The infantization of America
Don Quixote on Jul 04 2008 at 4:50 pm | Filed under: Uncategorized
Apparently, folks in the Bookwormroom are not the only ones concerned about all of us being turned into children. Check out this Wizbang discussion of WALL-E and the linked interview with Andrew Stanton. I love the closing line of the quote from the Stanton interview: “I was trying to make humanity big babies because there was no reason for them to grow up anymore.” The movie apparently takes a different slant, especially as to the cause of the problem, but maybe this is another reason America is becoming so soft.
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4 Responses to “The infantization of America”
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I have this theory about young people not truly reaching maturity until they have children of their own. Granting some exceptions - some with children never reach that point, some without children “adopt” causes that have the same maturing effect - I still think it’s fairly valid. I think that the sexual freedom of today has resulted in a delay of producing children, and a resulting postponement of reaching maturity.
I define maturity as a willingness to accept responsibility and the willingness to place others needs at least equal to one’s own, and maybe even a bit above one’s own.
We can’t understand the love our parents have for us until we in turn have our own…at which time, _maybe_ we’ll understand some of the sacrifices our parents made for us. Maybe not…since each generation - each individual - is unique.
So…with what I believe to be a delay in maturation, you’re right - imo - we are, as a nation, becoming more infantile and less ready and able to take care of ourselves.
Not good.
I will take a pass on seeing Wall-E and instead stay home and watch The Wild Bunch again.
Speaking of movies and maturity, let me offer this quote from VDH @ Pajamas Media:
Oh, how I miss them…
I watched the other night Shane and Hombre, and realized how much I missed Jack Palance and Richard Boone (both Stanford attendees at one time). They were renaissance veterans, multi-talented, and in some tragic sense not fully utilized by Hollywood. Add in a Lee Marvin as well. In all candor, I don’t think a Kevin Costner, Brad Pitt, or any of the younger Hollywood generation measures up. And how could they—given the generation that came of age in WWII and the sort of country this was at the time?
The voices of Boone, Palance, and Marvin seem lost in film these days, as well as the air of disdain and tragic nobility they projected as actors.
One person in Hollywood who definitely didn’t believe in infantilization of children was Walt Disney.
It was Disney who inserted - very early - real world events into his masterful cartoons. Think of Bambi’s mother being shot by a hunter soon into the movie. That could have been traumatic for any 6-year old to witness, but the remainder of the movie showed that life indeed goes on.
Disney was a visionary, and a great American. Thanks for the comment.