The Individualist Anarchism of "Horton"
I can't say enough good things about the film version of "Horton Hears a Who!" now in theaters. I've generally tended to avoid these film adaptations, which stray too far from the original book and introduce strange twists, usually something designed to preach left-liberal ideology, that just end up being a bother and a distraction. None of this is true of Horton. Yes, it elaborates on the original but in seamless ways that actually end up enhancing the value of the story.
Horton, of course, is the elephant who hears a sound on a tin speck and begins a communication with the mayor of the town on the spec. He swears fidelity to the tiny town and aspires to place the speck in a safe place. But others in the jungle are deeply skeptical of Horton's claims. Led by a marmish Kangaroo, the mobs go after him until the town on the speck makes enough noise that everyone hears them.
There is one slight against homeschooling in the film that has received some attention, but it is good natured and, really, hilarious. The Kangeroo mother says that she must keep her child protected from the awful ways of other kids. She says that that this is why her child is "pouch-schooled."
It's all in good fun, and a nice trade off for what ends up being a massive assault on the insanity of mob rule, which the Kangaroo ends up inciting. In both the jungle and the speck town of Whoville, the masses of people are easily swayed by demagogues. In Whoville, the head of the city council convinces them to ignore the warnings of the mayor and go on with their partying. In the jungle, everyone turns on Horton, who ends up having to pursue his mission alone. There is a lesson here that H.L. Mencken could endorse.
When the mob gathers against Horton, the argument that his cause must be smashed and the speck destroyed is a familiar one: it must be done for the sake of the children! This is screamed by the marmish Kangaroo and echoed by every last animal in the forest. When all other arguments fail in real life, of course, this is precisely what happens. The children are rhetorically nationalized by the demagogue and anyone who disagrees is painted as an enemy of virtuous childhood. So it was in ancient Greece, so it has been in the 20th century from Hitler to Hillary (not to exclude Bush himself). At the climatic scene, the mob agrees that to let Horton get away with this imaginings would amount to anarchy.
The film brings out a wonderful thing about Whoville in treating it like a capitalist utopia. Gizmos are everywhere. People are building things, so it's not as if the town just fell from the skies. The city council doesn't do anything but plan parties. Sounds pretty good to me. Hilariously, the kids beg for Whophones from the parents because all the other kids have them. Secretaries wile away the hours at the office working on their Whospace web pages. At some point, someone denounces the practice of adding "who" to everything as a way of giving it legitimacy - an obvious reference to Apple and the iPhone etc.
I gather that Dr. Seuss has the reputation for leftism of some sort, but this film brings out a side of him that might even be characterized as individualist anarchism. "A person is a person, no matter how small." We have here a strong message against collectivism, authoritarianism, nationalism, and democratic political decision making. It is suitable in every way for all ages. I found myself doubled over in laughter more than a dozen times. This film is a joy in every way.
Comments (9)
Don't forget the brilliance of "Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thidwick
I had never heard of this animated version from the Soviet Union ?!?
Published: March 24, 2008 2:43 PM
I second Jeff Tucker's oberservations. It's very rare indeed to find a decent movie outside of Pixar's wonderful offerings. My eldest was holding my arm real tight as the mob rose up to crush poor Horton. That imagery thoroughly implanted in her mind will be useful later in her education.
Published: March 24, 2008 2:54 PM
Regarding "Thidwick", check out LFB's book blog entry on it: http://laissezfairebooks.blogspot.com/2008/03/atlas-shrugged-with-antlers.html
Published: March 24, 2008 6:09 PM
Have not seen the movie, but I read Seuss to my kids quite a bit. Yes, there is some left-leaning, as in the environmentalism of the Lorax. But there, I can point out that the problems are caused by a lack of property rights, and also that the myopic behavior of the Onceler is irrational, and not likely in the real world. But other stories can be quite good. See "Yertle the Turtle", about a tyrant turtle King who forces the other turtles to stand on top of one another, so he can be on top and be higher than all other creatures. The turtles eventually tire of him, refuse to obey, and let him come crashing down. Then there is "The Sneetches". It promotes tolerance in race relations and paints the man who would fix such relations as a hustler, preying on those he pretends to help. I liken him to politicians who promote racial set-asides.
Published: March 24, 2008 7:51 PM
I don't think the "pouch schooled" line was much of a slight against home schooling. I know a lot of home schoolers who say explicitly that getting their kids away from the other kids and their bad habits is a big plus for home schooling. If you think about it, why would we think having kids surrounded all day by other kids would be a good way to teach them how to become adults?
Published: March 25, 2008 9:18 AM
Thanks for the review. I plan on going to the film this upcoming weekend, while visiting Pittsburgh!
Published: March 25, 2008 9:22 PM
I barely recall one children's movie, called Antz, that had an individualist theme. The leader of the ant colony is the villain who enslaves the ants to force them to build an empire. He announced that the life of one ant does that matter, only "the colony" matters. When the tide turns and it is he who is forced to give up his life for the others, his answer is, "I AM THE COLONY!!!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antz
Published: March 25, 2008 10:08 PM
useless spectator said:
I barely recall one children's movie, called Antz, that had an individualist theme. The leader of the ant colony is the villain who enslaves the ants to force them to build an empire. He announced that the life of one ant does that matter, only "the colony" matters. When the tide turns and it is he who is forced to give up his life for the others, his answer is, "I AM THE COLONY!!!"
The scriptwriter clearly cribbed that from history: this is too close to Louis XIV's ' I AM the State' to be a coincidence................
Published: March 26, 2008 3:46 AM
not sure that all dr seuss' works have a leftish leaning. i've got a real soft spot for "i had trouble in getting to solla-sollew", which could have been written by any of the stoics!
also, "if i ran the zoo" is what people should be reading instead of wasting years on an mba. a cautionary tale for any aspiring business executive.
Published: March 28, 2008 3:28 AM