Cartoons have a
serious value:
the children’s
imaginary and
the spiritist
concepts
1 – An almost
silent war
An interesting
report was
published on 20th
October 2005 in
the section
“Pensar” of the
Correio
Brasiliense
(FD). It talked
about the
launching of the
book by
biologist Ernst
Mayr, a great
student of the
work of Charles
Darwin in the 20th
century. It
affirmed that we
live in a silent
war in today’s
world, where
creationism and
the theory of
“Intelligent
Design” confront
the evolutionist
ideas of Charles
Darwin.
Despite this
question having
appeared in
articles of
other newspapers
and even in TV
programs, it
still pictures a
certain absurd
character, with
an air of humour
regarding the
evolutionist
theory. This
character has
been presented
in other forms.
The stage of
this fight is
the book, the
classroom, the
conversation
between friends
during a film,
and is not
restricted only
to USA. We
already know of
cases here in
Brazil of
students who
refuse to study
and get zero
grades in
question about
this theme in
the discipline
of biology, for
it contradicts
their belief.
They are ideas
“spread” around,
opposing
themselves in
provocations and
strained
debates, in
times of
exacerbated
fundamentalism.
This war,
typical of
different
centuries,
reveals that
ideas are
interlaced in
their
expressions,
from a simple
school lesson to
music, spreading
and opposing
themselves in
different
forums. Another
silent
”revolution” of
transmitted
theological
concepts is
occurring,
without however,
having reached
newspaper pages,
as to the
question of “man
having
originated from
apes”. I imagine
that this causes
rage in the
proudest because
it goes against
concepts
established for
centuries by the
dominant
religions in the
western world.
The objective of
this article is
to analyse ideas
which are being
transmitted to
children
in the programs
destined to this
public,
especially in
regards to the
concepts which
are connected to
spiritist ideas,
and show how
this material
can be used by
parents and
evangelisers in
the conceptual
formation of
children.
2. – Children’s
TV
During the time
of the kerosene
lamp, recreation
for children was
to run around in
the
streets,
spinning tops,
blind man’s
bluff, a series
of games and
nursery rhymes,
activities which
persist until
today in many
regions of the
country and due
to the
insistence of
many educators.
In the 1960’s,
TV was a
luxurious
article which
only one boy in
each street had,
and because of
this, all the
children of that
street met up to
watch programmes
in that boy’s
house. It was
the beginning of
TV, where
everything was
news and in the
last forty odd
years many
things have
changed.
Nowadays we talk
about digital
TV, of
interactivity.
We were invaded
by colours, by
special effects
and by many
options of
subscription TV
channels. In
Brazil, around
14% of the
population has
access to TV by
subscription and
90% has access
to regular TV.
It is estimated
that the average
Brazilian child
daily spends
about three
hours in front
of the screen,
the highest
average in the
world, according
to research
carried out by
Brasilia
University and
published in the
18th January
2006 edition of
Veja magazine.
TV has
transformed
itself in a
didactic tool
and has entered
into school.
Films, series,
soap operas and
cartoons
directed at the
child public and
produced
throughout the
whole world are
part of TV, the
substitute for
the
story-telling
child sitter.
These programs
which invade our
houses without
asking
permission bring
with them their
symbolism and
their script
concepts,
sometimes
originating from
the culture of
the country
which produced
them or,
sometimes, a
mere cultural
merchandise of
habits and
values, inserted
consciously to
stimulate in a
sublime manner
the consumption
of determined
products; the
inclusion of or
combat against
prejudice; the
hatred of an
enemy, of a
country and even
values of
conduct.
3 – The
Influences of
stories and
characters
However, how can
these stories
and characters
can be
translated to
children
concepts and
visions of the
world which can
interfere in
their own
concepts?
Children’s
cartoons
substitute the
old
story-tellers,
the narrators of
other epochs,
who narrated the
everyday and the
wonderful.
The great
difference is
that the story
today already
comes with text
and image,
already “processed”,
with lots of
information and
little space for
interpretation
or imagination,
allowing reduced
space for
discussion.
The fairy tales
presented in
modern cartoons
have roots of
being
psychological
instruments with
which the child
can face a world
full of
difficulties,
seeking the
identification
of heroes,
having today as
differential an
insertion of
complex and long
relationships
amongst the
characters, with
psychoanalytic
roots, where the
“moral of the
story” persists,
generally
associated with
“politically
correct”
thought.
So these stories
present to our
children
solutions of how
to face the
world, heroes,
idols, formulae
and contextual
truths. Yes,
each cartoon has
logic, a set of
rules that work
as a “truth” of
that cartoon.
For example, in
“Tom & Jerry”,
despite not
speaking
verbally, the
animals (cat and
mouse) think and
communicate,
which differs
from reality,
but for all
that, the
cartoon has a
contextual
reality.
The child in his
imagination
imports those
contextual
truths and
returns to our
world, in his
journeys of
reliving the
stories. These
contextual
truths influence
the way the
child sees the
world, as he
lives in a world
with new rules.
