Catholic cleric suggests Disney corrupts children’s minds

December 1st, 2008 by Scott Marks

At its best, classic Disney animation stands as age old primers for children on grown up neuroses. Hey, kids! Bambi has a mommy, too. And guess what? Just like Bambi, your mommy is going to die one day, hopefully from old age, not a hunter’s bullet.

The house that Walt built has recently come under fire from a Catholic cleric who blames Disney for corrupting young minds. Christopher Jamison, the Abbot of Worth in West Sussex, has accused the corporation of “exploiting spirituality” to sell its products and of turning Disneyland into a modern day pilgrimage site. While Disney purports to imbue its product with positive moral messages, it’s main goal is to turn impressionable youngsters into future materialistic consumers. He argues this is part of a ploy to persuade people that they should buy Disney products in order to be “a good and happy family”.

No stranger to the media spotlight, the abbot starred in the hit-BBC series The Monastery.

Fr Christopher Jamison: Holy man, Author, Spoilsport.

The Daily Telegraph quotes Finding Happiness, the abbot’s guide to helping people find a meaningful existence. In it, Fr Jamison warns that “society is in danger of losing its soul because of growing consumerism and the decline of religion.” He insists that films like Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians convince people that they should buy Disney merchandise in order to be “a good and happy family.”

“The message behind every movie and book, behind every theme park and T-shirt is that our children’s world needs Disney,” he says. “So they absolutely must go to see the next Disney movie, which we’ll also want to give them on DVD as a birthday present.”

What’s the matter, Padre? Not as much butt fetishizing since Uncle Walt passed?

According to Fr Jamison, people “will be happier if they live the full Disney experience; and thousands of families around the world buy into this deeper message as they flock to Disneyland. This is the new pilgrimage that children desire, a rite of passage into the meaning of life according to Disney.” It’s still a hell of a lot cheaper than springing for a Bar Mitzvah. He continues: “Where once morality and meaning were available as part of our free cultural inheritance, now corporations sell them to us as products.” Personally, I find it less offensive tithing money to the Disney corporate family.

Published this week, Finding Happiness suggests that many of the answers can be found by folks living more simply. The book urges people to reject the superficial temptations offered by contemporary culture.

I’d still rather park my kids at Disneyland than in a priest’s lap.