Okay, So You Can Fly...You're Still Absolutely Icky or Why I Want Peter Pan to Fly Out of My Home

On Sunday, during a meeting of the liberal elitist intelligentsia, a friend of mine marveled that she agreed with Pat Buchanon on a particular issue (how the war on terror creates terrorists instead of reducing terror).

I always marvel at the times when I find accord with my conservative friends. Not so long ago (using an error-filled subject line), I lampooned my right leaning buddies for giving Spongebob Squarepants (who, incidentally, LIVES in a pineapple under the sea) a hard time.

Now this.

The other day, in response to a request from my daughter (age 3), I went to our local video store, and selected “Tinkerbell” (as she calls it; it’s also known as “Peter Pan”). Specifically, I rented the 1953 version. Have you seen this thing? It’s horrible!

First of all, Tinkerbell, a cutie by any measurement, has this protracted scene where she expresses upset over the size of her hips (and they’re not that large my friends) – it’s the stuff that eating disorders are made of -great message for the little girls.

Second, the treatment of Native Americans in the film is deplorable. There’s no other word for it. The writers and producers talk about how Indians are savages (ironic when you consider the savagery and ignorance behind the charge).

I won’t even get into the roles for men (Peter Pan, etc.) vs. many of the roles for women (Wendy is an exception). The women largely exist to worship Peter. They do love to act like backbiting persons without character everytime he comes into a room (boys like to fly, they like to fight pirates, and the like to save girls; girls...well...girls like boys!). Perhaps I'm overly sensitive to it because I am raising a daughter (I still remember watching a football game with my little one in the room with me for the first time when the buxom cheerleaders came on - not a good feeling, my friends (boys = triumphant gladiators; girls = someones to cheer boys on)), but we have rented Peter Pan for the last time.

Yes, it is true that my outrage is directed toward wanting a more PC version of Peter Pan, but it is my own version of message control and censorship, so in that way, I feel accord with my pals who tried to bring the weight of the Bible down on Spongebob et al.

Proof once again that politics makes for strange bedfellows, and also proof that, at the extremes, there is a fair amount of agreement (even if for different reasons).