Children’s Fiction Promotes Gullability
Monday, January 16th, 2006Agoraphilia has a great post on children’s fiction:
Children’s fiction often promotes credulity as a virtue. Consider, for instance, the admonitions in Disney’s Peter Pan, in Elf, or in The Neverending Story. These and many other works teach our children, “Just believe!”
He then proceeds to examine why authors think that “Kids are supposed to believe whatever some elf, or sprite, or cute fuzzy guy ardently insists they believe.”
This is one of the many clichés of children’s literature that grinds against me like sandpaper against my teeth. Another is the idea tha tyou should “believe in yourself,” as though doing so magically infuses you with the ability to shoot basketball, skate, or spell “triskaidekaphobia.”
There are probably dozens of these; what are your story-telling pet peeves?
