Middle America's Worldview

I took my kids, age 6 and 5, to see Shark Tale last night at the dollar movies. My kids enjoyed the movie but I had some reservations on it.

The movie is definitely about acceptance. The theme acceptance is looked on two levels; using two of the main characters. One is a loud mouth fish wantabe and the other is a shark born different than the other sharks.

On one a fish named Oscar always dreamed of being on the top reef with the other 'rich fish'. He is a whale cleaner with big dreams but doesn's recognize what he already has. A girl fish that loves him and many friends who "accepts" him as the way he is. The movie ends on him accepting where he is and what he has. This is the individual acceptance level showing him to accept who he is and where he is at.

On two a shark named Lenny is the son of a mafia family of killer sharks. But Lenny is born different than the other sharks. He is a vegetarian and doesn't like harming much less killing anything. This character depicts one as not born as he should be. Note the mental characterization is different not a physical difference is defined. The movie ends on his Dad accepting the way Lenny is born, rather than trying to change him into something he is not. This is the group acceptance level, where everyone else accepts and loves who he is and how he was born.

While my kids thought it was pretty funny, with the exception of Lenny's brother dying (this propelled the movie). I was a bit disturbed by its theme and obvious message. This is a Liberals movie come true. On the surface it appears as a cartoon movie, but once the movie starts, it's pretty obvious what it's about. But how can I a parent speak about this in such a way to a 5-6 year old? This is the other reason I am uncomfortable with the movie. To a child, it's just a movie. To an adult it is devised as an obvious message that may not be agreed upon.

If you want to purchase this movie from Amazon you can through this link.