The child will
not be able to
fly like “Peter
Pan”, but the
contextual truth
of not wanting
to grow can be
for them an
interior and
exterior truth.
Children slowly
get to discover
that they cannot
shoot rays
through their
hands, but
slowly also
discovers that
that, if they do
not face the
world, they will
not be able to
overcome
obstacles. These
ways of thinking
get to oppose
themselves and
build the
child’s vision
of world,
mediating his or
her fantasy
world with the
real world.
The question is
that this logic
of the world of
fantasy was
always
monopolised. Due
to the dominant
ideology and the
culture of the
producer, the
oldest cartoons,
such as the
quoted “Tom &
Jerry”, “Woody
Woodpecker”,
“Popeye, the
Sailor Man” or
“Mickey Mouse”,
always deal with
more crucial
theologies, such
as God and life
after death, in
a classical and
secular form,
representing
always the
opposition
between angels
and demons,
heaven of clouds
and flaming
hell, as in the
medieval style,
with caldrons
and harps. The
geopolitical
context was
always
another...
Thereby, these
paradigms were
reinforced and
naturalised in
the children who
watched those
cartoons.
4 – The
Spiritist
Concepts
With the 80’s,
with the fall of
the Berlin’s
wall, with the
beginning of
globalisation,
the world
started to
exchange
cultures more.
With the
broadening of
the
communications,
with the
internet and TV
by subscription,
with the
entrance of
cartoons of
other countries,
especially the
European and
Japanese, the
ideological axis
of these
cartoons
changed.
The cultures of
these countries
now came
interlaced in
these new
cartoons and the
fall of more
traditional
models, the
advancement of
the space race
and of the
astronomy, all
this caused the
religious
thematic to have
another approach
in the
contextual
truths of
animated
cartoons. The
imagination
necessary to the
competition
needed to take
flight and every
vision of the
world was
important to
build a new
story. The
public, more
critical and
clear, became
more demanding
and wanted more
information.
To illustrate
this which is
the central
point of this
article, we cite
some more recent
cartoons
directed to the
child public,
the majority
still being
shown,
identifying
concepts in them
similar to
spiritist
concepts,
described in the
table below:
Index |
Spiritist
Concept |
A |
Evolution
fo the
Spiritis |
B |
Communicability
of the
spiritis
with the
incarnated/
immortality
of the
soul |
C
|
Plurality
of the
inhabited
worlds |
D
|
Plurality
of the
existences
(Reincarnation) |
In the list
below you find
the cartoons
and, in case the
reader has
difficulty in
identifying or
to know
something more
about the
titles, you can
ask you son,
daughter or
nephew, who will
certainly know.
Certainly, the
majority of
these cartoons
have a great
deal of violence
and in many
cases, explicit
violence.
However we do
not propose to
evaluate the
cartoon per se
but to verify
the change of
the concepts
transmitted.
INU YASHA
-. A Japanese
success, it
tells the story
of a girl who
enters into a
well at the
bottom of her
garden and from
there returns to
the time of
feudal Japan,
where she lives
in situations
related to her
incarnation of
that time, as a
sacerdotal.
Concept: D.
AVATAR
- A recent
cartoon from
Nickelodeon, it
talks about a
time in China
where people
dominate the
elements of air,
water, earth and
fire and the
Avatar who would
establish order
is the one who
has already
incarnated in
the tribes of
the four
elements.
Concept: D.
DRAGON BALL –.
Japanese cartoon
inspired by a
Chinese legend,
it tells the
story of a boy
with a monkey
tale, who is
very strong, who
in truth came
from another
planet and lives
adventures on
Earth, in search
of the spheres
of the dragon.
Concepts: B & C.
YU YU HAKUSHO
- Japanese
cartoon where
Yusuke Urameshi
is an
undisciplined
young boy who
lost his life in
order to save a
child from being
run over by a
car. As a
reward, he
becomes a
“detective” of
the spiritual
world, fighting
great battles.
Concept: B.
The Zodiac
Gentlemen
- Another great
Japanese success
in which the
young people of
a orphanage are
raised by a
millionaire who
trains them to
become knights
with special
armour in order
to save the
Earth from
imminent danger
and to defend
the young Saori,
a reincarnation
of the Goddess
Athena.
Concept: D.
The Mummy
- North American
cartoon inspired
by the remaking
of the 1932
classic. It
pictures a
family of
archaeologists
against a mummy
who returns to
life. It is
based on
Egyptian
mythology, and
deals with the
reincarnation of
the characters
with great ease.
Concept: D.
SHAMAN KING
- Japanese
cartoon which
narrates the
adventure of
young shamans
(mediums) who,
with the help of
warrior spirits
of the past,
fight battles
“incorporated”
amongst
themselves.
Concept: B.
