The Death of Pudge the Fish (continued)
The Death of Pudge the Fish (continued)
In the previous post, I referenced how the omission of Disney scenes have affected us. But what I said wasn't set in stone. There is another side of the fact that says 'maybe she's over thinking all of this.' This is a blog after all, full of my opinions (that happened to be researched.) It doesn't mean, however, that everything I say is perfectly justified just because others share the same opinion as me.
Not everyone shares the same views as me, and that's perfectly acceptable. I would like to bring to light the other side of this subject. How does Pudge's death in that scene NOT affect us? It seems like you'd only have to ignore my other blog. The reality is, however, there is more depth to the matter than pretending Pudge's death never happened.
The Counterarguments
If you have no idea what I'm talking about and haven't read my other blog, here's the link. This post would probably make more sense if you read that first.
I was very adamant in the previous post about how this scene truly affects the audience. The reality is, that not everyone is affected the same as everybody else. What I said doesn't apply to everyone. Many people can watch this scene and not learn the same lessons, if they learn any at all. I'd like to restate what people can learn from this scene and how these same lessons can be learned elsewhere.
The Movie Itself
There was a lot of character development in that one scene. But that scene wasn't too important in terms of character development. A lot of the qualities that you see in that one scene was demonstrated throughout the entirety of the movie.
Lilo's qualities were her quirkiness, her loneliness and her prioritizing family above all else. All of those qualities were demonstrated in that scene, but they were demonstrated throughout the rest of the movie as well. Her quirky tendencies include her photographing tourists and practicing voo doo on spoons that represent her friends. Her loneliness was demonstrated every time she tried to talk to Myrtle and her friends. Lilo was always shunned and left by herself with Stitch and her hand-made rag doll, Scrump. Her importance of family was demonstrated with the argument between herself and her sister, Nani. Even after the argument, they were able to make up, because they were all they had (at the time.) That scene didn't really affect the outcome of the movie. Lilo's character development was fine the way it was.
The same goes for Stitch. He was a bad seed who was looking to become good. The entirety of the movie was dedicated to Stitch learning to be good. That one scene wouldn't have done a whole lot to add anything truly significant. There are many times in the movie where Stitch struggles between being good and being bad. There was the montage of Lilo trying to teach Stitch how to be good while Nani was looking for a job, which led to the final break down at the beach. There was also the scene where Lilo, Nani, and David were surfing and Stitch learns to open up a little, only to have it go wrong. The Pudge scene wasn't significant for Stitch's character development, just like Lilo's character development. As significant as its potential was for the movie, it was just as insignificant (if that makes sense.)
The Lessons
As I've said in the previous post, this deleted scene could've taught kids some valuable lessons had they have seen it. The thing is, this movie hadn't existed before 2002, so how did kids deal with harsh realities then? The scene wasn't even released until later so even kids in 2002 weren't coddled with this type of material. I talked about how this scene could've aided in helping people understand certain things, but it isn't the only way.
The concept of death was really prevalent in this scene. I said that this could've been used to teach kids about the harsh reality that we all have to face, which is death. Although this could lighten the blow, this scene doesn't leave too much of a effect on the situation itself. Death is a really delicate topic that needs to be handled according to each person. It's up to the parents when and how to teach their kids about death. Although this would be a nice tool to have, there are many other alternatives such as counseling, religion, or a good old-fashioned talk with mom and dad.
There was also learning the difference between right and wrong. Even when I explained how this scene could've taught that concept, it didn't do too strong of a job of it. This lesson could be learned as life goes on. You can read it in people's faces. You can see it play out in different social situations. You learn this while you're a kid when your parents chew you out for calling that one lady at Target fat. This scene is really truly insignificant with this lesson.
The final lesson I brought up was learning about forgiveness. Lilo was a character of a very forgiving nature. In the deleted scene she forgave stitch for killing Pudge, but it wasn't the only time he was forgiven. He was given so many chances when he was wrecking the house, causing trouble throughout Hawaii, even when Lilo found out he was an alien she didn't abandon him. In the movie itself, there were many lessons on forgiveness, but this lesson can stretch out in our daily lives. Forgiveness is a quality taught to us in different religions. Christianity and Buddhism teach about forgiveness. You learn it yourself as you find yourself being alright with other people's blunders. Once again, this scene is small compared to what you can teach yourself.
Conclusion
Even though I seemed adamant about my stance on what this scene is capable of, there is another side that I can't ignore. Yes, I believe that that one little scene affects us a lot, but I also realize that this scene doesn't affect everyone the same. I understand that my research is about how the omission of history affects us as people, but I'll be honest. Some people are blissfully unaware (or even aware and choose not to care) about how they're being affected by the world around them. Sometimes, what is made out to be big, doesn't make a dent in another person's life. Our dents aren't created equal, and that's just another quality that makes us human.
Comments
Post a Comment