Week One

Intro to Children's Media

The White Balloon (Panahi, 1995); E.T. (Spielberg, 1982); Boyhood (2014, Linklater)

I’ve often heard it repeated that everything we need to know, we learned in kindergarten. In my case I’ve found that to be pretty accurate, and the rest of my life has been spent in the (often failed) application of those lessons. For the sake of simplicity, let's say that children's media can be defined by one of four camps: media for children, media about children, media by children, and all the media children are exposed to whether they’re meant to or not. Son of Rambow (2007) manages to be and explore a bit of all these at once.

Still from Son of Rambow (2007)

Trying to define children’s media in the first place is difficult, but I think Son of Rambow is at least indicative of what the best children’s media should attempt to do. For children, it can serve as a jumping off point for adventure and discovery while also teaching some of those essential formative lessons—to have passion for a goal, to play well with others, to overcome challenges. And for grown-ups, it can act as a point of access for the rediscovery of things that have are often forgotten, and desperately needed. Music, films and stories are made so often with this kind of attempt in mind. Here’s one of my favorite examples:

The White Stripes, "We're Going to Be Friends" (2001)

I think what Jack White is trying to do here is important, and it's the same thing Son of Rambow accomplishes. While we shouldn’t necessarily put childhood on a pedestal, it’s even more important that these kinds of stories aren’t told from above, looking down. First of all, kids can have a pretty good idea of when they’re being force-fed some kind of lesson. And second, it’s a period of time to learn from, not scoff at. The adventures of Will and Lee Carter are told from their perspective, and treated as no less real or daunting than the challenges facing the adults in the story. The lesson is that it’s okay to be smart, creative, and even a little rebellious at times.

And like the best stories of any type, even our hero is allowed to make mistakes. Will is swept up in his power and newfound ambition as a filmmaker and is cruel to the first boy he befriended. There are real and nearly deadly consequences, and Lee Carter ends up in the hospital. There are some heavy themes at work in Son of Rambow: there’s guilt as Will struggles to reconcile his family’s faith with his passion for creation. There is unrequited love for family as Lee Carter silently craves the affection of his older brother. The biggest realization I had during the screening of the film was this: good children’s media isn’t afraid to deal with big issues and ask important questions. There’s something kind of magical and liberating for children and adults alike when we recognize that while we do our best, adults don’t have all the answers either. Doubt, fear, shame, loneliness, loss—these things affect all of us regardless of age. Children’s media is where we can find common ground and ask universal questions. There we can find meaning in the experiences that transcend age, time, or place.

Scene from The Little Fugitive (1953), Dir. by Ray Ashley