Children and Mass Media

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Tangled

The movie we decided to watch and analyze is Tangled. We choose this movie because there are many things that happen in the movie that if children watch it and don’t discuss it afterward can affect their development. The first thing that stood out to us was how unrealistic the movie made love to be. Love is a concept that is crucial to any Disney princess movie and most of the movies have an unrealistic view on how characters fall in love and Tangled is no expectation. Younger children the ones who for the most part are watching these movies for the first time have a difficult time telling the difference between fantasy and reality. There is a fuzzy separation between what is real and what is not. This connects back to Tangled and love because in this movie the main character Rapunzel meets her future love interest Flynn Rider and after what seems to only be 2-4 days they somehow fall in love. At the end of the movie, they get married and there is not a clear timeline on how long they waited until they got married. The unclear timeline is another thing that younger children will have hard time understanding. This unrealistic expectation of love can be very confusing to young children because after seeing this movie unless someone talks to them about how this is not how love and getting married works in real life they will start to think this is the reality. This is probably common for many children because many parents don’t think about the fact that they may need to talk about what is wrong and not real in a Disney movie because they are made for children. But in reality we all need to be talking to children about the unrealistic expectations of love that these movies set up for all children, so they don’t grow up thinking this is how their love life will start.

The second thing that stood out to us was the violence portrayed in the movie. There were several scenes where Rapunzel would hit Flynn Ryder (her counterpart) with a frying pan and the character would pass out but wake with no injury. This would need to be explained to young children because this act of violence is seen as okay to copy in reality because it is glamorized and sanitized. According to Wilson et al (2002), kids programs have more prevalent and more concentrated violence which is more likely to be glamorized and sanitized and which then violence is more trivialized. Because the action of Rapunzel hitting Flynn with the frying pan has no consequence or result due to the violence perpetrated, children will thus then have a perceived reality of the situation and may try to use a frying pan to hit someone or an action of similar violence, and expect no injury at all but the person to pass out. Additionally, when children watch this movie they may become desensitized to the violence seen. There are several scenes of the frying pan being used in combat along with bar brawls and chase scenes which portray characters being knocked off horses, thrown into canyons, and their bodies just being thrown or hit in a way that establishes that they have been defeated. These scenes additionally desensitizes children but further shows kids that violence is alright as long as you’re the good guy. The characters that are considered the ‘good guys’ are the ones who perpetrate the most violence, but it is seen as okay because they are rewarded, more liked by the audience, have no serious consequence for their violence, and thus are modeled into a figure that promotes violence. Lastly, the violence shown in Tangled could persuade children to have less control of their aggressive behavior because of the viewing of aggression according to Cognitive Neoassociationist Theory. Children who view aggression in their media and/or daily life become less likely to control their own aggressive behavior because it is seen as a norm in reality. Overall, the violence shown in Tangled is completely glamorized and sanitized leading to a violent perceived reality for young children.

The third thing that we noticed while watching Tangled was the stereotypical gender portrayal of the characters. Rapunzel is a young, wide-eyed, innocent girl locked in a tower awaiting the day she is free. While she keeps busy in her tower from day to day, she doesn’t make much of an effort to escape. That is until Flynn Rider comes along and he becomes her protection to the outside world. Even though the story is about Rapunzel, Flynn Rider has a much more prominent role than she does, often offering comic relief to situations and ultimately, being the hero of the film. Research shows that kids like active characters, and the majority of the time, those characters are male. Flynn Rider becomes the most active character in the movie and Rapunzel falls into the role of damsel in distress, even when she is sticking up for herself. Rapunzel is certainly spunky and has her quirks and independent attitude, but without Flynn, she may have never left the tower. He is the character who has life experience and knows what they are doing; the smarter, more capable one. The idea that a woman needs a man to go out into the world is problematic. Rapunzel is painted as a very naïve girl who is saved by a man and because of the magical powers she possesses while Flynn uses nothing but his own skill to save himself (and Rapunzel) on multiple occasions, including cutting off her hair at the end of the movie. This scene sparked debate amongst those concerned with the message that Rapunzel wasn’t ultimately able to save herself. Disney had a great opportunity to show young girls they can take control of their own destiny and be their own heroes but missed the mark by having Flynn Rider be the one to sheer it off. Young children are easily persuaded by gender in the media because they are motivated towards self-categorization (Bem, 1983). Their limited cognitive processes are responsible for how they frame gender. Because of this, they are more likely to link similar traits together and will group “boy things” and “girl things” together. If young children see a young, female Disney princess behaving in a naive way and being rescued by her male counterpart, they are more likely to believe that that’s the way it should be. They don’t know any better and don’t realize that both boys and girls should be powerful and strong, it shouldn’t be limited to just male characters. Children who watch Tangled and other movies like it, are absorbing this information and forming their own perceptions of gender expectations. It is crucial to set higher standards for portrayal of gender in children’s movies so that kids grow up knowing all genders are equal and anyone can be as strong and independent as they want to be.

