For some reason (now because I need to go take a shower) I can never sit through this damn movie to decide if it’s good or bad. It’s all about a girl  and she’s a spy. Any time a girl is in the title, that’s a good sign. It’s prime real estate and girls rarely claim it, unless it’s a princess movie. For example, Monsters and Aliens had a great female character– Susan/ Genormica voiced by Reese Witherspoon, obviously the star but didn’t get the title. (Reese by the way, early career starred in one of my all time favorite movies for breaking female stereotypes: Freeway. If you have not seen this movie, put it on your Netflix. so good)

So, Kim: she’s also a cheerleader. And the movie opens with a whole dance sequence, pop-poms, mini-skirts, exposed belly-buttons etc. But Kim is a great fighter, there are many fight scenes, and also, as far as the cheerleader thing, I think approprating current images dominant in girl culture can be an effective and subversive way to create change.

Ok, sneaking off to shower while the kiddies are still absorbed and the baby is napping. I will try to watch this whole thing through and rate it for you.

What do you tell your media saturated kids when they ask you if Santa is real?

I tell them he is, describe how he can fold his body up to slide down our chimney. I tell them which reindeer are the oldest, fastest, strongest; what their favorite foods are (if you read my food post, you can guess which). There are girl reindeers, of course. Mrs. Claus is Sara, an artist who specializes in animal portraiture.

I feel guilty lying to my kids (though their faces are adorable sucking it all up.) I wonder how old they will be when they figure me out. Will they be mad, sad, disillusioned? Will they ever believe me or take me seriously again?

Probably, it’s no big deal. I don’t know, because I didn’t grow up believing any of this stuff. I thought, for the longest time– until I was way too old– that there was a clear line between truth and fiction, and I knew it absolutely. Not only did that conviction drive me to become a philosophy major (virtually unemployable) but I think it made some universal parts of growing up slower than they had to be (or this could be just my latest excuse for prolonged adolescence.) Anyway, now I believe that all these myths serve a brilliant purpose: a gentle way for kids to learn well-intended parents are not always reliable sources of truth.

Can anyone explain it to me??? I got it for my kids because my daughter said all the boys in school had it and called it a “boy game.” We are fascinated with the little parts and how they come apart and fit together, (especially, I admit, my husband) but none of us have any idea how to play and are totally baffled by the directions.

What do you do when you are watching TV with your kids and commercials come on? I always say to my kids, “What are they trying to sell us?” It’s kind of like a game for us, because often it’s really hard to figure it out. Or it can be a learning game, for example that a talking lizard (is it a lizard?) is selling Geico Insurance. What is insurance? Why do we need it? When they guess what is being sold, sometimes with hints (“Do you see the car with they keep showing us?) I ask, “Do we want that?” And they say, “NO!” Yes, I am programming them, but better me than Lexus…

Does anyone know who he is? Apparently the film critic for Premier. While trying to see if the thing I wrote on Ratatouille was anywhere on the internet still I found this on his blog:

Lest you think that all the wackiness comes from the neoconservative side of the cultural/political spectrum, allow me to introduce one Margot Magowan. Given the ecstatic reviews and stellar box office returns ofRatatouille, the new Pixar picture, you might be under the impression that nobody doesn’t like it. You would be wrong. “Phooey on Ratatouille,” Magowan titles her San Jose Mercury News op-ed on the picture. Why “Phooey?” Because the rat is a boy! And so’s the chef he trains! The woman in the movie has a speech about sexism in French restaurant kitchens, but that’s not enough! Magowan is “depressed” by this.

Now, just as Roy E. at alicublog observed that Muslim villains don’t sell tickets, market wisdom also applies to the creation of animated films, and in America, girls and women aren’t considered major target “demos” for works such as Ratatouille. Things are a bit different in Japan, where manga and anime are big with both sexes, and many Japanese animated films boast strong heroines and/or female characters who are the equals to their male counterparts. The “problem” of sexism in films in general is perhaps worthy of intelligent discussion, but Magowan isn’t interested in intelligent discussion, she’s interested in puling and sniping: “When can we get more representation in our movies? How long do we have to wait?” she moans, before dismissing the supremely talented folks over at Pixar as a “bunch of guy geeks.” She ends her yammering by wishing that “Princess Charming rescues Sleeping Hunk,” said “Hunk” strongly suggesting that she ought not contemplate a career in writing children’s books. I suggest that Ms. Magowan take her 4-year-old daughter and bivouac somewhere with a DVD of Free to Be You and Me they can watch over and over until Pixar hires Ti-Grace Atkinson as a creative consultant

OK (this is Margot again) calling them guy geeks was a little harsh, but they are geeks. I wish I was more of a geek and could figure out how to do a poll on ths damn blog. I do not know what a biovac is. And yeah, I admit to loving Free to be You and Me. I know this reply is about two years too late, but I’m only learning now. By the way, Nora Ephron has since made the amazing movie (I thought) Julie and Julia, about a girl chef, Julia Child– GGG

Why are my movie titles not coming out in caps? I’ve got to fgure that out. I love the Power Puff Girls. I need to do more research to find out f they are even around anymore, I remember them from the 90s I think. They are super cute, as in too cute, but they can fly and rush bravely into danger and rescue people. I am going to give them a GG rating but will do work on finding out about them. Comments and recommendations welcome!

My three year old and I are watching it right now. I have to say, I love the Lion King and the opening scene is one of the all time best in animated movie history– where Mustapha holds up his son and all the animals bow and the Elton John music rocks in the background.

I do have my complaints– the title again features the boy, of course, and it is his coming of age story as well as a father-son story. Nahla, Simba’s best freind is pretty cool and brave, but as I wrote about in my SJ Mercury News piece, apparently not brave or strong enough to actually topple weak Scar. Seriously, any of those lionesses could have taken him on, but don’t, I guess because they are girls.

The music I think is great, Elton John can’t really go wrong iwth lyrics. I love the Nazi-esque Scar scene. I love Scar who I think is played by Jeremy Irons. He’s awesome. Why do so many evil animated characrters have green eyes? I love all the animals, I love the scenes of Africa. It gets one S and one G. I’m going to figure out a better way to display these ratings and give them some symbols.