A teacher here in Montana showed this movie and one of the parents protested and got the teacher suspended. I'll be helping to vote out the current school board.
I can't possibly imagine how a video that teaches kids not to want so much crap is a bad thing.
My niece was telling her grandma and I that she only had a short list of things she wanted for her birthday. When we asked her how many things was just a few, she said, "Oh, ten or fifteen." Both of our eyeballs about rolled out of our heads and onto the floor.
There's a scene in the novel "Jude the Obscure" where the protagonists' children kill themselves "because we are too menny."
Some of those parents may be complaining because their children are suicidal. This film really reinforces the idea that there are too many of us, and that's pretty dangerous when one is struggling desperately to show a kid that her life has worth.
@TeFrey: well, we are too many. and that is depressing. but it's the truth. honestly, and i say this as someone who has dealt with depression on and off since the age of seven, i doubt that this video is having that effect on a large scale.
@J.D.Regent: as was i. and poverty and hunger in other parts of the world. capitalism, you got some 'splainin to do.
The video is great for the consumerism angle, but there are so many odd things thrown in.
-The third world? That really should be called the developing world with a little description of what the word means.
-Breastfeeding is toxic? I know what she's getting at, but these kids are going to be reproducing in 10 or so years and that was pretty inflamatory and short-sighted.
-The whole computer monitor/shoe thing actually made me think "Gee, maybe people know most of my shoes are more than 3 years old." I think someone who cared about that might be on the way to the mall right now.
-She totally skips over the fact that recycling can be much more efficent. Germany recycles 75% of their home waste.
@clevernamehere: I've never understood how "developing world" is any less offensive than "third world". Either way, there is a clear ranking going on, so I don't really see the difference it makes.
@AlmostDream: Third world is plain old out of date since the second world (Communism) is basically gone. At the very least, kids should get the up to date terms.
As someone who studied consumption in college, I have NO problem with the video not addressing capitalism. Kids are inundated with consumerism EVERY DAY. There are tons of ads in schools. This video doesn't need to include messages about the virtues of capitalism; they're already everywhere else.
As much as I might agree with the video's viewpoint, I don't think propaganda is ever an appropriate teaching tool. And I think that it often incites backlash, anyway.
@alala: Propaganda depends on lies and falsehoods. At least, that was the traditional definition of it. If anything, this video presents too many uncomfortable truths.
@Kilotwat: Not falsehoods, but exaggerated or misleading information. There was one statistic in it that really bothered me, where they said that 6 months after consumption Ninety-some percent of everything Americans buy is thrown out to be replaced with more stuff. (I can't remember the number exactly it's been awhile since I watched it) but it didn't specify what "stuff" consisted of, or if it included consumable items, like soap, or food.
I agree with the point but the video did strike me as propaganda, too.
@DaniFae: This bothered me too. Food is the thing we buy the most of and it has to be included in that number (99%). Americans do throw out too much food and we do use too much packaging, but it was still really misleading.
@DaniFae: It said 99% of what Americans purchase is thrown out 6 months later. We can quibble with that, but I hardly think the video hinged on that statistic, even if it's completely wrong (which I don't think it is). For the most part, I think the video was matter-of-fact and accurate. Which to me, disqualifies it from being propaganda.
I agree that the video might be more effective if they just said "consumerism" - not least of all because that is a worldwide phenomenon, even in countries that are technically not capitalist.
One video is not going to suddenly turn the tide of child consumerism. Not while kids are being bombarded from all sides by messages saying "buy this." My 4-year-old daughter, every time she sees a commercial for something on Nickelodeon, says "Daddy, can I have X?", to which I reply, "Honey, just because you see it on TV does not mean you have to have it." This is why I like it when she watches Noggin or PBS: no commercials.
@NefariousNewt: Tween Dora and Tickle-Me-Elmo show that PBS is not above commercialization, even if they eschew commercials. It's sad. This video is desperately needed.