Sources:

Sandra Lipsitz Bem , "Gender Schema Theory and Its Implications for Child Development: Raising
Gender-Aschematic Children in a Gender-Schematic Society," Signs: Journal of Women in
Culture and Society 8, no. 4 (Summer, 1983): 598-616.

DOI: 10.1086/493998

Jordan, A. B., Strasburger, V. C., & Wilson, B. J. (2014). Children, Adolescents, and the Media. Los
Angeles: SAGE Publications.

Hercules

The 1997 Disney movie, Hercules, tells the tale of a son of the God Zeus and the Goddess Hera. Their son, Hercules, is stranded on earth when Zeus' brother, Hades, tries to turn him mortal and kill him in order to become king of the Gods. We experience his journey as he grows from an outcast teenager to an immortal God. This movie is rated G by the Motion Picture Association of America and is suitable for all audiences. Hercules is a very popular and well-liked movie that has been around for the past 20 years. Children of all ages love this action packed story of Greek mythology. However when it comes to small children who may be watching the film, there are some aspects of the film that parents may want to keep an eye out for.

One major factor that could be alarming for parents allowing their kids to watch this movie would be the use of mythical creatures such as Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the entrance to the underworld or the Hydra which is a serpentine water monster. When it comes to young children these creatures have very frightening attributes. The difference between younger kids and older kids is that younger children have "a fuzzy separation between what is real and what is not" (Ferrar 2017a). They also have not yet made the switch from perceptual processing to conceptual processing leaving them with this idea of perceptual boundedness. These children are limited to only what they can see and do not think about the "why" behind what they see. Because younger children rely so much on what they see these images can scare them. Kids between ages 2 and 7 have the most trouble with the following content: "Visual images, whether realistic or fantastic, that are naturally scary; vicious animals, monsters, grotesque mutilations or deformed characters" (Ferrar 2017b). These monsters fall into these categories and could be problematic for some young children.

Another worrisome aspect of this film is the use of violence throughout the story. Hercules is supposed to be the strongest human on the planet and a hero figure. To fill this role he must fight off the bad guys. To do this he uses his strength to beat them up as can be seen in the scene above (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFUlDCwUIU4). Even as a baby Hercules ends up bashing the heads of the two demons who are trying to kill him. Although Hercules is portrayed as an attractive character who is always trying to help people, his methods can have a negative influence on younger children watching this movie. The violence doesn't seem like a big deal because he is attractive, doesn't face consequences, and even is rewarded and cheered at time for his violent deeds (Ferrar 2017c). This movie glorifies and celebrates the violence of Hercules. To a preschool aged kid that might not have the ability to understand the reasons behind this violence, this message of this movie can be taken as violence is acceptable. Young children lack the knowledge to understand that Hercules is beating up the bullies and this may result in these kids becoming bullies by imitating the things he does. This is another trend in the movie Hercules that parents should be cautious of.

Hercules is a movie that follows some major gender role stereotypes as well. "Maccoby (1998) estimates that children make the largest advancements in gender development between the ages of two and seven."(Ferrar 2017d). For children of these ages, this movie starts its influence from the very beginning. When all the gods are shown it is very clear that the male gods were extremely muscular, bigger and acted more dominant. Meanwhile the females were radiating beauty, were smaller and passive. Stereotypes are also very relevant later in the movie when Hercules must save Meg, who is a “damsel in distress”. She actually uses these stereotypes to trick Hercules. This movie exemplifies the idea that men are superior and must take care of women which is the opposite of today’s current gender trends. These perspectives that are being forced onto to young children in a very influential point in their lives and can cause incorrect ideas about the world.

In conclusion, Hercules is a typical kids movie that came out in the 90's. It is very entertaining and memorable. However, with this movie parents must pay attention to the few aspects pointed out above in order to avoid any negative influences on their young children. I would recommend this movie to any parent because there are many good influencing factors but would stress a co-viewing mediation strategy to help avoid any negative messages that may also be present.

