Rhapsodies

I have to share a rather interesting conversation I had with a friend regarding safe films to watch with her six year old.  I was more than happy to give some suggestions for films that are good but don’t have potential bombshells in them. So obviously things like Bambi with the fairly dramatic off screen death of the mother are out as well as things you might not suspect (these days I consider Bert Lahr as one of the saints of comedy but I remember being nearly traumatized the first time when I saw the Lion leap out of the trees when I saw the Wizard of Oz for the first time)

So I was all ready to recommend some Studio Ghibli and other old favorites… Until I realized just how high my friends standards were for keeping the children pure… After the topic was veering towards new agey political correctness it came to this:

“Just how is Finding Nemo sexualized?” I asked. I was aware of cast members having genders but that was about it.

“Oh because it’s about this boy fish. But then he meets an ANGEL FISH and has to find a pearl for her…” etc, etc

“Uh… Not getting into that doesn’t sound anything like the movie I’ve watched numerous times, but… You do know the angelfish in the movie is a guy… voiced by William Defoe?”

Apparently she didn’t.