Toy Story 5 released this month and its making quite a lot of money. Many people are praising it, but many others are criticizing it's lackluster message.
You see, since the movie was revealed to the masses, it was hyped to be *the movie* tackling the issue of I-Pad kids. However, it didn't explore the topic with sufficient depth. Today, on the Pasture of Knowledge, we will see some of the things which Toy Story 5 missed about I-Pad Kids.
What Did The Movie Talk About?
While the movie starts off portraying I-Pads in relatively negative light, it slowly opens itself more to the benefits of technology. For examples:
+ The I-Pad character (Lillypad) is partly portrayed as a benevolent figure who wants what's best for Bonnie. Lillypad however doesn't understand Bonnie's needs and is mistaken about her approach.
+ When Lillypad realizes she has harmed Bonnie, she escapes and recognizes her inability to help. However, the rest of the crew go on an epic rescue mission to recover the I-Pad.
+ Jessie, initially bigoted against technology, overcomes her discontent after befriending a gps and a potty training tech gadget (not kidding).
+ The character Blaze is seen messaging people on her computer; she is able to use the internet responsibly.
+ Bonnie finally gets a real friend thanks to Lillypad.
In short, Lillypad isn't an object that should belong exclusively to adults. It's a toy that can be used for evil or good. It can be used to make friends and it can be used to hurt others.
This message isn't erroneous, and the film did talk about other I-Pad issues. Below, we have the problems that were addressed:
+ Cyberbullying and How Hard it is to Socialize with I-Pad Kids
Bonnie gets cyber bullied for playing with toys, by mean I-Pad girls who are addicted to their own Lilly-pads.
+ The importance of imagination.
Kids imagination is glorified with fairly creative, visually stunning animated sequences.
+ It asks children to not forget their toys, which are healthier and less likely to cause harm. (Its also a way for Disney to sell merch).
+ Making friends.
Bonnie learns to make a friend whose ability to control screen time is greater than hers.
+ Parents being online too
Bonnie's parents can be seen glued to their screen.
+ How Other Children Drag you into Excess Screentime
Bonnie attempts to socialize with Lillypad kids, by spending to much time with Lillypad.
What Did the Move Missed?
While the movie did talk about some of the issues with I-Pads, I have reasons to believe they should have been harsher in their approach. This is because cyberbullying is not the most pressing issue surrounding I-Pads. Below, we have a list of things Pixar could have talked about:
+ Pedophile / inappropriate fandoms.
Many fans of family-friendly franchises like Sonic, Paw Patrol and Zootopia are either pedophiles seeking to groom children or furry creeps who don't care if a child sees a video of cartoon characters breeding.
+ Elsagate Content
Through You Tube and social media it's relatively easy to find violent / fetish videos involving cartoon characters. This are made by groomers (and presumably, the government) to harm children.
+ Content not meant for children.
Some content is not porn and yet it shouldn't be accessed by children. Sometimes, adults need a space to talk about adult dark issues and horrific incidents. Children shouldn't be exposed to this.
+ Mental Damage.
Many I-Pad kids develop neurodevelopmental problems, such as: speech delays, symptoms of autism, trauma from Elsagate content, and problems to learn new things. The fast pace and overstimulation proper to internet content makes it difficult for them to concentrate during slower activities, like school.
+ Physical Damage & sedentarism.
Babies exposed to I-Pads risk harming their sensitive eyes or become cross-eyed. Lack of exercise is also bad for children, who eventually learn to be lazy and unable to handle boredom.
+ Toxic Artificial Intelligences
AI language models get their juice from everything in the internet. There is no reason to think Chat GPT won't tell your child to commit suicide or crimes. Cases of psychosis have in observed in AI Chatbot addicts. People who overuse AI become incompetent because they let the clankers do everything for them.
+ Groomers looking for victims
The internet is full of bad people. Anyone can be a groomer trying to become your "friend", whether it's in social media or in a multiplayer game.