References:

Barnes, S. (2014, November 20). Baby Hercules is turned mortal. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFUlDCwUIU4

Cerberus. (2017, April 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:58, April 27, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cerberus&oldid=777348733

Connolly, K. Hercules (1997). Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119282/

Farrar, K. (2017a). Development, info processing, and EF. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from HuskyCT.

Farrar, K. (2017b). Fear reactions and Media. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from HuskyCT.

Farrar, K. (2017c). Media Violence. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from HuskyCT.

Farrar, K. (2017d). Gender Roles. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from HuskyCT.

The Wizard of Oz Movie Analysis

The Wizard of Oz

By Jose Delgado, Jake Bell, and Bophai Nou

The Wizard of Oz is an undeniable classic American film. This was the first movie to be broadcasted in color television throughout the USA. The movie itself was released in 1939, but based on a series of “Oz books” the first decade of the 20th century. Now, there is no doubt that violence on TV plays an important role in children's aggression. What this post will be discussing is if the fact The Wizard of Oz continues to possibly play a role in influencing children’s attitudes and behaviors in regards to the violent and frightening imagery in the film. The differing level of effects depending on the age in which a child has viewed the film will also be discussed.

It is often said that the first impression is the longest lasting one, and this film certainly takes that piece of advice to heart. The movie begins with the protagonist, a young farm girl named Dorothy, watching her house getting swooped into the sky by a tornado. While she is watching in horror whilst being thrown through the air, she sees out of her window her neighbor riding a bicycle, who then turns into a witch riding a broom. The witch then proceeds to start violently screaming, which is soon followed by a scene in which said witch is crushed when the house lands upon her. The violence showcased in this scene is comical to people our age, for at this point in life one is more likely to be terrified of the tornado then of something of supernatural nature like a witch. For the former is a real world threat that can potentially occur to us, while the latter is a figment of fiction. However for a child this is an entirely different matter. A young child cannot properly distinguish between fiction and reality at their age. Now, this violent death is almost a pleasant ending for a child who is afraid of this witch. But, is this the right concept to show children? That if we kill what we are afraid of and be rid of them than this is a good thing? I (Jake) don’t think so, but this is how some children, like myself may take it. Now, I saw the movie originally when I was two or three years old. But how would a ten or twelve year old perceive this scene? Being a little older, they may know that witches and magic aren’t real, so they may think nothing about the witch and not really care if she dies, since she was never real to begin with. This scene could possibly desensitize young children to aggression by showing them a death, and the body under the house, as well as desensitize them because they will be happy for the death of the witch. Now, we know there is a negative correlation between intelligence and aggression, therefore are we making our children less intelligent by simply showing them this movie?

The second part of the movie which we would like to discuss in relation to children's media violence and aggression is the part with the ‘Witch’s Crew’. The Wicked Witch of the West has a gang of monkeys she uses as henchmen. The witch tells the monkeys she wants Dorothy alive, but also tells them to do whatever they want with the rest of the crew (meaning the Scarecrow, Lion, and the Tin Man). That scene may desensitize young children into becoming accustomed to violence and aggression. Even the paralanguage, such as the witches laughs, or the monkeys evil grunts the children will understand thus introducing children to aggression. The visual aspects of this scene are also very edgy for children. The monkeys have wings in the movie and are flying around Dorothy at one point circling her as if they are going to attack her. This scene in particular is scary because you don’t know if Dorothy is going to get hurt or maybe even die. This scene may cause young children (ages 6 and below) to be afraid of actual monkeys for a long time. Also, since young children most likely have never seen a monkey in real life they may perceive monkeys to be flying evil creatures since this is the only time they've seen monkeys whether it be on film or reality.

Another part of the The Wizard of Oz that may have a lasting effect on children is the scene where the witch ends up melting. In the beginning of the scene Dorothy and her friends seem to finally be cornered and there is nowhere to escape. A the witch sets the end of her broomstick on fires and then proceeds to light the scarecrow's arm on fire. As the scarecrow screams Dorothy acts and throws a bucket of water in his direction. The water puts out the fire on his arm and also gets the witch. She suddenly begins to melt, screaming the whole way “I'm melting, I’m melting” and eventually melts away. This scene contains the fire which burns one of the characters and the water which melts the other. An older adolescent, one who is ten to twelve, may view and fear the fire because that is a very realistic threat. This scene may create a fear of fire or bring up a negative memory in their lives where they may have been burned. This would affect the older child because it is a rational fear. This may also affect a younger toddler because fire looks scary. The younger child may also be affected by the water hitting the witch and the witch melting. If they aren’t scared of it, which they might be, they may believe that they can melt someone who makes them mad by throwing water on them. This isn’t exactly the type of ideal behavior an adult would want their child to learn and practice frequently.

