Cartoons Have Valuable Social Lessons

Cartoons such as Captain Planet offer a variety of lessons related to the environment and our social community. While some are deemed more valuable than others, they are lessons all the same. In an essay in Teaching Children's Literature, Jeanne Murray Walker says that: "fantasy helps children learn to be adults but 'does not pretend a snapshot of the world that is value-neutral' (116-17), and that allows fantasy to be used to teach other social lessons" (Dobrin & Kidd, p. 256).

Children love to live in their fantasy worlds. The idea of make-believe surfaced time and time again in our conversation related to the Animal Kingdom, and is an important theme once again. Pretending is part of growing up, and playing a variety of roles helps children identify who they are and who they want to become. Captain Planet has been criticized for "[Planeteers'] personal relationships with the world not [being] completely in tune with the natural environment" (Dobrin & Kidd, p. 256). However, it is through exposure to the variety of characters in such cartoons that children begin to learn about the complexity of the roles in our society. They may not realize it at first, but they are getting a taste of reality. They learn about the Planeteers (the innocent Earth stewards), and their opponents the polluters, exploiters, and destroyers (BP maybe?).

After watching the Paulo Freire video, it confirmed what I was thinking about the Planeteers. He says, "We read the world to the extent that we understand and interpret it." I highly doubt that the young children who are watching Captain Planet recognize the inconsistencies with the Planeteers' relationship and the natural environment. I would imagine that after watching an episode, they take with them the big ideas of saving the planet and of good vs. evil. It is possible that they are subconsciously soaking up some of the "gender stereotypes that hurt while subverting stereotypes that empower" (S&K p. 258). However, according to Freire, they will only absorb it to the extent in which they understand it. At a young age, how much of it do they truly understand?

Furthermore, the Captain Planet Foundation encourages children to go a step beyond watching the show and urges them to get involved in saving the environment. For all of the criticism that may circulate about such a show, there are quite a few potential positive outcomes.