MovieChat Forums > Swiss Family Robinson (1960) Discussion > Sinister Undertones

Sinister Undertones

posted 21 years ago by MagicBez
46 replies | jump to latest

Just watched this film - and there were a few moments that made me raise an eyebrow, these may just be a product of my modern impure mind but i figured i'd point them out anyways.

1) is the treatment of the animals - especially the ostrich which is clearly real and is lassoed and ridden and chased by the whole of the family and never really seems to happy about it...though this is a 60's thing - i seem to remember in Thunderball they actually shot sharks with harpoons for the action scenes.

2) the line where the two robinson boys are talking about girls, and if they'll find any their age, the other replies something along the lines of: 'by the time we find girls we won't care HOW old they are' and they both laugh very hard.

any contributions to this list? or to any old movies with dodgy moments like this.

[–] LC03 14 years ago

I've always thought that today's generations could benefit from watching classic movies like Swiss Family Robinson. But some of the comments on this board have just amazed me. What they suggest to me is that our society has poisoned modern viewers' minds to the point that they cannot even sit down and watch a clean and decent movie without looking for something "sinister" about it. If you ask me, that's a poor reflection on our current society, not the films of the past. Plenty of movies today contain a lot more violence (toward people which I think should ultimately out-rank supposed animal cruelty among concerns) and inappropriate language. If you are determined to criticize movies for containing "sinister" elements, there are a hell of a lot more that should be addressed before Swiss Family Robinson.

Normally, I believe others are entitled to form and express their own opinions. But I'm utterly sick of the criticism directed at such decent movies of the past. So, although I'm sure the critics won't take my advice, I'm going to tell them they would be better off learning to appreciate movies like Swiss Family Robinson rather than looking for excuses to find fault with them. Try opening your minds to the joys of such movies.

[–] ebright99 13 years ago

I hope your comment wasn't directed at me. I love Swiss Family despite my reservations about how it was made.

You need to differentiate between a few things. While the film's story does not contain any "sinister elements" compared to say David Fincher's Seven, it does contain what would be considered animal abuse by today's standards, standards created and enforced by the film studios and film makers themselves.

While Seven contains many awful situations, no one was actually murdered, or even hurt, while making that film. Animals were hurt and/or were treated in a way that could easily lead to injury making Swiss Family Robinson.

I agree that people need to not be so myopically PC that they can't enjoy the pleasures of Swiss Family, but people also need to not be willfully dismissive of the facts that are right there on the screen.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] liscarkat (19418) 7 years ago

This is a logical fallacy of applying today's obsessions to an artistic product of the past, in this case the book of the early 19th century, and the film of the mid 20th century.