So, to conclude this blog post, we have came to an agreement that if you are showing your children below the age of 10 this movie for the first time, you should be with them to help explain what is going on, as well as what is and isn’t real. Watching this movie below the age of 5 might scare a child because even if you tell them the Witch didn’t melt, they might not perceive it as fake. Social coviewing can tremendously improve the understanding your child receives out of watching a movie like The Wizard of Oz. This movie does have some educational aspects to it however, such as teaching children different animals, as well as names and functions of parts of the human body. Although the Wizard of Oz is considered a timeless American classic for children, what was considered to be appropriate for children to view when this movie came out may not be appropriate for children of today.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Inside Out

The film Inside Out focuses on 11-year-old Riley, who’s happy life was changed when her parents suddenly announced they would be moving from the Midwest to San Francisco. Riley’s emotions play a huge role in the film as they follow her and try to guide the tween through this life changing move. Within the movie, the audience is introduced Riley’s five different emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness. These five emotions play a pivotal role in Riley’s life throughout the movie. Joy, being Riley’s main emotion that is constantly at the forefront and seen as the strongest emotion Riley possesses in the beginning. After the move to San Francisco, the emotion of sadness eventually takes over as Riley deals with a new school, meeting new people and losing old friends. Sadness takes over to an extreme extent, in which Riley starts to lose her core memories, which were pivotal happy moments that made Riley who she is a person.

Inside Out would be more of a challenge for a younger child around age 2-10 to cognitively process. The content of movie focuses on humans core memories and the psychological point of view when dealing with emotions. Riley and her emotions were constantly struggling to get along, after making the move and losing some of her core memories that made Riley happy. With Riley’s losing her core memories and going through a big move, Riley’s emotions try and keep her under control, she fights every attempt they make. With such a drastic change in her life, this is where her emotions play a crucial role in helping her adjust to a new school, home and making new friends.

Due to developmental differences in children such as possible versus plausible (Farrar, 2017), a younger child might be more focused on the fact that there are talking characters living in someone's brain. They would understand, however, the characters themselves. A child between the ages of 4-10 would understand the different emotions. The child may not understand the complexity of these emotions and the role they play in Riley’s life, but the child would understand the surface-level attributes of the characters who play Riley’s emotions. An older child would not be focused too much on the films illustrations, as they know colorful talking characters in someone's head are not real. An older child around 10 years and older, will be more interested in the storyline of the film and how emotions work together in personality makeup.

In addition, a younger child might have trouble understanding the film due to information processing (Farrar, 2017). With the film being complex, pertaining to storyline and vocabulary usage. There are multiple plots going on throughout the film. These plots include Riley move to San Francisco, Riley’s emotions battling among each other, Riley losing her core memories, Riley understanding her emotions, and Riley’s parents struggling with their own emotions. The films aesthetics might make it easier for younger children to process. For instance, whenever sadness took over a memory it turned blue. When Riley started losing her core memories the memories went from a fun vibrant ambiance to dark and dull.Through the use of light and vibrant colors for happiness and dark for negative things, younger children might know what connections are being made between the emotions and the plot of the movie.

Overall, a young child might visually enjoy the film and understand some basics of the plot; such as Riley is sad because of moving to a new city, and the emotions of Sadness and Joy struggling to get along with each other, they might not fully understand and gain the overall message and lessons of the film. This film is great for an older child because they have more of an understanding of how to deal with their own emotions and also be more considerate towards others and their emotions. A younger child is slated to learn a great lesson on the science of memories, feelings, and emotions. With parental mediation, a young child would be able to learn and have an understanding of their emotions and other people’s emotions. Inside Out would be a great movie for parents and children to watch together because it will give the opportunity for the parent to help their child understand how emotions work. The main messages in this film were good for potential effects on healthy behaviors and attitudes. The overarching theme of the film is that people will not be happy all the time, but they should find a balance between their emotions and learn how to rationally handle various life situations. Inside Out is a movie for all ages, with vibrant colors, life lessons, and a fun feel on how to deal with your emotions, making it an all around great movie! This is definitely a movie to watch with your kids, by yourself, or with other adults.