Parents usually get up in arms when their kids come home and tell them they are doing something that the kid has learned isn't right. Like smoking, or over spending, or drinking too much. Then they complain to the teacher. HOW DARE YOU TEACH MY CHILD MORALS!
This video is good for showing kids the impact of all their "stuff," but even so it is really hard to make the message stick. My husband teaches at a charter school that focuses on the environment and the arts, and his students have been watching and discussing this video in their Env Ed classes for the past 2 school years. In addition to all the other environmental education they get.
What have they gotten out of it? They hassle the teachers to recycle every tiny scrap of paper, but come to school with lunches wrapped in 7 layers of paper and plastic which they drop on the ground "by accident" and never pick up. Their parents sit in the parking lot with their cars idling for 30 minutes waiting to pick them up (despite the prominent NO IDLING signs everywhere). And these are families that have CHOSEN to send their children to a school with an environmental focus.
The video is good, I'm just saying that it will take A LOT MORE to reach the majority of kids.
I worked at a science museum once, and in an energy demonstration, I showed kids why it takes more energy to move a Hummer than it does a compact car, and a soccer mom got pretty mad. She turned to her kid and said something like, "Mommy is keeping her SUV."
Materialists do not like to hear why their endless consumption is harmful to their communities and to the planet. That's somebody else's problem.
@Gumbina80: My bf's ex liked to tell people she self-identified as a consumer. I thought that was quite weird. Like, that's what you want people to know about you first, that you buy a lot of sparkly shit? I think she just wanted people to know she made a lot of money, enough to toss around on whatever she wanted. In which case, it probably said far more about her that her first thought was to spend it all on herself, rather than, say, donating some of it to people who aren't quite so lucky.
05/12/09
05/12/09
My niece was telling her grandma and I that she only had a short list of things she wanted for her birthday. When we asked her how many things was just a few, she said, "Oh, ten or fifteen." Both of our eyeballs about rolled out of our heads and onto the floor.
I think my niece could stand to watch this video.
05/12/09
05/13/09
05/12/09
Some of those parents may be complaining because their children are suicidal. This film really reinforces the idea that there are too many of us, and that's pretty dangerous when one is struggling desperately to show a kid that her life has worth.
05/12/09
05/12/09
@J.D.Regent: as was i. and poverty and hunger in other parts of the world. capitalism, you got some 'splainin to do.
05/12/09
Consumer goods are made from materials of which we have a finite supply.
What is the counter opinion to this? That the earth's resources are magically replenished by gnomes?
Or maybe the opposing opinion is "The environment doesn't matter because Jesus is returning anyway."
05/12/09
05/12/09
-The third world? That really should be called the developing world with a little description of what the word means.
-Breastfeeding is toxic? I know what she's getting at, but these kids are going to be reproducing in 10 or so years and that was pretty inflamatory and short-sighted.
-The whole computer monitor/shoe thing actually made me think "Gee, maybe people know most of my shoes are more than 3 years old." I think someone who cared about that might be on the way to the mall right now.
-She totally skips over the fact that recycling can be much more efficent. Germany recycles 75% of their home waste.
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
I agree with the point but the video did strike me as propaganda, too.
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
I got my karmic bitchslap when a niece told me that I shouldn't drink beer because getting drunk is bad for me.
05/12/09
What have they gotten out of it? They hassle the teachers to recycle every tiny scrap of paper, but come to school with lunches wrapped in 7 layers of paper and plastic which they drop on the ground "by accident" and never pick up. Their parents sit in the parking lot with their cars idling for 30 minutes waiting to pick them up (despite the prominent NO IDLING signs everywhere). And these are families that have CHOSEN to send their children to a school with an environmental focus.
The video is good, I'm just saying that it will take A LOT MORE to reach the majority of kids.
05/12/09
05/12/09
Materialists do not like to hear why their endless consumption is harmful to their communities and to the planet. That's somebody else's problem.
05/12/09
05/12/09