Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us - Connections

Growing up, and still to this day, I have always loved watching cartoons and kid movies along with other more adult shows/movies. As a kid I did not believe that watching any cartoon, show, or movie has really impacted the way I viewed people or was an influence on how I acted towards people. though I can see how this can be an issue. This is a topic that I had once talked about in high school. So, with that in mind, for this article I chose to do connections. I connected this reading to a project I had to critically analyze Toy Story. In this movie, just like many others I've found some hidden messages of sexism, racism, and stereotypes. One of the major stereotypes was that character Andy was a good kid because his mom was always around to watch him, and Sid was a troubled child because he had no adult supervision. More hidden messages stem from Sid's toy, "the Hooker". It was a fishing pole with two long legs attached, which represented a hooker. Another example, Sid was considered troubled compared to Andy because of the weed wallpaper that represented marijuana leafs in his house. This movie also portrays sexism, as Little Bo Peep is always seen as the damsel in distress and a guy, (Woody) has to come to her rescue. Rocky Gibraltar, one of Andy's toys, is portrayed as strong while all the female toys are weak. This movie shows examples of racism because of two scenes. Some consider Mr. Potato Head, as the African American role. This shows a stereotype because he can come off as rude and ignorant, which does not seem to fit in with the rest of the toys. Another example is a scene when Woody watches the kids invited to Andy's birthday party. There is only one African American child invited to the party, and compared to the other kids he holds the smallest present.

After reviewing toy story the movie and analyzing many shows I watch on TV, I found that many shows and movies can be critically analyzed and show racism, sexism, and many stereotypes. Even though there are so many that have these issues, I do believe that they are getting addressed. For example, in the recent years there has been two movies with a colored character being the main role. These two are The Princess and the Frog, and Moana. Another great example, would be in the show Grey's Anatomy how the leader of the hospital was an African American. Again, further into the show, another African American character became the chief of the hospital, but this character was in fact female.

the questions I have for you today are

• What TV show or movie do you consider to show these acts? 
• Do you believe that these types of kids movies should stop being produced? 
• Would you refrain your kids from watching certain movies because of these issues within them?