In the early stages of showing media to your child a common refrain is some variation on, “Why's that funny?” This is because they’re still new to the world. They don’t know that in reality coyotes will immediately fall to an untimely death when they chase a roadrunner off of a cliff. The same goes for all art. Kids don’t know what art is “supposed to be” and therefore might miss what makes a particularly unique work so special.
Eventually they do learn how things are “supposed to be”. Now they can better appreciate The Marx Brothers demolishing a piano until it becomes a functional harp. But what of a child who now comes to outright reject the unconventional?
The desire to fit in and be like “normal” people is real and understandable. It’s even the emotional crux of ‘Becca’lise’s favorite movie! The final act of Auntie Mame (1958) centers on Patrick Dennis (who has been raised since childhood by his eccentric aunt) attempting to assimilate into polite society by marrying into the WASPiest family you’ve ever seen. But SPOILER ALERT: It doesn’t work! Mame's joie de vivre and general acceptance of the unconventional wins out in the end!
Of course prices and participation may vary. Sure it might bum you out that your little one no longer grooves to a song like Fish Heads, but this has never been about forcing things on your kid or turning them into a clone of yourself. It’s about presenting them with possibilities. They’re their own unique little person. They will take what they like and toss the rest. When they’re teenagers they might toss it all because that’s what teenagers do. But if you’ve cultivated curiosity and compassion in them by exposing them to a wide spectrum of culture, eventually that will shine through in some way. Eventually they’ll realize that life truly is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving.
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