The Orphaned Protagonist

I read a blog post recently about the lack of mothers in children's movies and television. She was ranting about this misrepresentation in media. Although I didn't agree with all of her points, I was initially as baffled as her. Why are there just single fathers in Beauty and the Beast or Finding Nemo? How about Aladdin, Pocahontas, Despicable Me or Little Mermaid? Even Bambi and The Fox and the Hound? The list goes on.

But the reason is actually fairly clear to me. It is not an issue of Disney or other producers hating mothers. I think it is an issue of stereotypes. Let me explain. If any young character is going to have an adventure or become a strong character, they must be left to their own devices. This means the character must be orphaned in some shape or form. While they do kill both parents off in many movies, sometimes they leave the dad, thought to be the worse of two parents and just make him kind of clueless, letting their kids get into trouble.

You're thinking of examples now aren't you? Interesting isn't it? You probably have some exceptions. I did. In many TV shows that I watched as a kid (Wild Thornberrys, Jimmy Neutron, Fairly Odd Parents) they had both parents. But they were the worst parents ever right? My sister and I used to make fun of them all the time.

This theme isn't just in animated movies or TV shows, although those are the easiest to illustrate. It's very common in young adult literature which is something I know a lot about. I just finished reading Divergent today. The whole thing is about her leaving her parents. If she had stayed in Abnegation do you think there would have been any story? Of course not. Katniss had to leave her mom and sister in the Hunger Games. Harry Potter was an orphan from the start. In the Giver, the parents are like robots. Would there be The Outsiders if the boys' parents were still alive?

So I guess the lesson here is nothing exciting will happen to you when your parents are around. Haha just kidding. But I am fascinated with this topic. It's been right under my nose my entire life and I never really thought about it. Hope maybe you learned something new too.