"What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease." - George Dennison Prentice

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It keeps getting better...


Shrek 3 not suitable for children

"I TOOK my six-year-old daughter to watch Shrek 3, thinking it was another wholesome animation for children.

But both I and my wife (who has a master's in Early Childhood Studies) feel that it is not suitable for children.

There are some good values to be learnt from the movie. However, I find several aspects of the movie make it not suitable for children.

One of the scenes portray one of the main characters 'Arthur' feigning extreme sadness to fool an old and pitiful magician.

He succeeded in getting his way, and was not at all apologetic that he had used emotional manipulation to do so. Children watching this would obviously pick up the message that it is all right to manipulate others to benefit oneself.

The other objectionable scene was towards the end where an angry 'Prince Charming' starts cutting off the heads of animals/mannequins on stage.

No doubt, he was 'acting' in a drama production, but his characterisation makes it totally believable that he would do the same to actual people or animals.

If the visual images of the beheadings and its irreverent portrayal could leave an impression on an adult like me, what impact can it have on young children?

Another objectionable portion is the negative portrayal of traditional fairy tale heroines.

Characters like Snow White and Rapunzel were portrayed in a negative light - as demanding, unreasonable, impatient and manipulative characters, totally different from the virtuous, pure, sacrificial and long-suffering characters that we know them to be in the original fairy tales.

To innocent young children, this may put confusion in their minds as to what their fairy tale heroines are truly like. Should they continue to admire them and embrace the virtues they portray?

My last point has to do with mismatch of the modern American English spoken with the traditional costumes and setting of the movie. The gentlemen and ladies of that era gone by certainly do not speak in such rude and over-the-top manner. So this represents another historical misrepresentation.

The movie has a good ending and some good lessons but overall its irreverent tone, historical misrepresentations and violent images will not leave many positive nor wholesome impressions on our children and young people.

Brian Tan Cheow Eng"


Obviously he's never deconstructed fairy tales.