I’ll be the first to admit that some of the movies that are produced can have more of an effect on children than I ever imagined. I have watched my fair share of children’s movies because the girls will watch them not just once….but like 1000 times (or more). The newer movies seem to have some underlying messages that I believed were more for the parents benefit and chuckles and would pass over such young developing minds.
Interestingly, I found that children actually can and do grasp some of the ideas that are brought up in these movies. Concepts that I would think they would not be aware of in the first place. The ability for young children to pick up on these ideas can be pretty impressive as I saw with Milana just the other day.
I was kind of bummed that Milana’s birthday is two weeks beyond the date set by the school board of Sept 1. This means that she will be held back a year from where I believe where she belongs. She turned 5 in 2017 but was held in preschool. If she was born August 31, she would have been in kindergarten. To get her prepped for next year, me and Mary have been working with her on reading. The books that I use are from Mia’s kindergarten class. She is doing a great job on them and more impressive is that she is able to comprehend what is being talked about in the book based upon questions at the end of each one.
How does this relate back to Zootopia you might ask? It’s all about her ability to perceive what is occurring in the story. More importantly, she understands one of the underlying messages about bias to the different animals within the Zootopia universe. Interestingly, her understanding and questioning of bias occurred prior to the movie. She saw the firefighting profession as one dominated by men. I told her that she could do anything that she wanted to do. I encourage all my girls to do this. I think it is important for them to pave their own ways and what makes them happy.
In Zootopia, the main character a bunny named Judy Hopps, is in the law enforcement field. She is treated differently due to her sex. The other animals talk to her differently almost as if she is inferior and cannot handle the job as a law enforcement officer. The girls watch this over and over because they enjoy the different animals. What’s more important is that we have lightly discussed the issue with the girls to see their level of understanding. They see Mary and are proud that she is in Judy Hopps spot but Mary has provided a strong foundation for the girls to understand that the girls can be whatever they want to be. What it takes is practice and hard work. Those two things will be repeated to them regularly so that they make the choice to best suit them.
On a lighter note, as of right now, Mia wants to be a “hair cutter”, a brain doctor, a police officer and a firefighter. Milana wants to be a brain doctor. Bella has decided that she wants to be a priest. Each of these makes me proud as i know that whatever occupation they choose, it will be the perfect fit for them.