Generations Blog

This past week, the Walt Disney Company released its new blockbuster, Camp Rock, which will be viewed by the younger half of the Millennial generation endlessly for months to come. As I watched it with my kids Friday evening, I marveled once again at the power of the Disney machine and the creativity that can take any mundane subject and turn it into a sensation.

At the same time, I found myself saddened by two things: 1. The fact that the innocence of summer camp has now been transformed into an experience that requires high dollar production numbers and 2. The downright meanness of the script. Camp Directors throughout the US must be cringing at the expectations now being created for them due to this production. It has been bad enough having to compete with iPods, cell phones, digital cameras and the like to maintain kids’ attention. Now they will be faced with the disappointment of some that the Jonas Brothers are not headlining the main stage on the last night of camp or serenading girls in the dining hall.

 Then there’s the script. As I watched my daughters watch this movie, I was dumbfounded by the cruelty written into the script for the purposes of building a storyline. This was simply Mean Girls transformed onto a Disney platform. My girls, or any other children, don’t need to see this type of viciousness illustrated once again. They’ve seen it too much of it already. I’ve said more than once that my wife and I feel like we’re competing with the rest of society to teach our kids the values we want them to have. Sadly, the Disney Company, which has produced so many socially redeeming productions over the years, has surrendered to the times and we parents are left to processing this drivel with our kids.