What Hannah Montana: The Movie is Teaching Kids (Hint: It's Not Self-Esteem)

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:00:00 GMT

For the last year, I have rarely met a girl under the age of eleven who has not, upon learning my first name, immediately burst into a pop song by Miley Cyrus’ alter ego. And to think, I used to love my name.

Because this is already far more Hannah Montana that I can stand, I don’t plan on seeing her blockbuster. But I will gladly pass on secondhand reasons why you and your kids shouldn’t see it, either.

Unsurprisingly, NPR’s movie blog found the movie lacking in intrigue, camera work, and sound quality, cinematic failures that, admittedly, no 11-year-old is bound to notice. But Miley’s young admirers may be susceptible to the movie’s very clear message that it’s better to please others than it is to act like yourself. (Spoiler alert: stop reading if you don’t know want to know the compelling plot twister that communicates this message.)

After years of trying to live a double life—one of being Hannah Montana the popstar, another of being Miley Stewart, the Tennessee farm girl—Miley decides she can’t stand the deceit anymore. At a concert, she takes off her wig (which amazingly prevents anyone from noticing that Miley and Hannah Montana have the exact same face) and announces her true identity, prepared to be accepted for who she is. Hurray! The end of deceit and superficiality is here!

Well, not exactly. According to NRP, mass disappointment ensues. “Several characters insist that children across the world will ‘lose their dreams’ if they find out Hannah is a fake. So Miley listens to them and puts the wig back on. Happy ending.”

If there’s any message preteen girls don’t need, it’s that other people will not like you if you reveal your true self. As NPR puts it, "Hannah Montana: The Movie suggests that we can make people happy by always being who they want us to be, so we should maintain a performance at all costs." Then there’s the equally problematic message that “average” people from humble beginnings cannot be powerful or inspiring figures (an anachronistic message, given our current president).

I’m sorry that Miley Cyrus has to live her entire life as a fake. But that's no reason to glorify such a dismal fate for the impressionable tween masses.

Photo: NPR

Family Movie Night – Happy Feet

Brett Singer — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:30:00 GMT

I'm particularly glad to have a chance to write something about this one. While it certainly has its flaws, there are some parts that are terrific.

"Happy Feet" is about a bunch of penguins. According to the movie, each penguin has a "heart song" that develops over time; by singing it, the non-flying birds mate, make more non-flying birds, and life goes on. Mumble, though, is different. When he sings, he sounds like a cross between an elephant seal and fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard. He can, however, do a mean tap dance (the incomparable Savion Glover provides the audio for his fancy footwork). This does not endear him to the tribe, and even his parents would rather he be somewhere else. So, like Rudolph before him, he leaves, eventually meeting up with a group of Hispanic penguins (more on this later), and going on a journey to find out why there aren't as many fish to eat as there once were.

By far the best aspect of "Happy Feet" is the music. It came out in 2006, and by that point the novelty of the "mash-up" trend in music had peaked in popularity. The tunes here aren't original, but the songs chosen, and the arrangements used, are so clever that I was mesmerized. The opening number features Prince's "Kiss", blended together with Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel", with little musical quotations from Salt N' Pepa ("Let's talk about eggs, bay-bee" – slight lyric change there), Lionel Richie ("Hello"), and even Mr. Mister ("Broken Wings"). If that sounds horrible, give it a try, because in my opinion it works. The animation is also top-notch, almost on a level with Pixar's. This also means that the scarier parts (killer whale attacks, elephant seals, and so on) are that much more frightening, but neither of my kids seemed to mind.

This film generated a ton of controversy from the conservative quarters of the country because of its extremely blunt pro-environment message. While I personally agree with what they were saying, it does get very heavy-handed towards the end of the film, and inserting actual humans is strange, although I have to admit that it is effective. If you look at some of the user reviews on Amazon, there are various complaints that this is not a "happy" film at all. That's not entirely without merit; one character almost chokes to death on plastic soda rings, and there are those icy predators that always seem ready to munch on Mumble and his pals. But again, the proof is in the kids, and both of my boys were fine with the "less happy" parts.

Speaking of those pals, I'm always a little bit surprised about the way certain races are portrayed in animated movies aimed at children. In this case, Mumble hooks up with a group of short penguins who like to whistle at girls ("Ay, mami!") and speak with thick Hispanic accents. He calls them "the amigos" in case anyone misses the joke. Their leader, Ramon, is played by Robin Williams, who also plays a Barry White-style penguin who sits atop a tower of pebbles dispensing advice. Not to be overly politically correct, but this sort of thing happens all the time: the Black and Hispanic hyenas in "The Lion King" are another example (and of course, there are all of these). It's not enough to un-recommend the movie but it's worth mentioning. I'm also not a big Robin Williams fan, but I know other people can't get enough of him. Having him play two somewhat racially insensitive characters in one film is almost too much, but the animation, music and tap dancing more than make up for it (I'm a big Savion Glover fan).

Bottom line: some truly great moments (the music, animation and tapping) offset some weird ones (the ultra-heavy-handed environmental message). Recommended, unless your political sensibilities run heavily to the right, in which case this film will probably make your head explode.

image: Amazon.com

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