Well Snow White started it!!

At first I whole-heartedly supported the article by Linda Christensen “Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us.” Yet when Christensen mentioned the ‘secret education’ given by these fairytales and cartoons, I decided to take the opposing side. I do not agree that fairytales, cartoons, and our most beloved toys in our childhood were part of some ‘secret education.’ I do not think we can go as far as saying we were purposely brainwashed.

The first Disney princess, Snow White, was released on film in 1938. It was a different time back then, with different values, gender roles, and lifestyles. Was it really the intent of Walt Disney to brainwash the population or give children an escape and a place where their imagination could run free? Then, when his venture took off and his creation was a success can we blame him for keeping his business strategy? The Disney Corporation just continued to produce what made them profitable, even to this day. So can we really accuse these fairytales that are thousands of years old (thinking pre Disney) of secretly trying brainwash. Fairytales are a tradition that started long before us where sexism, racism and other prejudices sadly did exist. Its up to us to enjoy the fairytales and create our own healthy mindset, I hope we are not all gullible where our morals came from the TV and books we read.

Also, Fairytales, TV, and movies are not the only things that influence us. And the article did mention that the term media is very broad, I am not ignoring that, but many were upset in the article about being fooled by their bedtime stories. Except what about entering the grocery store, the color and design of a box of cookies draws us to them, the flashy mannequin in the window pulls us into the store, our history books tell us what we need to include in our midterm. We believe what we are told in church, in our homes, and taught in our schools. Is that brainwashing? If so where do we draw the line? It was only a few years ago that we were told Pluto was not a planet and now people believe to have found a particle faster than light, which just last week people and our physics books believed to be impossible.