Arjun Kapadiya Ms.

Kite Persuasive Speech Persuasive Speech: Fairytales Send Mixed Messages

Ladies and gentlemen, I am Ms. Jones and I have the proud honour if calling up acclaimed writer Arjun Kapadiya to the mic to talk about his new book Fairytales: A Happy Never After With no further ado Arjun Kapadiya Thank you Ms. Jones for that flattering introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you as well for attending this session. As parents, I am certain that you tell or have told your children many tales that grip and awe them, just as you were when you were children. For some of us, that was a long time ago. Many people have asked me why I do not agree with a lot of childrens stories. Many of the best known fairytales have been adapted into animated films and have been sending mixed messages to the youth. These animated films and fairytales have played with the basics of trust, being truthful and honest, and love. As children, they do not see beyond what is directly being implied and that in turn, has a negative effect on them. Take this moral for example; Never trust or talk to strangers. Of course this is beautifully portrayed in Walt Disney`s 1922 short film Little Red Riding Hood. The mysterious stranger is depicted by the wolf and the innocent child is portrayed by Red Riding Hood. In a few brief moments of chatting, the wolf finds out who she was, where she was going, why she was going and how she was getting there. Naturally, you would not trust a stranger with such information. Yet Cinderella thrusts her life into the hands of prince after only minutes of conversation. She falls in love with him and goes off to marry him to live Happily Ever After. She knows nothing about this man except that he is a price and he wants here to be his wife. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was another story that confuses children. A beautiful queen gives birth to a child Snow White- who turned out to be fairer than the Queen herself; and thus, the Queen wanted to kill her. After all her failed attempts, she succeeds with her poisoned apple trick. Snow White is revived by yet another prince and they get married. With envy, the Queen ends her life. If you cannot trust the person who gave birth to you, the person who fed and nurtured you, and the person who always looked out for you, then who are you to trust in this world? I am sure everyone has heard of the saying Liar liar, pants on fire? That message was well represented in Pinocchio. A wooden boys only hope of being a human child is to be honest and truthful. If he lies, his nose grows and everyone would know that he is a liar. This made children know that it is frowned upon to be dishonest. On the other hand, a less famous Disney production The Black Cauldron displayed otherwise. Taran, a young boy who is captured by the Horned King is imprisoned and to escape, he pries a sword from the clutches of a dead king. He steals from a grave and has the audacity to call the sword his own. Furthermore, Pirates of the Caribbean another Walt Disney production glorifies a pirates life. The whole movie though not animated is based on lies, deceit, and theft. So what exactly is Disney trying to promote; living the life of an innocent and nave person or the life of a cutthroat?

Arjun Kapadiya Ms. Kite Persuasive Speech Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Dont Judge a book by its cover. Its not whats on the outside but what is on the inside that matters. These are things we hear all our life, yet these films think otherwise. Sleeping Beauty was enchanted by a witch. The witch put an evil spell on the princess so that she would die from touching a needle on a spinning wheel. But one of the good fairies changed the spell so that the princess would not die, just go into a deep sleep, from which she would be awoken by the kiss of her true love. Of course the person that would kiss her would be yet another prince. A prince that had a good singing voice, and a prince that fell in love with her at first sight, and a prince that was good looking. Does the description of the prince sound familiar? Sure it does. It sounds like Cinderella, Snow White, Pocahontas, Mulan, and many more so called childrens tales. Something that broke the monotony of the perfect prince was The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In which there was no Happily Ever After for the protagonist. Quasimodo is a person who rang the bells in the Notre Dame Cathedral. He is everything a prince is not. He is disfigured and ugly, he does not have the best of singing voices and neither he nor the gypsy girl Esmeralda fall in love at first sight. Eventually he does fall in love with her, however, that is after talking to her and getting to know her. He is convinced that she likes him until he sees her share a kiss with another man. Now you tell me, is Disney not corrupting young minds into thinking that physical appearance is more valuable than personality? Please, dont get me wrong. I adore Disney productions. The message I am trying to get across is that Disneys adaptations and interpretations of folklore and fairytales has sent many mixed messages through the ages and has in turn, confused the youth. Hypocrisy is a strong word yet, it is the best word to use. Plainly put, Disney is like a child with too many toys. Confused.