The Real Message

"My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.""- Forest Gump

Have you ever heard that quote?  Or how about the song "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer"? Perhaps you have seen the cartoon  Tom and Jerry.  From childhood we hear and repeat quotes and songs and watch cartoons that mean much more than what we think.

Forest Gump speaks the truth, but there is so much symbolism behind that box of chocolates. Let's start with the box itself.  Life isn't fair and square, neither is the chocolate box. Now, how about we open that chocolate box?  Well, we will find the good chocolates that everyone loves, and then there's the bad chocolates that are always left in the box and thrown in the garbage.The good chocolates represent the good situations that everyone enjoys, like going to a water park.  The bad chocolates symbolize the bad experiences like getting sick. 


For this example we don't even have to look for symbolism, it says plainly in the song that Rudolf was made fun of and everyone called him names.  That only changed when Santa made him important.  The message that song is sending across is that you should only stop bullying when the victim becomes important.  Why do we still listen to and sing this nasty song?  Singing Christmas songs is part of having the Christmas spirit.  If everyone goes around singing this song, all through December everyone is going to be promoting bullying.


In the cartoon Tom and Jerry, a cat persistently tries to capture and eat a mouse named Jerry.  This cartoon doesn't teach a lesson, but instead a quality.  That quality is determination.  This classic cartoon also displays violence as humorous, which is bad, but then again, it is just a cartoon.  Children aren't going to go running around, bashing people's heads in just because they saw a animated cat and mouse beating each other up on T.V.  Yet even the violence is more than just fighting.  If Tom tries to trap Jerry, Jerry escapes and then has a piano fall on Tom in return.  This sends out the well-known message "what comes around goes around." 

There is so much more to the world if only you open your eyes and think. Realize that even the simplest cartoon is so much more than just bright colors and a simple plot.  Everything sends a message.  Be aware of what message you send.