My daughter and I are having a little talk this morning. I should be prepared for Saturday show, she says. She talks about Handy Manny, the Disney version of “Go Diego Go.”
Handy Manny is a male character whom, as his name suggests, is a handy guy. He owns a workshop and animated tools that occasionally are lazy. Sometimes they ask Manny if it is the case for them to stay home, because “maybe Manny doesn’t really need them.” Manny, though, never leaves them behind.
Manny helps anyone and, according to Wikipedia, he was awarded the “Good Citizen Award.” He speaks Spanish and English, but he is an immigrant because, although he speaks good English, he has an “accent.”
Maybe he comes from Cuba, my daughter just guess.
Maybe, I say, it really doesn’t matter.
Manny knows personally the people living in Sheetrock Hills, the town where every story takes place. He knows how to do his job, but he is not presumptuous, not even when he speaks with Mr. Lopart who owns a candy store near Manny’s workshop. Mr. Lopart, a bald man, is a stubborn character who doesn’t want anyone to help him, and constantly refuses Manny’s hand (is it a “cute” pun or an involuntary alliteration?).
My daughter cannot give sense of Mr. Lopart’s behavior. Sometimes, she says, he seems jealous of Manny; sometimes, he seems just an obstinate old man. Maybe both of these apply to the character.
Handy Manny is a show that may teach tolerance and solidarity. In general, American cartoons aiming at understanding tolerance and acceptance of the “Other” (Spivak’s Other). In simple words and images, they teach how to behave in case they meet a person with an “accent” or a black kid, or an individual on a wheel chair. American cartoons, Disney and Nickelodeon animated series particular, somehow are like movies: they teach something. These cartoons are not only amusement, but they may lesson to modern society. How, for instance, people should take Mr. Lopart? He often gets in troubles because he refuses Manny’s assistance. Mr. Lopart is an anti-hero, is he not? He may resemble our elder neighbor who leaves unaided and becomes sully because of his loneliness and aging and he refuses any help from anyone in the neighborhood, does he not?
What do you thing Manny will repair on Saturday? my daughter asks.
It can be anything. Maybe a house in Iraq that has been destroyed by the American militia, I say.
Handy Manny is a male character whom, as his name suggests, is a handy guy. He owns a workshop and animated tools that occasionally are lazy. Sometimes they ask Manny if it is the case for them to stay home, because “maybe Manny doesn’t really need them.” Manny, though, never leaves them behind.
Manny helps anyone and, according to Wikipedia, he was awarded the “Good Citizen Award.” He speaks Spanish and English, but he is an immigrant because, although he speaks good English, he has an “accent.”
Maybe he comes from Cuba, my daughter just guess.
Maybe, I say, it really doesn’t matter.
Manny knows personally the people living in Sheetrock Hills, the town where every story takes place. He knows how to do his job, but he is not presumptuous, not even when he speaks with Mr. Lopart who owns a candy store near Manny’s workshop. Mr. Lopart, a bald man, is a stubborn character who doesn’t want anyone to help him, and constantly refuses Manny’s hand (is it a “cute” pun or an involuntary alliteration?).
My daughter cannot give sense of Mr. Lopart’s behavior. Sometimes, she says, he seems jealous of Manny; sometimes, he seems just an obstinate old man. Maybe both of these apply to the character.
Handy Manny is a show that may teach tolerance and solidarity. In general, American cartoons aiming at understanding tolerance and acceptance of the “Other” (Spivak’s Other). In simple words and images, they teach how to behave in case they meet a person with an “accent” or a black kid, or an individual on a wheel chair. American cartoons, Disney and Nickelodeon animated series particular, somehow are like movies: they teach something. These cartoons are not only amusement, but they may lesson to modern society. How, for instance, people should take Mr. Lopart? He often gets in troubles because he refuses Manny’s assistance. Mr. Lopart is an anti-hero, is he not? He may resemble our elder neighbor who leaves unaided and becomes sully because of his loneliness and aging and he refuses any help from anyone in the neighborhood, does he not?
What do you thing Manny will repair on Saturday? my daughter asks.
It can be anything. Maybe a house in Iraq that has been destroyed by the American militia, I say.
What do you mean, mommy?
Let’s go have breakfast now, I say.
Let’s go have breakfast now, I say.
1 comment:
Very interesting post. Despite the ridiculous picture - which is totally incongruous to the analysis it precedes - I found this post to be packed with good critical insight. Placing your own adult and sometimes jaded reactions alongside your daughter's more ingenuous (but equally perceptive) observations created an interesting effect. The dichotomy you present is a perfect transition into your discussion of Spivak's "Other" and the function of new American cartoons; it mirrors perfectly the duality of the whole post. Adult/child, self/other, domestic/foreign, etc.
I'm not sure how you feel about this post, but it is quite possibly my favorite of this semester. Maybe it's because you mentioned Spivak...you know I have a soft spot for theorists!
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