Happy Feet? ... Not So Much

Food for thought:

NPR aired an interesting piece by Michel Martin about what is "wrong" with the kids’ movie Happy Feet (you know the cute animated penguin movie? where they dance, dance, dance? and in fact, their dancing is what saves them?). It’s posted on NPR’s web site, and I thought I’d share it with you.

Did she “overanalyze” the movie? Or express some valid insights?

Here are some of her points:

What's troubling about it, if indeed a kiddie movie about penguins can be said to be troubling, is the suggestion that the penguins weren't saved from starvation and extinction because they had intrinsic worth ... but rather, they deserved to be saved because they were entertaining.

... Entrenched interests reflexively fight any suggestion about changing the status quo for kids, especially kids who aren't making it ... We care about the cute ones, the smart ones, the little Dakota Fannings and Tiger Woodses, the little Olympic gymnasts, the little perfect SAT scorers, the precocious Oprahs-in-training ... But the rest, well, maybe next lifetime, kid.

Read the full article here, and if "comments" are 'closed' (an annoying feature of the NPR site), feel free to comment here!