Enchanted Was Not So Enchanting

While my niece was visiting, she exposed me to her new favorite Disney movie, Enchanted. Sometimes I can sit back and enjoy these things for what they are -- mindless entertainment -- and sometimes I just can't turn off the sociologist in me. Yes, the movie was cute and somewhat original. The beautiful Princess Giselle gets banished by the wicked queen to New York City, where she turns from a cartoon into a real person. She's initially dismayed because she was supposed to marry Prince Charming (Edward) in cartoon land, but it turns out that she finds her true love in real-people land, so the wicked queen has inadvertently done her a favor. The transition between cartoon land and the real world was interesting and some of the supporting characters were fun. In particular, Pip the chipmunk was adorable and Susan Sarandon was delightfully wicked as the evil queen. But ...

In typical Disney fashion, this simple love story glosses over some serious moral dilemmas. The one that's really nagging me is the fact that the real-world true love, Robert, just so happens to be involved with another woman who he has been with for five years and is thinking of marrying. Let me reiterate -- FIVE YEARS! And in the course of a movie-time week, he dumps her and falls for the princess. Of course, Princess Giselle, who was smitten with Prince Edward (whom she had only known for five minutes before falling madly in love), suddenly realizes that Robert is her "true love" even though Prince Edward followed her all the way from cartoon land to NYC to marry her. Damn -- that's just harsh!

But never fear, Disney conveniently smoothed over this awkward situation. It's okay to leave your partners in the dust as long as the jilted lovers fall in love with each other! Yup, Robert's long-time girlfriend follows Prince Edward back to cartoon land and they live happily ever after, of course. Robert is then free to marry Giselle and, of course, they live happily ever after as well. (Sigh.)

Aside from the typical gender stereotypes and unrealistic expectations that Disney normally sells, what is this movie teaching our kids about fidelity, commitment, and building meaningful relationships? This could have easily been a compelling love story without the complications of existing relationships. The jilted lovers don't even make the storyline more interesting.

The bottom line for Disney is that your "one, true love" is out there. You will find him/her. You will be with him/her regardless of the costs. You will live happily ever after. You will never get divorced or become the jilted lover, despite that fact that neither your nor your partner know anything about successful relationships. Yet again Disney is making millions by selling fantasy at the expense of morality. Somebody please tell them that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Over the Top -- or Not

I am not at all a fan of saggy pants. They are just silly and I find it hard to understand how guys think it's cool to waddle around with their pants around their knees. However, this new Flint, MI police policy is just plain stupid. I highly doubt that they are applying this new interpretation of indeceny laws equally to women. Are they going to arrest females for showing their whale's tails or too much cleavage? (I would seriously love to hear them define "too much" in that respect.) In a city that is notoriously plagued by serious crime and financially strapped (remember Roger and Me?), this is not a good use of scarce city resources. I'd be pretty pissed off if I were a Flint resident.

In Defense of Rotties

People ask us all the time if Hershey, our Rottweiler pound puppy, is mean or dangerous. The answer is no (unless she feels threatened in some way, which is very rare). Hershey is the sweetest and most sensitive dog we've ever owned. She is incredibly affectionate and she loves kids and other animals. She's been Abby's best friend since she was an infant. She's also adverse to conflict, as best illustrated by the fact that she is a 120-lb dog who regularly gets beat up by our 8-lb, declawed cat.

Despite these claims, people are still wary of her. So today I felt vindicated when my sister sent me this news story about the 10 most aggressive dog breeds. Not only were Rotties not on the list, but Daschunds were number one. My sister's two hotdogs are seriously mean little buggers, so I was not at all surprised. Number two was the Chihuahua. I was bitten by my mom's Chihuahua when I was two and apparently I have not forgiven the breed for that incident.

Expanding Dictionary

All of you word lovers will be happy to know that Merriam-Webster has added a bunch of new words to the dictionary. While these words have been around for a while, they have to gain sufficient popularity to actually get added to the dictionary. Some of my favorite additions are:

• mental health day (I'd like to think that my former colleagues and I helped popularize this one!)
• air quotes
• racino
• subprime (an unfortunate addition)
  
• wing nut (This poor word has been around for over 100 years and is only just now being recognized as legit!)

Great Vacation

This week we were on vacation, entertaining my sister, brother-in-law, and fabulous niece. The highlight for me was taking Abby to NYC to the American Museum of Natural History. Any kid who has seen Night at the Museum is simply amazed that such a museum really exists. I've been promising a "dinosaur hunt" for almost a year and Abby doesn't let you forget such promises easily. I'm happy to say that the trip was a success. We tracked down many memorable figures from the movie, including Dum-Dum. When the museum closed, we were sitting on a bench outside resting for a bit before we took a walk in Central Park. My sister handed Abby a bottle of water, she took a sip, leaned back on the bench overlooking the park, and proclaimed very sincerely: "Ahh, this is the life!"

Central Park was an added bonus (aside from the fact that we got horribly lost and the New Yorkers were not very helpful with directions). Little did I know at the time that Giselle from Enchanted danced in Central Park. Later in the week, Abby also got to ride a horse for the first time, collect eggs from a real chicken (also named Abby), and -- of course-- she also got lots of quality time with our pets, who she simply adores.

Since I wrote earlier about Bob's sorry state, I thought I should post an update. Here is Bob sitting on Abby's "I Love My Aunt" t-shirt. Thanks to my sister, she has had major reconstructive surgery. She still looks pretty worn, but has "new skin."