My twins are all about princesses. If it isn’t a Disney princess, well, it’s not a REAL princess. Both of them have decided to be Belle for Halloween and they have both been wearing their Belle costumes every day since their birthday. I’ve always been a huge fan of cartoons and animated films, so I already had a large collection of Disney movies before I had children. Naturally, I decided to allow my girls to watch a few Disney movies. I recognize that not everyone agrees with children watching movies, and specifically Disney films, so hang with me.
A friend of ours came over to our house with her two daughters. Our girls all played nicely together and we sat and chatted while they played. My friend, Kim, noticed that we had a lot of princess related toys. She informed me that she refuses to let her daughters watch any Disney movies because they are so unrealistic and she doesn’t want her girls to have a jaded view of love and marriage. I totally understand her point.
The Disney movies are less than realistic in many ways. How come all of the girls have stepmothers or no mothers at all? Love at first sight - does that really happen? Girls getting married at a young age (Ariel at 16) - now, that’s a scary thought! Who wrote these stories anyway? However, there are a few that have good story lines, such as Belle falling in love with the Beast before she knew he as a handsome prince. I must admit, I like that. Cinderella escaping a terrible family life and finding happiness despite her childhood circumstances. However, these lessons are buried under the love story and are rarely appreciated by the young girl watching them.
I’ve been watching my girls play and listening to the words they use. They often ask me if they are going to marry a prince. They talk about wearing a beautiful long dress. Often Pack Rat will play Belle and Copy Cat will play the Beast. I’ve chuckled as I’ve seen them running out of the kitchen saying, “I must go,” imitating Cinderella while the other cries, “Wait.”
Another woman I know changes the ending of the stories. For example, instead of Cinderella getting married to the prince, she goes to college and runs into Prince Charming at her high school reunion. As my girls get older, it will be my responsibility to teach them that life is not like a fairy tale. And that even though they may marry their prince, there will be challenging times. Hopefully, they are learning more from me and my husband than they will ever learn from movies.
So, I’ll continue to let my girls watch these silly fairy tales because they are so fascinated by the princesses in their beautiful gowns. And, I will continue to be a positive role model as a good mom and a good wife. In the end, I think my girls will turn out just fine.
Do you let your children watch Disney movies? Why or why not?
by Kelly Damron
Thanks to Stuck in Customs for the photo, used under creative commons license.
2 responses so far ↓
STL Mom // Oct 18, 2008 at 11:11 am
I loved princesses when I was a girl. I dressed up, I drew pictures of princesses in long, fancy gowns, I read all the Blue and Pink and Brown and whatever Fairy books, and I was sure that someday my real parents the king and queen would find me and take me away from my boring life and ordinary family (please note that I was not adopted!)
At some point I realized that my real life was going to be a lot more like my mom’s than a fairy tale. And I was a little disappointed, but I got over it.
Personally I don’t think there is any more harm in princess fantasy than in pretending you are a spy or a pirate or Jo March or Harry Potter. Fantasy is fun for kids, and they learn from it.
I would avoid buying too many products with princesses on them because at some point your daughters will get over it and think all that Disney princess stuff is babyish. My daughter got rid of all the merchandise when she was in first grade - but we still watch the movies!
Anita B // Oct 18, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I am perfectly fine with my friends who don’t read Harry Potter because it’s witchcraft (my husband is a pastor and christians can be so superficial!) but I always let them know that it’s their opinion and they better not let that leak to my children. I mean, come on! It’s make-believe! And as long as your children have positive role models in the real world, they will not grow up jaded. I let my son watch Veggie Tales, but that doesn’t mean he thinks his salad is going to get up and start singing a silly song! I know I come from a somewhat unique perspective, but sometimes this generations (yes, my generation) really ticks me off. I am 33 years old and have so many fond memories of things that kids these days are seriously missing. I am raising my son to have an imagination and not be afraid of the world around him. Thanks for the blog topic! I’ll start writing it when we finish dinner!
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