Yesterday’s blog post
brought about a flurry of comments. As
it turns out I forgot I few things.
Since there’s no time like the present, let me put the spotlight on
some of the comments.
Andrea said …
“McColl is just another author
trying to sell books. She’s desperate
and she knows that creating a controversy will give her her five minutes of
fame. She’s a nut job.”
(There were more emails to that effect, stating that McColl is simply seeking publicity)
Linda said …
“I always question the motives of these do-gooders. What alternative motive do they have? Nobody does something for nothing.”
Michael said …
“If a smoking Santa sets a bad example for kids, so does his body.
Santa is morbidly obese and needs to go on a diet. His weight sets a bad example for the kids. Perhaps kids should stop setting out milk and
cookies and give him something healthy to snack on.”
Erik said …
“All things considered,
Santa is breaking the law. He’s breaking
and entering. Is this what we want to
teach our kids? That’s it’s okay to go
into other people’s houses at night.”
Monica said …
“The whole Santa thing
is against my beliefs. We teach our
children that love can’t be bought, but Santa is doing just that. If he didn’t bring gifts, would kids still
love him as much?”
Madeleine said …
“I have three kids and I
can’t afford presents for all of them.
Last year each had to make do with a scarf. When they saw what other kids got, they asked
me if Santa didn’t love them. When I
said that of course he did, they asked why he didn’t bring them nice presents.”
Andrea said …
“If we want to set a
good example for children, we should look at the fairy tales. If parents today are complaining about
violence on TV and the effect this has on younger viewers, what about Snow white,
Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.”
I guess it’s true, the
old fairy tales are filled with violence.
Snow white casts a bad
light on stepmothers. The stepmother
orders the huntsman to find Snow white and cut out her heart. When this fails, the stepmother poisons an
apple and has Snow white eating it. She
is committing murder.
In Cinderella we not
only meet an evil stepmother but two evil stepsisters. Cinderella is forced into child labor and the
whole story is filled with nothing but lies and deceit.
In Red Riding Hood
children encounter murder. Remember the
wolf eating Red Riding Hood and her grandmother? If memory serves me correctly,
in the end a huntsman kills the wolf which set the grandmother and Red Riding
Hood free, which reflects animal cruelty.
In Rapunzel we encounter
abduction and a child being locked away in a tower.
The cartoons kids watch
don’t set a good example either.
Think of the Roadrunner …
how many times has he wolf attempted to kill the Roadrunner? He’s tried shooting him, squashing him under
rocks, blowing him up with dynamite and a series of other ways.
Perhaps McColl has
something to say about that too.
Fact is, no matter how
much certain mothers try to blame TV for violence, that theory doesn’t hold
water. Millions of kids grew up
listening to fairy tales and watching cartoons.
Most of them turned out to be upstanding adults. Sure, there are a few bad apples, but is that
any reason to deprive kids from their favorite entertainment?
McColl and other women
with similar notions should take a good look at themselves. Could it be that, because their life is
miserable they can’t rest until they’ve spoiled things for a few others?
