Since my little sister visited back in June, I have become *gasp* a Disney Channel watcher. Chan brought this to my attention again, or at least the fact that I'm a little over-age to be a fan, and Sir O is a little under-age, so I have no excuse (besides a tween sister?....)
The irony of it, really, is that as a film-major I was taught to disdain all things Disney on principle. As a general rule, all things Disney are homogenized to the point of being soul-less. And I still have a major grudge over what they did to HCA's beautiful story.
So why do I find myself watching all the tween-y shows every-so-often?
Is it the "safeness" of Disney's highly controlled content? Is it the bright colors? Hannah Montana's awesome bathroom? The dumb, but not inappropriate gags? The perfect balance of boy-entertainment and girl-entertainment in each plot and subplot? (Really, that part can be almost Shakespearean) It's quite the conundrum, I tell you.
As we do spotlights in Primary (children's organization) at my church, almost every child's answer to "favorite tv show" is a Disney Channel tween show, and these are kids as young as 5. That actually worries me a lot. What is it about this magical "tween-ness" that has all the little kids hurrying to grow up, and all us adults backpedaling to our most childish years?
I can't begin to find the objective answer, it's too late, I've already been sucked in.
1 comment:
I have issues with the HCA story, too. However, for things that are safe to watch on tv for my kids, it's either the Disney Channel or Noggin. That's it. (oh, PBS is good too- but they just don't like it like they do the others)
I think it is the safety. While the adult in me objects to the homogenization that Disney tends to produce, the kids certainly don't care. And when I read them the real Fairy Tales, which I do, they like them too.
I dunno. We're in the same boat.
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