The Stories We Tell Children

We are all familiar, but perhaps not aware of the whitewashing we do with children's stories. An example of this is the story of the Gingerbread Man I found online and sent home in preschool. At the end of the story, the gingerbread man is sitting on top of the fox's head. He doesn't get eaten! Another case is Disney's movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which ends happily while the book had the girl hung and the Hunchback died with her body. Disney's Little Mermaid ends happily, while the original Little Mermaid became a Daughter of the Air. The changed outcomes of these stories are examples of a social wish to escape consequence and repudiate suffering paired with indoctrination that the wish is true. Reflection reveals the doctrine is bogus. Sometimes we can love deeply and still suffer; epic heroes and heroines are born from such choices, and we remember their passion. The original Hunchback of Notre Dame and Little Mermaid are cases in point. Our marriages should be so passionate. Sometimes we make poor decisions (like gingerbread men asking foxes for help) and we could die; we will certainly suffer! Children need to receive imagery that teaches truth.