In America today, the media is a major socializing medium that constructs a parallel reality for every citizen in this country. However, the power of the media is limited to how the individual interprets it and how they retain it. Society is socialized as children by the media. Now (more than ever) parents are no longer a child's primary informer of reality. In the US and abroad, The Walt Disney Company owns the rights to many of these facets of media and has been an industry leader for the past 75 years in children’s entertainment. Their corporate website states that they “pursue the goal of providing quality entertainment and a world of magic for the entire family.” Through a thorough investigation of every one of Disney’s animated feature films, the idea that Disney creates a “world of magic” has held true. Although, the world that Disney creates is a non-existent reality for these developing children. In fact the research indicated that in doing this, Disney may contribute to improper socializations of many aspects of life, primarily in its depictions of death through it’s animated features. In support of this theory, a correlation was discovered between the number of deaths in Disney films and specific periods of turmoil in American society.
Bambi, one of Disney’s most popular films is about a deer whose mother is killed and has to survive without her. The scene in which the mother is shot has been said to “haunt” many who have viewed it. The reason it has haunted them so has to do with the fact that all the action took place off-screen. When Bambi’s mother is shot, all that is heard is a gunshot and the implied death and the look on Bambi’s (deer) face are all we have to deal with the death. People fear the unknown and not being able to see what happens creates a sense of suspense and danger, as pointed out by Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson in The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation.
“A scene was animated of the doe [Bambi's mother] actually being shot in the middle of a leap, throwing back her head and crashing to the ground where she lay collapsed in the snow, but it was cut out when we found that the sequence played better in the imagination. Everyone sensed the danger, knowing the hunters were near; and when the shot was heard it did not matter whether you knew the mother was dead or whether you were as innocent as Bambi, returning to search for her. It was powerful either way.”
In a country compelled by euphemisms, this film has created a perspective in which death is somewhat ignored, sterilized, pushed off to the side. It is exactly this kind of refusal of dealing with certain aspects of death in a straightforward manner that can lead children to become confused adults. It is the same reason that hospitals have special plans for ushering away the dead bodies. In fact, hospitals have special code names for when a person is dead, usually to the tone of “Paging Dr. Post to Room 316.” The fact that the funeral industry is even in existence is a testament to how the US society lives in a reality in which blood, fluids, discoloration, or deterioration is bad. Thus the society learns to fear it.
In today’s society, death is misunderstood. The implications of what happens after death are even more of a mystery. If even the eldest in society do not know what death means, how can you even begin to explain it to a child? Media held the potential answer to this question by providing an emotionally unattached medium in which parents could present the topic to their children. Disney seemed to be on this track when it presented Bambi, but because of World War II and it’s reality-altering impact on the life of Americans, this kind of film became obsolete and replaced with movies like Fantasia (1940), Saludos Amigos (1943), The Three Caballeros (1943), Make Mine Music (1946), Fun and Fancy Free (1947), Melody Time (1948), and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949). None of these movies dealt with the issues of death or dying and they all feature unrealistic characters and happy escapist type animations. In fact during this time, the Office of War declared that movies are “an essential industry for morale and propaganda.” The last film features a ghost, which is as close to any death related content that these movies get. These films are comparable to the current Disney productions of Fantasia 2000 (2000), The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Lilo and Stitch (2002), Treasure Planet (2002), Brother Bear (2003), and Home on the Range (2004.) All of which again features unrealistic fantasy-type situations and characters. These trends are both due to political strains during the relative times which reflect how much the US reality has been constructed in a way that causes people and children to fear death, rather than understanding what is occurring.
During the post-WWII era, Disney created some of its most memorable and classic movies ever, such as Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Beauty and the Beast, and the Lion King. All these movies have presented death in some way or another. But the fact remains that throughout Disney’s history of animation, death and violence have been viewed as temporary states, like in Sleeping Beauty in which a spell is cast upon a woman because of a witch’s jealousy towards the girl’s love interest. This idea that death is impermanent and variable is particularly damaging to children between 3 to 5 years of age because it can be instilled in them as reality, which presents many problems. This theme of reemergence after death is also contained within the Lion King, in which a son experiences the death of his father and subsequently sees him throughout the film in different manifestations. The idea that death can be physically altering, yet not certain will confuse developing children if misunderstood.
Funeral practices in the US reflect the ideology of the American people, that death is taboo. It is also evident by the increasing number of cremations preformed each year as are the increasing number of people in retirement homes and hospitals. The living want to get rid of any trace of their impending doom, even if it means compromising the reality of death. Societal fears weigh upon companies like Disney and they are reflected in the products they create, because in the end businesses like to make money. They need it to survive. So whatever makes a profit, will be made and whatever is made will influence the society which will then again in turn influence the company. It is an inane debate about who really controls the social construction of reality, but the truth about death, that it should not be feared, should always remain the truth. But this is not the social perception, because of historical and current issues in politics and the world, such as war.
Conclusively, it is understood that if children experience these films alone with no parent to explain to them the issues surrounding death that they can come to fear it. Children want to know about death and when they experience it they will naturally ask questions. In socializing a reality for them, if they are not able to express their grief in a productive way, this could lead to developmental problems. The fact that Disney movies present death in such a way that grieving is not tolerated or allowed because of the unemotional attachment the child may have with the character, it is perfect for initiating a conversation with a child about death, but it should only be used as a supplement. If a child is left to interpret the meaning of the death of an animated character, he or she may experience death in a negative light, almost to the point of a phobia. When children are shielded from the reality of death, they may become needlessly worried about death or dying. Therefore any chance that is provided by socializing forces like media to explain the reality of death to children should be acted upon, even if death is a daunting experience.
The following graph represents deaths-per-film in Disney movies since 1937
Posts
