Projection

Imagine this.  You are a child, about 12-years-old with a practical grandmother whose temper has only gotten shorter as her life gets longer.  For some reason she has decided to take you to see a “kids movie about cute little birds” (as she described it).

This is the situation in which I first saw March of the Peguins, a documentary about the breeding ritual of emperor penguins.  We entered the theater along with a long of quiet, civilized adults.  I walked by the first row of seats to see two women, bent over staring at their laps and knitting iddly.  The rest of the theatre’s occupants were likely from the same graduating class.  They were a lively bunch.

I remember taking my seat before the movie began, and for the rest of the way through I wished I hadn’t.  The rough documentary attracted no children, and for good reason: it bored me.  My take away message was, “If the Penguins fail to do 1 of 2 million incredibly difficult tasks… they will die.”

When I heard that we would be watching th film in my senior year English class I, predictably, did not have high hopes of enjoyment.

As I sat for the second time and watch the movie begin I was pleasantly surprised.  The movie’s narrator, Morgan Freeman, portrays the story of the Emperor penguins as one of hardship, adventure, endurance, and love.  Though I still stand by the belief that the documentary is not targeted to young children, I was shocked by my intense inability to relate to the film as a pre-teen.

The animals, cute penguins who walked, sang, and behavioral like humans (at least according to the narration), were very like those in my adored Disney movies.  They were flexible characters, generally personified to allow the watcher to project their own lives onto the screen.  Why, then, was my own preteen life so un-applicable?

Was it simply the lack of animation?

Or maybe it has to do with the fact that penguins were constantly in hardship? In Disney there is usually one main challenge the character must overcome, and in doing so they experience adventure, excitement, and growth.

Or maybe it was the idea of sacrificing for offspring or even for your family, that I could not yet comprehend at that age.  none of these seem like complete answers.  Maybe it was a combination?  opinions?