Entertainment World

The innovative creations or arts for children and teenagers are often treated with extreme admiration. However, while they do provide much needed entertainment for the kids, they also influence the thoughts and expectations of the younger generation. Apart from idolized dolls such as Barbies, there are also creative arts including idealized cartoons and popular artists that shape the values of the kids.

Despite having been emotionally moved watching those romantic fairy tales, I still realise the disgraceful impact they possess. You know the types: the flawless, beautiful princess and the impeccable, gentlemanly prince, having gone through all kinds of “traumatising” conflicts, will live happily ever after. Unfortunately, as touching the story is, it probably won’t happen in your life. Children do not understand that. Instead, unreasonable hopes will flash through their minds, unconsciously taking charge of their mindset as they look for their beauty of the universe or fantastic prince charming. Disappointment ensues.

Popular young artists have similar influences. Nowadays, appearances seem to have taken over singing ability as the most essential factor for success on the stage. Girls especially, tend to blindly idolize “hot” boy bands. The increased sexualisation and portrayal of those young artists does not help much. Sometimes, I can easily mistake a popular music magazine as pornography material by looking at its cover page, as designers attempt to attract young girls’ attention by having half-naked boys flashing their eight-packs. As these kinds of images sink in their minds, they dream. My friend for instance, is so obsessed she labels a handsome Taiwanese singer “her husband”. What are the chances of that happening? Even if it does, I’m sorry, but the singer will not be as perfect as he is portrayed.

In contrast to the reality, despite occasional conflicts, success seems to appear more frequently than failures in kids’ cartoons. Likewise in general, winning a video game seems to be easier than succeeding in real life. Just when kids expect to ace life like the main character of their favourite cartoon does, reality hits. Frequently on the news you see teenagers committing suicide, as they succumb to pressure brought by the society. Either that, or you see teenagers addicted to the fast enjoyment of winning a computer game. Only a handful manages to stay in reality and deal with the pressure it brings.