kids movie. Taken very lightly I guess it’s pretty good. It’s funny, it’s lively, it’s got all the right elements for this type of film. The problem I have with it is laced in it’s assumptions and, frankly, indoctrination. Like I said, it’s obviously a kids movie. It’s targeted at kids. So, the problem I have is the inclusion of some things that are pulled in. The first thing that caught my attention was the opening chorus where they had a brief inclusion of “Let’s talk about X”, where “X” replaces the original word. No need to get little kids singing along only to prematurely discover the real lyrics and start asking the wrong questions. The second thing that caught my attention was the seal that chased Mambo up to where he meets the little penguins. It’s a “bad” seal that wants to eat him. This seal is portrayed as a cold blooded killer that is strong, fast, and has a strong resemblance to to African ethnicity. Even the character’s voice sounds such. I think they could have just made the character scary without implicating any particular race or ethnicity. The seal was African, the skua were Italian, the overbearing Emperor Penguin leader was Scottish. Also, regarding the Emperor Penguin leader, the implication made is that believing in religion is bad/wrong/stupid/backward/etc. I just couldn’t believe they did that. The final thing is the overall “moral” imperative that says we should stop fishing in Antarctic waters and that everywhere man goes is bad. In fact the whole portrayal of man as bad and stupid is awfully anthropocentric. It’s also a gross oversimplification of what issues are involved. If it was as simple as expressing that we should be careful with our trash, fine. I think that was expressed well enough. But they take it further, far beyond what kids need to try and comprehend. I’m not saying kids are stupid, not at all, I’m saying we shouldn’t have them worrying about that stuff yet. Let kids be kids for a while. This film seems to diminish that.
