In the film, Lenny (a vegetarian shark) catches flak from his father for not being "normal" (shark...vegetarian...I can see the potential for humor here...)
AFA equates this to a promotion of acceptance of homosexuality.
What would be so bad about that? Teaching kids to accept others, regardless of their differences? Sounds admirable to me.
Unlike the AFA.
Nevertheless, this is an animated film intended for children, so Shark Tale has to have a happy ending. This is provided via Oscar, who manages to get father and son together for a face-to-face reconciliation.
"What is your problem?" Oscar demands of Lino. "So your son likes kelp. So his best friend's a fish. So he likes to dress like a dolphin. So what? Everybody loves him, just the way he is. Why can't you?"
What's so bad about that? Well, the AFA says this:
But as Plugged In's Steven Isaac notes, "Had this movie been released 20 years ago, nobody would have been calling attention to this subject." Two decades ago, accepting differences meant accepting a person who might have a different skin color, or be from a different ethnic background.
Such differences are immutable characteristics, however, and not sexual choices. In this respect, Shark Tale comes far too close to taking a bite out of traditional moral and spiritual beliefs.
And that's probably swimming a bit too close to shore for many parents.
To the AFA, accepting differences is OK...as long as they are differences the AFA/religious right approves of. They forget that not too long ago the differences they did not approve of were based on skin color/ethnicity.
0 comments:
Post a Comment