Let me start off this post by saying that I have not seen the movie and I do not plan to. Here is why:
My imagination is active enough. It doesn’t need any help at all. Apparently, my children are the same.
I am upset that something that is scary (zombies/the undead) is somehow made and intended to be cute and funny and kid-friendly. I am annoyed that Halloween seems to have taken over, particularly the scary parts. And I am offended that I am not allowed to be terrified of things that are legitimately scary!
I was watching an episode of Clifford, the Big Red Dog with my kids the other day, and it was a Halloween episode. There (of course) was some kind of misunderstanding between the dogs and the humans, to the point that Clifford was wandering around the island looking for help to get a giant sheet off his back. The people were terrified that the rumored ghost dog of Birdwell Island was coming after them. In the end, Emily Elizabeth took the sheet off Clifford and everyone had a good laugh as one dog continued to shiver in fear. Didn’t he know it was just Clifford in disguise?
No, he did not. And that’s okay.
Why must we always try and see below the surface? Why can’t our first reaction be the right reaction? Why are we told to disbelieve every little thing we see, to overcome our (legitimate) visceral reactions, to harden ourselves and discover the truth? Is the truth really concealed that often? And if it is, shouldn’t we content ourselves to be ready to hear the truth when other people are content to reveal it?
I will not discipline or explain away scary things to my children. I will feel their feelings with them, because let’s face it, I’m most likely more scared than they are! (Again… my imagination has a mind of its own!) I will not seek out books, movies, haunted houses, or scary decorations at Halloween to toughen my heart and increase my sense of disbelief of the world around me.
I like my imagination just the way it is, thank you very much.
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Source:
http://dailyreinvention.com/2012/08/18/paranorman/