True Nirvana

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

I Think I Ate Your Chocolate Squirrel

Its funny when you think about the concerns parents have regarding the violent & immoral television & video games when even the children's stories that they expose them to aren't much better. I doubt many parents have sat down and thought fairy tales through before reading them to their children. Have you ever really thought about what children’s fairy tales are really teaching kids?

Jack & the Beanstalk is a prime example. Jack seemingly gets ripped off in an idiotic trade, which caused a beanstalk to grow. He climbs it thousands of feet in the air till he finds someone’s house where he enters (immoral act #1 breaking & entering); he finds a giant cannibal & he steals his goose that lays golden eggs & his magical harp (#2 theft), he attempts to escape with said goose & harp. On the way back home he ends up killing the giant (#3 murder). Jack lived hapily ever after the end. Can you find a moral anywhere in there?

Rumpelstiltskin is another terrible one. This man lies causing a death sentence on his daughter unless she can produce gold from straw for a king. Every night for 3 nights this short little man would come in and help her if she gave him something (this is already starting to look like an adult horror film) the third night she promised him her first born child. She marries the greedy king (who was going to kill her to begin with) & when she has a child the little man comes back for it. She ends up guessing his name so she can keep her child and Rumpelstiltskin commits suicide by ripping himself in half.

I could go on naming children’s stories with terrible plots from Hansel & Gretel to Alice in Wonderland but I think you get the point. However horrible these stories are though I must give them some credit. They still each share a common legitimate moral: Don’t do drugs!

9 Remarks:

  • Fairy tales are wierd, thats why people use nursery rhymes. Nothing bad, kinda humorous (he burned his buttocks on a candlestick!), and good moral fiber.

    leahciM

    By Blogger Mike, at 12:05 PM  

  • Where's the moral in Jack jumping over a candlestick? Don't play with fire?

    I'm gonna have to agree with the whole fairy tale thing. They're idealistic anyway. I mean, who in their right mind isn't going to notice when their grandma has mysteriously acquired fur and is salivating profusely, or wake up simply because they get kissed by a (hot) prince?

    It's madness, I tell you. They encourage lust, thievery, and plain stupidity. Of course, I love them anyway, but since you wanted me to comment, here I am.

    By Blogger Erin Marie Hall, at 1:18 PM  

  • The the candlestic is a humorous rhyme that is there to make the whole collection seem more attractive, and hopefully it will draw people to the other, more morally stimulating, rhymes.

    And Erin, the kiss was love's true kiss, it wasn't driven by lust, you pervert.

    leahciM

    By Blogger Mike, at 11:10 PM  

  • Oy, I am certainly not a pervert, thank you. I never said Snow White was encouraging lust... I was actually referring to the whole Rapunzel thing.

    And I also don't see anything so morally great about nursery rhymes. Humpty Dumpty? Morbid and full of death and medical malpractice. Hickory Dickory Dock or whatever it's called? A mouse running around when the clock strikes one. That is clearly condoning the manipulation of one's curfew. I can't think of any more off the top of my head, but really I think the closest thing you're gonna get to a nursery rhyme with moral fiber is 'one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.' Hey, it combats prejudice on the basis of color AND teaches kids their numbers. Now that's good literature.

    moi

    By Blogger Erin Marie Hall, at 12:44 AM  

  • Ok the problem with the moral go for the gold in jack and the beanstalk is that it's teaching you that the ends justify the means. Ok how in the heck was that kiss in Snow White love's true kiss? Has the prince ever talked to her or even seen her before? No. Was Snow White conscious during the kiss? No. She could've been a complete jerk & he would've kissed her anyway because he thought she looked hot & he’s the kind of guy who likes to take advantage of unconscious women. And Erin since when is 'one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish' a nursery rhyme? That’s definitely a Dr. Seuss book.

    By Blogger Andy, at 1:05 PM  

  • I know, and I said that's as close as you're gonna get to a highly moral nursery rhyme

    By Blogger Erin Marie Hall, at 1:11 PM  

  • If you know the story, she couldn't be awakened but for loves true kiss, AND noone ever said anything about him trying to take advantage of her. She was beautiful, not hot, and it had been a while, but she had lived in civilization before, so one could assume that as she was a nice girl, people knew this and shared her story.

    leahciM

    By Blogger Mike, at 10:58 AM  

  • Firstly, I would like to point out how final my last argument appears to be, and that skippy hasn't posted in a gripe.

    leahciM

    By Blogger Mike, at 4:53 PM  

  • haha. This is true.

    By Blogger Erin Marie Hall, at 8:32 PM  

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