Dr. Seuss’s legacy threatened?
The Lorax is one of the many books written by Dr. Seuss. The book focuses on industrialized society and its effects on the people within it. However, since the release of The Lorax movie, new controversy has arisen. In the article written by the Washington Times, ‘Controversial Lorax a Threat to Dr. Seuss Legacy?’, the writers and many others believe that the movie has a hidden agenda to it. Many believe they are promoting commercialism and green messaging. Capitalism was also promoted through a musical number. In the film, Mazda promotes it’s new CX-5. A version of the car can be seen driven around by one of the characters. The car was said to be “Truffula tree friendly”, this angered many environmentalists. They did not like fact that producers were using a children’s film to advertise their product. They felt as if it took away from the nature of the film, which was supposed to be for children. This is quite similar to Lynn Spigel’s, Seducing the Innocent. In class when we discussed 50s television, we also discussed the consumerism promoted withing children’s shows. In the show Howdy Doody, the Howdy Doody puppet was being promoted. Also, in the show Space Cadet, Kraft Caramel’s were being promoted. The way they went about promoting was throughout the show or during commercial breaks. They promoted these things because they were children’s products. However, in the The Lorax, the car being promoted is clearly not for children. It is for adults. Therefore, this product was being aimed towards adults in the audience and not the children. No child that is 5-10 is looking at the car and saying “ooh mommy I want that!” The whole purpose of The Lorax movie was changed through the promoting of consumerism. This movie was intended for children to watch and enjoy, not to sell as car.