References

Farrar, K. (2017). Media Violence. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://lms.uconn.edu/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1218841_1&course_id=_27516_1

Lilo & Stitch

By: Stephanie O'Neill, Corin Harden & Emma Skultety

Abstract: In this blog post, we analyze various parts of the animated Disney Movie, Lilo and Stitch, including the complex messages, developmental differences in fear, and finally the violence in the movie, and how these messages effect children.

Movie Analysis: Home

For this assignment we chose to watch the movie Home, an animated movie directed by Tim Johnson. The plot of the movie is based on an alien named Oh, who is running away from his alien counterparts and befriends a human girl named Tip along the way. The new friends set out on a journey across the world in search of Tip’s mother who was relocated by the Boov (aliens) during their abduction. Unbeknownst to Tip, Oh had his own agenda for wanting to travel with her and this created a conflict between them. Throughout the journey, the pair begin to understand that being different and making mistakes is okay and end up creating a friendship that is unbreakable.

Despite the intended warmth of the movie by highlighting the importance of family and friendship, we found a lot of negative aspects of this movie when considering children as the intended audience. One of the most obvious areas of concern was the prevalence of violence in the film. For example, in this scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tt0cuTQvvk approx. 1:16) we see Tip push a large tower of cans onto one of the Boov and knock him out, but he gets up unharmed a few seconds later. We then also see her throw one of these cans directly at Oh’s head, but he then also get’s up seemingly unharmed. These kind of outcomes from such violence would probably make a young child think that there are no consequences for such dangerous actions. The lack of realism in this movie could be very harmful to young children because if they were to reenact a scene like throwing a metal can at someone’s head, that person would be seriously injured even though it was shown in the movie that Oh was perfectly fine. According to the Information Processing Theory, when kids are exposed to a great deal of violence over time in real life or in the media, children can learn scripts that promote aggression as a way of solving problems (Farrar 2017a). In the case of this movie, because it uses humor, it makes such aggression appealing, especially to kids. Therefore, it can be argued that if young children watch this movie they may be more likely to use violence and aggression in their own lives possibly towards siblings or even playmates.

Another aspect that we found particularly concerning was the fact that not only did Tip steal a car, but she also traveled in it across the world with Oh who was initially a complete stranger. This may lead children to believe a number of things that are harmful to them. First of all, they may not understand the dangers of driving a car with no experience or parental supervision. This is particularly dangerous because a young child could try to take their parent's car out on their own and injure themselves or others. Additionally, this move could encourage the idea that children may get in the car with strangers if they seem nice or offer some sort of help like Oh does. This relates to the idea of shifts in cognitive thinking and particularly the shift from perceived appearance to reality. In this case, the child may have difficulty separating fantasy from reality and not understand that if they were to get in the car with a stranger or try to drive a car there would be serious and dangerous consequences.

On a more positive note, despite the violence and depiction of harmless situations this movie did work to incorporate diversity unlike most DreamWorks movies before it. This is exemplified by the fact that the main character, Tip, is the first female lead of color, complete with natural hair and real-girl body proportions. This is important because according to lecture, children’s animated cartoons do not typically represent the ethnic and gender diversity found in our country (Farrar, 2017c). In addition female and minority characters are historically the focal points of ridicule (Farrar 2017c). In the case of this movie, Tip is a female minority but is portrayed as a strong female lead. Ultimately, this movie goes against the stereotypical portrayal of female minorities and works to encourage a positive view of them. Tip’s body type is also important because most prior research has found that female characters are “too thin” (Farrar, 2017b). This has been known to lead to thin-ideal internalization in which viewers consciously accept the thin-ideal standard as his/her own personal standard (Farrar, 2017b). Futher, it has been found that attraction to thin media celebrities/characters was positively related to respondents dissatisfaction with their own bodies and desire to be thinner (Farrar 2017b). In other words, it can be argued that girls who are constantly viewing movies with lead female characters who fit the thin-ideal body image will be dissatisfied with their own bodies if they do not fit the same description. This is why it is extremely significant that Tip does not fit the thin-ideal body image and rather displays a more realistic body image with curves and appropriate proportions. This encourages the idea that girls of all shapes and sizes are not only accepted by society but also found beautiful by it.

