Success: A Hilly Valley

A forever inclining staircase seems misleading in representing the ideal of success.  For during the road to success there are obstacles, and moments of failure.  Just as in a valley of hill there are the highs and lows of the region.  No one person achieved greatness in a single climb to the peek of their success.  Each endeavor has its moments of trials and tribulations, the rise and declines of any achievement is to be expected.

Adult Ideals: Passing Them Onto Children

"Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood."

-Walt Disney 

     A quote from The Man himself.  The father of children's classics that will go on to thrive throughout the decades to come.  To a child watching classics like the Lion King, Peter Pan, or Alice in Wonderland, all that is evident are the basic principles of good vs. evil.  The rest stands for something bigger than themselves-a hope to hold onto...the magic of the perfect fairytale and Always rewarding "Happy Ending".  In films like The Little Mermaid or Sleeping Beauty, the young girls are portrayed as the pinnacle of innocence- damsels in distress in desperate need of rescue from the unrealistically perfect prince charming.  This is why I disagree with Walt's stance on Disney movies portraying certain ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.  Which appears to be especially true being that these ideals are constantly and quickly changing in respect to what is culturally excepted.  What messages are exactly being transmitted to children through such magical and glorified movies such as those produced by the Disney Company?  Girls are helpless, men are strong, and the two eventually coexist living out the rest of their lives in perfect, undoubted harmony.  I love romantic movies more than anyone and expect nothing less of a happily ever after ending.  Is that the doing of the ideals passed onto me as a child though?  Possibly.  Not to say that this lifestyle is in no way possible, however my point is that some of these classics set us up to believe with all of our hearts that things like love are made of perfection.  Any kind of love, romantic or familial, is hard work and there are bumps and unfortunately dead end roads along the way.  As for the part that I mentioned about the girls portrayed within these films as being helpless, I am  100% behind feminist empowerment and young girls taking charge of their own destiny rather than awaiting a rescuer.  We need to better embody strong female characters in order to show future young ladies that it is possible to not only rescue themselves but that they also have the power to be someone elses hero.

Methodological Believing...

"Often we cannot see what's good in someone else's idea (or our own!) till we work on believing it.  When an idea goes against current assumptions and beliefs--or if it seems alien, dangerous, or poorly formulated--we often cannot see any merit in it."

 

What is true?  What is not?  It can be argued that either of these trivial questions are undoubtedly based on perception.  How a person chooses to perceive a theory or ideal greatly influences whether or not they will believe in them.  To think of belief as a strategy that can be enacted towards  broadening a persons world view could alter the way a person goes about their life.  Learning to have an understanding of alien ideals rather than having an egocentric point of view would allow us to find merit, even beauty in what a person believes in.  Belief, even if momentary could help with discovering a tolerance for an otherwise unaccepted alien act, crime, or lifestyle choice.  Believing leads to an understanding, which leads to tolerance; if we have the patience to conquer the task of opening up our minds and work on reducing a narrow mindset, we have the power to change our lives; the lives of those who surround us; even change the world.