Released in the summer of 1997, Hercules was the 35th animated feature film in Walt Disney’s Animated Classics series. And like many of the Disney animated films that came before and after it, this film presents a lot of content that may be troublesome and quite consequential for child viewers.
First, there are a lot of scenes and characters from Hercules that may induce fear reactions in child viewers, however different aged children may experience different reactions. The most troublesome content for two to seven-year-olds are visual images that are naturally scary in physical depiction. For example, Hydra, a gigantic snake-like monster, who who keeps growing heads, might scare this age group because it is vicious and grotesque. The most troublesome content for older children, aged 7- to 12-years, are more realistic threats and dangers than can happen to them. The film’s depiction of the Underworld, where the souls of the characters in the film go when they die, might be particularly scary to older children who are aware of death and have questions about this topic. There are quite a few scary scenes and characters that may be troublesome to children where parental intervention is crucial.
In addition to this, “Hercules” contains violent content that may have lasting effects on children. Hercules saves a damsel in distress, Meg, by having a violent fight with Nessus, where he punches him multiple times and uses his superhuman strength to violently hurt him. Phil is another violent character who uses physical aggression when a townsperson doubts Hercules. Content in the film is consistent with findings that perpetrators, such as Hercules, are more likely to be depicted as attractive and punished less often. Also according to the social cognitive theory, children will likely model his behavior because of this. Violent media exposure is an indicator of aggression in young children, so it is important to consider this when allowing children to view the film.
Aside from the obvious implications this film can have on a child’s fear reactions and violent behavior, another possible consequence of viewing Hercules is the reinforcement of gender stereotypes. When we watched this film, the first negative aspect that we recognized was the stereotypical depictions of many of the male and female characters, but specifically, Hercules and Meg. Hercules is depicted as an extremely muscular, handsome and heroic figure who seemingly doesn’t have any flaws, while Meg is depicted as an impossibly thin, broken-hearted damsel in distress whom Hercules must sweep off her feet. Both of these depictions play into the stereotype that all men must be physically strong and be leaders, while all women must be physically delicate, but beautiful. According to the text, most children become conscious of their own gender by age two and begin to form media-specific scripts regarding what a “male” and “female” are supposed to look like. If a young child were to view this film it is likely that their perceptual boundedness, or their over reliance on perceptual information such as auditory and visual features, would cause them to believe the inaccurate depictions on-screen.
A young child’s developing cognitive-processing skills not only affects their construction of “male” and “female” appearance, but also has potential to affect their self-perception. Illustrated characters, like Hercules and Meg, can raise awareness in a child’s mind that they look different themselves, which can be problematic. A young child, unable to understand Hercules’ and Meg's’ physical appearances are realistically impossible,while simultaneously absorbing the great value external appearance is given on screen, could end up viewing themselves negatively. Any internalization of an “ideal” representation, especially one that can never really be obtained, has massive potential to lower self-worth and stimulate frustration, as well as other negative emotions, towards one’s personal appearance. If a child does walk away from a viewing of Hercules with such instilled notions, it can lead to serious health-related attitude and possibly harmful behavioral changes, such as diet and fitness related changes.
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