DISNEY -
The Disney mega
studio has
interesting
themes, such as
Brother Bear and
Mulan, which
present
ostensive
contacts with
entities already
discarnate and
others, such as
Lilo and Stitch
and Chicken
Little, which
deal easily with
life on other
planets. Concept
B.
STAR WARS
- The saga of
the six films of
George Lucas and
the several
cartoon
spin-offs,
which, besides
considering life
in other
planets, talk
about “the
force”, a type
of fluid which
can be
manipulated. It
also presents
discarnate
characters which
carry out
apparitions and
communicate with
the incarnated.
Concept: B and
C..
GHOSTBUSTERS
- Cartoon
inspired by the
successful film
that had in its
continuations
the formation of
a group that
decides to set a
company to hunt
ghosts. Concept:
B
SCOOBY-DOO –
The old fearful
dog and his
friend Shaggy
still enjoy much
success, in the
film and the
cartoons.
Communication
with spirits is,
in the majority
of cases,
revealed as a
hoax for
commercial ends.
However the
episodes never
negate the
existence of
these
phenomena.
Concept: B.
MARTIN MYSTERY
-.
A young student
and his sister
together with a
caveman are
members of an
agency which
investigates
paranormal
events on
several planets,
and mediumistic
phenomena of all
kind appear in
the episodes.
Concepts: A, B e
C.
MONICA’S FRIENDS
- Our dear
Brazilian
characters
present of a lot
of concepts with
the astronaut
who visits other
planets, Horacio
and Piteco -the
dinosaurs and
Penadinho’s
friends during
pre-history
time, which
always bring
reincarnation
and mediumship
aspects.
Concepts: A, B,
C e D.
DINOSAURS
- Diverse
cartoons from
different
nationalities
which have as
their background
the question of
the dinosaurs,
characterising
the ideas of
evolution.
Concept: A.
DANNY PHANTOM -
North-American
Cartoon that
tells the
adventures of a
boy, son of
ghost hunters,
who by accident
starts to be
able to turn
into a ghost and
fight the bad
ghosts,
searching to
defend his town,
with several
mediumistic
phenomena in the
episodes, as for
example
incorporation.
Concept: B.
HARRY POTTER
- The most
famous young
wizard of the
planet,
affirming his
English origin,
presents ghosts
from the past
walking around
the school and
talking to
students in all
the films.
Concept: B.
As we can see, the
list is
extensive and
certainly
incomplete. Ask
any child and
surely they have
already watched
some of these
cartoons, as
they are all
recent. Besides,
the majority of
them have their
version in a
book or a comic.
Obviously, the
concepts
presented in the
cartoons present
several
distortions of
the spiritist
concepts, but
this does not
invalidate that
the previous
paradigm of
heaven versus
hell was broken.
As we expected,
the predominance
is in the
questions of
mediumship with
its facets and
in life in other
planets, fruit
of the
advancements on
Astrology and of
the discoveries
of Instrumental
Trans-communication
and related
studies, being
the cartoons
originated in
the Far East,
the ones that
present once
again the
question of
reincarnation,
which enriches
the plot much
more.
5 – How to
potentiate this?
As said before,
certainly our
students of
evangelisation
or our kids
watch or have
already watched
at least one of
these cartoons.
It is
inevitable, as
these cartoons
are in school,
in the licensed
products and in
the newsagents.
This
relationship
which our child
in the process
of
evangelisation
establishes with
one of these
programs is a
unique
opportunity to
explore the
spiritist and
even moral
concepts
inserted there
and to create a
fruitful
discussion about
the theme.
Today’s
education
revolves around
working from the
student’s
reality.
If in this
reality we are
already finding
concepts that
are related to
our spiritist
concepts, we
have to bring
them to critical
analysis. It is
not only up to
us to see the
world contained
in the spiritist
doctrine but
also to identify
the spiritist
doctrine in the
world. As the
appeal to and
the influence of
these cartoons
on kids is
enormous, the
convergence
point must serve
as “the thread”
to initiate a
discussion of
their content.
If you are in
the sitting room
with friends,
watching one of
these cartoons,
explain to your
child (who has
been attending
evangelisation),
what really
happened on the
light of the
spiritist
doctrine, the
concept which
has consolidated
there.
6 - Conclusion
Sometimes we
tend to isolate
or to ignore the
material shown
on TV for they
hurt the
philosophic
purity. The fact
is that the
silent
revolution of
the theological
concept is here.
However, rarely
one of these
cartoons will be
integrally
faithful to the
philosophic
concepts, even
if their purpose
is otherwise.
Certain basic
conceptual
mechanisms can
be illustrated
from these
elements of the
child’s reality,
allowing them a
better
discernment. To
run away from
this is to hide
inside one’s
shell, just like
our creationist
friends.
Marcus Vinicius
de Azevedo Braga
is pedagogue,
children’s
evangeliser and
frequents Gremio
Espirita Atualpa
in Brasilia(DF),
and published in
2001 the book
“Happiness in
serving “ by
FEB.
|