I've been thinking lately about when Bambi's mother died.
I don't think I'm over it.
I mean, I remember where I was when I read about it and everything. I was
in the library of Harbor City Junior College with my older sister and some of
her friends. I was nine years old and sitting there at a wide, wooden desk
doing really well, quietly reading, acting like a big person instead of a dorky kid.
But, then it happened. They were out there in the meadow eating the new spring
grass when suddenly Bambi's mother says, "Run!" Bambi runs like mad and then
starts looking everywhere for his mother but can't find her. That's when The Old
Prince of The Forest shows up and says "Your Mother can't be with you anymore."
"Come...my son." said the stag.
WAAAH!
I let out a wail. My inner dam burst and everything within a three mile radius was
destroyed. Water was going everywhere. My sister and her friends were all washed
away down the hallway out the door, grappling with bobbing books, pencils and erasers.
The head librarian was shouting "Silence!" as she careened by, engulfed in the raging
torrent of my tears.
It was emotion at its most unstoppable.
Then, my sister was back, kicking me under the table, telling me to knock it off! She
and her friends were staring at me like I was some kind of fungus or something.
I buried my puffy, slobbery face in the book and continued sobbing. They may have
gotten their driver's licenses but they had obviously never read BAMBI!!
Okay. Fast forward 44 years and here I am still upset about Bambi's mother.
Her death was so sudden and unfair and rotten and sad.
Bambi stands alone at the top of the pinnacle of writing that affected me most
emotionally. And, I'm thinking it really screwed me up as a person because it
made me an anthropomorphic nutcase, the kind of weirdo who looks at
icanhascheezburger.com and thinks it's high humor.
I think Bambi should come with a warning message to all parents that their
children could potentially become mentally warped for life, and even in late
adulthood will still cry hysterically every time they see a dead squirrel on the
road, they will hate hunters and zoos, and in extreme cases they might even
join Greenpeace and start ramming Japanese whaling boats.
So, that's my tirade for today. Now I'm going to go contemplate the great
Thumperian philosophy of "If you can't say nothin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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2 comments:
You know what's interesting? If you look at the vast majority of Disney movies, the child/hero/star usually only has one living parent, the other died. Seriously, start racking your brain and thinking of ALL the stories, it's wild! I guess it makes it easier on the storyteller to keep fewer minor characters?
I think there are whole articles, perhaps books, written about the trauma Disney movies inflict upon children, Bambi at the top of the list! I don't understand, either, why it's supposed to be okay to introduce the concept of death and separation to young children, just because. You are probably unique among a lot of children, because you were exposed to Bambi first through a book you yourself were reading, and not through the movie. There was no parent there to censor the scene, or cover your eyes, or hold your hand. I know I hate hunters! (Well, I actually hate what hunters do. I'll modify that statement, because I've learned my Thumper lessons well.)
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