Overall, Home is warm movie that works to illuminate the importance of family and friends, as well as the idea to never give up. Throughout the movie we see a strong female minority lead take on the world in order to be reunited with her mother. We also see a friendship grow between Tip and Oh, which facilitates the idea that forming such friendships is an important and rewarding aspect of life. The inclusion of violence and unrealistic situations, although may be harmful to some children, are not aspects that we would consider to be detrimental overall.

References:

Farrar, K. (2017a). Developmental differences. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from HuskyCT.

Farrar, K. (2017b). Media and health. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from HuskyCT.

Farrar, K. (2017b). Media and race. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from HuskyCT.

Wloszczyna, S. (2015, March 27). Home Movie Review & Film Summary (2015) | Roger Ebert. Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/home-2015

Zootopia Blog Post

Zootopia features entertaining content that gives lessons in the narrative of the movie. This is essential for younger children because it uses less cognitive resources. Children are able to recognize the feelings of characters, but small children are less likely to experience them. Early elementary children and later can learn how to apply this feeling to their own lives. In this specific film, older children may experience empathy for Judy when she isn’t accepted as a cop, due to their own experiences with not being accepted or being told that they can’t achieve one of their dreams. Up until the age of 6 or 7, children are too egocentric to engage in perspective taking, causing them to experience Zootopia differently than older children. Smaller children may agree that Judy isn’t fit to be a cop, as the other characters are telling her, while older children may recognize that anything is possible with hard work and dedication.

Zootopia features the theme of intersectionality. Intersectionality is •“…a paradigm that considers gender, race, and class as well as other signifiers of marginalization and exclusion “as simultaneous forces” (Brewer, 1993, p. 16) that should be viewed as inseparable elements in analyzing how oppression operates in an ideological context (Hill Collins, 1990).” This film allows children to understand the issue of intersectionality through stereotyping animals, so that this message is easier to understand. Some major stereotypes included in this film are that bunnies can’t be cops, foxes are cheaters, predators are aggressive (“savage”), cops love to sit around and eat donuts (clip included above), etc. Even for children too young to understand the messages, Zootopia is still enjoyable with the animals and animation.

For a parent watching Zootopia with their children, it’s important to discuss the different messages occurring. Co-viewing, which is watching the film with your children and commenting on what’s going on, helps them to better understand. It’s important to discuss with children how stereotypes are harmful. Smaller children may not know what stereotypes are so this is the perfect opportunity for parents to explain it to them, given the examples in the film. It can be discussed how stereotypes can be hurtful, such as to Judy when she was upset that no one believed in her dream of being a cop and almost started to believe them, even returning home at one point. It can also be discussed how stereotypes aren’t always right, such as how Mayor Bellwether is projected as a kind, fragile lamb when in reality she is one of the film’s villains. Many of the characters in this film are actually the opposite of what they’re stereotyped as. Parents can also address with their children how prejudice isn’t fair. The flashback scene where Nick is getting ready to join an animal “cub scouts”, but is lured downstairs by the other animals where they tease him, muzzle him, and tell him that he’s never allowed to join is a perfect example of this. It’s a great depiction of exclusion, and it’s apparent that this hurt Nick badly. Fair treatment can be discussed with children, to lessen the amount of prejudice occurring daily. The characters in this film are fighting the prejudice occurring, and children can be informed that they can do the same. In the film, Nick and Judy start off as enemies, but learn to fight the prejudice occurring together, and children can be informed that they can do the same with their family and friends. Nick and Judy both stereotyped each other at the beginning, but changed their perspectives, which is an awesome message for children. With parental interaction, both smaller and older children can understand messages that they might’ve previously missed.

In the movie, there are multiple examples of social interaction that have the potential to increase positive interactions with peers. For example, in the beginning of Zootopia, we see Judy getting bullied by Gideon after she tries to stand up to him when he steals her friend’s tickets. As a result, she is pushed and scratched by him but he leaves her with the remark “You don’t know when to quit, do you?” Judy then says that he’s right and in turn doesn’t quit. In the next scene we see how she proved him wrong and ended up going to police academy. Later in the movie, we see Gideon apologize to Judy for being a jerk when they were younger and she accepts his apology. Through this, children can see that sometimes people make mistakes and that it is okay to own up to these mistakes. Through an apology, children can see that a relationship can be repaired.

To conclude, Zootopia is a movie about fighting stereotypes that a person might face in real life on an intersectional basis. By breaking down these socially enforced walls, it helps to build up pro-social skills in our society.