Having a curiosity in the entertainment that kids and teens are being given today, I happened to watch this film on TV a few days ago.
I could be biased and say that movies aren't what they use to be for kids, but this movie went beyond that. This film is a depressing example of how horribly some of today's youth is growing up. I would NOT recommend this film in anyway (unless for laughs at its stupidity).
The film starts off with our four 'rich girl' characters strutting down the street with arrogance beyond words. The arrogance, perhaps a normal thing for some teenagers. However, these girls do appear to be filthy rich of which very few kids could relate to leaving them to wonder why can't they be rich little kids too? The goal of these girls of course - To become famous pop-singers. An unrealistic dream for most but it seems to be a moral to the film: "to have a good life, you need to become famous".
The plot moral, not a great one. The characters little lessons, appalling.
'Raven' is so caught up in the 'becoming a pop-star' experience that she becomes completely self-absorbed. This is probably one of the few morals that are presented well. Don't become a self-absorbed idiot.
Moving on. Our second character fails entirely at bringing in any good ideals. After some time working on 'the cheetah girls' upcoming career she comes home to throw a tantrum about her mother not being there (rather, she's out with a boyfriend). The real-estate agent rings about her mother's interest in selling the house, the daughter picks up the phone, rudely yelling to the agent how this house is not for sale 'Because I say so' in pure teen angst. Now she decides to go out and abuse her mother's credit card for all the money it's worth because of this small episode.
Of course when mum comes home, she is not happy. But apparently it's all OK when the daughter cries out about how her mother should be there more for her. Perhaps if this were a REAL case of child-neglect, this may be OK. But this kid was just a selfish brat who needs to find better ways to get over minor issues.
I really hope kids won't think its OK to throw hissy fit next time they discover their parents had to go out.
The next character is perhaps the most insulting to the 'real world'. Raven makes an occasional comment to this character about how trashy their fashion looks (and yes, their fashion looks perfectly fine actually).
Later in the film we realise that our 'trashy' girl is actually an orphan living in a poor foster home. It's a good idea; however, this girl looks NOTHING like a real 'poor' girl. Perhaps a 'money isn't everything' moral would have fitted nicely here, but instead we're handed the perfect fix: Get your rich friends to buy your clothes.
The forth character I won't comment on as I can't remember anything significant about her.
The process of becoming pop-stars of course, is very unrealistic, aside the sell-out factor and the lip-syncing.
'The cheetah girls' are torn between following their original dream or selling-out just to get the exposure. Their friendship hangs on the line because of this as Raven refuses to compromise.
We are given a few inspiring quotes from other characters about which road Raven should take on this matter, then its all up to the wonderful climax to do the rest.
The climax. Toto has fallen in a hole and has got dirty (horrifying experience for a dog bearing a perly white coat) Poor Raven is so frantic, this is obviously the worst kind of tragedy that could happen in life. God forbid we learn anything realistic like the death of a family member or even of this poor little pooch. Perhaps in that case we'd even had the President of the United States turning up to comfort Raven, but no, it's just a dirty dog stuck in a hole, it only calls for the whole neighbourhood, police, fire fights and the local television news crew. Such a tragedy can only resolve in the reconciled friendship of 'the cheetah girls'.
And there we have it. Entertainment... maybe. Any benefits otherwise, I would personally hope NOT, as they're not the kind of things I would like to see in kids and teenagers these days.
Normally, If this film was aimed at a higher audience (ha) I wouldn't see as much of a problem with it. But this was a Disney film... you know, the ones that are meant to be inspiring to kids, or at least teach them some values in life? This just gave us an insight to Disney's own greedy mind.
I could be biased and say that movies aren't what they use to be for kids, but this movie went beyond that. This film is a depressing example of how horribly some of today's youth is growing up. I would NOT recommend this film in anyway (unless for laughs at its stupidity).
The film starts off with our four 'rich girl' characters strutting down the street with arrogance beyond words. The arrogance, perhaps a normal thing for some teenagers. However, these girls do appear to be filthy rich of which very few kids could relate to leaving them to wonder why can't they be rich little kids too? The goal of these girls of course - To become famous pop-singers. An unrealistic dream for most but it seems to be a moral to the film: "to have a good life, you need to become famous".
The plot moral, not a great one. The characters little lessons, appalling.
'Raven' is so caught up in the 'becoming a pop-star' experience that she becomes completely self-absorbed. This is probably one of the few morals that are presented well. Don't become a self-absorbed idiot.
Moving on. Our second character fails entirely at bringing in any good ideals. After some time working on 'the cheetah girls' upcoming career she comes home to throw a tantrum about her mother not being there (rather, she's out with a boyfriend). The real-estate agent rings about her mother's interest in selling the house, the daughter picks up the phone, rudely yelling to the agent how this house is not for sale 'Because I say so' in pure teen angst. Now she decides to go out and abuse her mother's credit card for all the money it's worth because of this small episode.
Of course when mum comes home, she is not happy. But apparently it's all OK when the daughter cries out about how her mother should be there more for her. Perhaps if this were a REAL case of child-neglect, this may be OK. But this kid was just a selfish brat who needs to find better ways to get over minor issues.
I really hope kids won't think its OK to throw hissy fit next time they discover their parents had to go out.
The next character is perhaps the most insulting to the 'real world'. Raven makes an occasional comment to this character about how trashy their fashion looks (and yes, their fashion looks perfectly fine actually).
Later in the film we realise that our 'trashy' girl is actually an orphan living in a poor foster home. It's a good idea; however, this girl looks NOTHING like a real 'poor' girl. Perhaps a 'money isn't everything' moral would have fitted nicely here, but instead we're handed the perfect fix: Get your rich friends to buy your clothes.
The forth character I won't comment on as I can't remember anything significant about her.
The process of becoming pop-stars of course, is very unrealistic, aside the sell-out factor and the lip-syncing.
'The cheetah girls' are torn between following their original dream or selling-out just to get the exposure. Their friendship hangs on the line because of this as Raven refuses to compromise.
We are given a few inspiring quotes from other characters about which road Raven should take on this matter, then its all up to the wonderful climax to do the rest.
The climax. Toto has fallen in a hole and has got dirty (horrifying experience for a dog bearing a perly white coat) Poor Raven is so frantic, this is obviously the worst kind of tragedy that could happen in life. God forbid we learn anything realistic like the death of a family member or even of this poor little pooch. Perhaps in that case we'd even had the President of the United States turning up to comfort Raven, but no, it's just a dirty dog stuck in a hole, it only calls for the whole neighbourhood, police, fire fights and the local television news crew. Such a tragedy can only resolve in the reconciled friendship of 'the cheetah girls'.
And there we have it. Entertainment... maybe. Any benefits otherwise, I would personally hope NOT, as they're not the kind of things I would like to see in kids and teenagers these days.
Normally, If this film was aimed at a higher audience (ha) I wouldn't see as much of a problem with it. But this was a Disney film... you know, the ones that are meant to be inspiring to kids, or at least teach them some values in life? This just gave us an insight to Disney's own greedy mind.
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