+ Internet Lies
The internet is full of lies. Children should be taught that not everything they see in the internet is necessarily true. Nevertheless, some of this lies are very easy to believe , specially if they come from hyper-realistic AI image generators.
+ Addiction (whether it's to social media, YouTube, videogames or apps).
With addiction I define not just someone who uses I-Pads too much, but someone who develops physical symptoms when forced to withdraw from their beloved toy.
Furthermore, Pixar could have addressed the causes of this problems:
+ The establishment wanting to put everything on the internet.
The "Internet of Things" is just an excuse to connect every single device (from computers and phones to microwaves and dishwashers) into a big web that can be managed and controlled remotely by AI overlords. Mobiles have replaced radios, tvs, cameras, and books. If everything cool is online, then why are we shocked that kids are addicted?
+ Bad parenting
This one explains itself very quickly. I-Pad parents should be publicly shamed for wanting Apple and Android to raise their children. There's also too many people who want the government to raise *their* children. Now we have the Digital ID social media bans, because some looser millennial parents didn't want to raise their children.
+ Lack of accountability for internet groomers, pornographers and inappropriate fandoms.
This is the responsibility of tech companies, applications, and the police. They need to be publicly shamed for their negligence.
+ Lack of accountability for tech companies.
Many Syllicon Valley Brands make their products as addictive and destructive as possible; and when the chickens come to roost, they blame 3rd parties.
+ The establishment vs the proper rearing of children.
It should be no secret that excessive work hours take away from you the ability to properly raise children. The elites want children to be raised by depressed teachers and computers, not by mom and dad.
+ Corona Lockdowns
During the Covid pandemic, screen abuse increased exponentially. This is specially true of children who spent their first years behind screens because their parents were too stupid and scared.
+ The simple fact that self-control is harder for children.
There is no reason to dump in your child the entire responsibility of limited screen time. You are the one who has to place the restrictions and enforce them.
Why did Pixar Chicken Out?
Let's be honest: this isn't the first time Disney attempts to "tackle serious issues" and fails miserably. This had already happened with Toy Story 4 and Pocahontas.
The reasons why Pixar wasn't able to explore all of the negatives of I-Pad use in children are the following:
+ Disney benefits from I-Pad kids. Their extended mobile use is probably one of the few things that keeps Disney+ alive. Disney is also in possession of multiple Apps and mobile games.
+ If Disney Pixar had been harsher, they would have been called Luddites and Boomers. They would also harm their relationship with Tech Bro companies.
+ If Disney had glorified I-Pad kids, they would have been attacked by concerned parents, teachers and child psychologists.
+ Its easier for Disney Pixar to take a middle of the road side and ignore the harsher parts of the I-Pad kid problems. After all, it's not like if Toy Story ever focused it's attention on child rearing - the focus was always in the toys.
Furthermore, while the movie was marketed as toys vs tech, it is actually about making unlikely alliances and working as a team, to help children who have no friends.
Conclusion
If this film was released in 2014 it would have been ok. I much rather have a movie like this over Toy Story 4.
The problem for Toy Story 5 is that now we have more information and experience about children and I-Pads. This combination has proven to be fairly destructive and it makes family life harder.
Some people could argue that the issues I talked about here are extremely dark and wouldn't fit in a Toy Story movie. That's an interesting point. However, Pixar has already made movies about depression and anxiety. Considering how serious the I-Pad kid issue is, they shouldn't have chickened out like they did.
Nothing prevented Pixar from toning down the problems of the internet in a way that would keep the films family friendly. The disturbing Elsagate videos, for example, could have been replaced with a scary video that didn't let Bonnie sleep for a week.
It's important for Pixar to actually tackle this topics - instead of misinforming their audience with deceitful marketing.
My conclusion stands: The movie should have been harsher with parents and tech companies. Today, the question is not whether I-Pads and phones are good or bad. The question is whether they are good for children or not.
Let's hope that, despite it's deficiencies, Toy Story 5 still manages to convince children to look beyond the screens and improve their relationships to others.
