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
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