The politics in the cartoon “Masha and the Bear” were discerned by a professor at the University of Buckingham, who wrote in the Times that “”. One could ignore this, as well as the fact that the Kiev writer proposes to ban the cartoon in Ukraine. This is a personal opinion. But the Minister of Education of Georgia already believes that the cartoon is dangerous: it prevents children from learning English and forces them to learn Russian.
In a crimson headscarf, quickly shuffling his boots, “a ghost is wandering around Europe.” And in Once again all the forces of the Old World united for “sacred persecution.” In Scotland, newspapers write: “Meet little Masha - new Russian superweapon.” In Estonia: “Masha and the Bear is a hybrid form of ideological sabotage.” In England: " Children's show“This is Putin’s propaganda.”
And well, journalists they always embellish, but professor and security expert Anthony Glis also talks about the Kremlin’s clawed paw. “Masha can be impudent, even unbearable, but at the same time brave. She's trying to get in over her head. Without exaggeration, Putin’s features are visible in her,” he notes. Now experts are haunted by, for example, a cartoon series in which Masha puts on a cap and goes to protect the garden from a hare.
The official English-language channel “Masha” on Youtube has 4.2 million subscribers. This is a million more than the official Disney Channel. And she is also loved in Muslim countries: a girl with her head covered, in a long sundress - the halal ideal of oriental animation. “Masha From Russia” is the most popular product in the world from Russia: more accessible than oil, more understandable than Dostoevsky, healthier than vodka. In Italy, in a huge amusement park near Bergamo, a separate play area is dedicated to our cartoon hero. And life-size dolls of Masha and the bear are in every second photo from here. Apparently, this popularity and.
Yuliana Slashcheva, Chairman of the Board of the Soyuzmultfilm film studio: “I see pure competition in this. Because animation is a business. The business is very serious and big. A lot of money is made in animation in the world. And when strangers come, another company from another market, which is not and is not considered an animation power, and suddenly begins to take away a large volume of the market, then, of course, everyone begins to fight with it.”
At the same time, for some reason no one blames american cartoon"Tom and Jerry" in militarism. One of the episodes even won an Oscar in wartime 1943. And the world found out who is the best fighter. Then in America they will call it “soft power”, which indirectly influences minds. And it turns out that it is very easy to call propaganda what bothers you in the market. But in the 21st century, with the free Internet and freedom of choice, it is not so easy to convince the viewer what and when to watch. On good cartoon he will respond with a like or view, and next time he will not read the newspaper.
Difficult Masha!
I offer an article by a psychologist (in some abbreviation), which I fully subscribe to: “Let’s take an example of how the animated series “Masha and the Bear” affects children. It is made according to the laws of children's perception and therefore children like it. But, as we know, not everything that a child likes is useful for him. As a specialist, I believe that this animated series is harmful to children. skoy psyche, moreover, from a psychological point of view, it is an “information bomb” planted under Russian mentality. Historically, in Russia, a woman is the one who supports a man, helps him in his work, emotionally and energetically feeds him, accepts him, unselfishly regrets him, and sympathizes. The maximum embodiment of this role is a loving mother who selflessly gives her love. It was this position of a woman that for centuries helped our country overcome difficulties while preserving itself. It is this image, embodied, among other things, in art. Now, thanks to the emergence information technologies created by someone cartoons can see a lot of children. What images do they put into them and how do these images correspond to our mentality?
In the first episode of the cartoon, we get to know the characters. We don’t see everyone yet, but as soon as the girl appears on the screen, we see the animals’ reaction - all the little animals are hiding more securely, as a destructive force is coming, which is dangerous. From the very beginning, the opposition between the child and nature is laid down. As psychologists, we know that young children, on the contrary, often associate themselves with animals; they perceive themselves as part of nature and in harmony with it. The authors of the cartoon destroy this connection by showing the child that the world and everyone who lives in it is just a means to achieve your goal.
How does the plot develop further? We see that *** is very difficult to determine the boundaries of his behavior. We can remember the old Russian fairy tale about Masha and the bear: having come to the bears’ house, the heroine of this fairy tale does not sit at the table in the place of the papa bear, but chooses the place of the bear cub that is appropriate for her age, that is, the place of the youngest. Unfortunately, the cartoon heroine behaves differently, showing disrespect towards the Bear (who simultaneously embodies the image of an animal sacred to our country and the image of a father) and constantly violates with impunity social norms, receiving positive reinforcement for this. That is, the father is not an authority; the father can be used in any way. The message that girls secretly receive when watching this cartoon: “The world is interesting place, where you are in charge, you can play with this world and do whatever you want. Even if you break all social taboos, you will be fine.” This is scary for children because positive reinforcement teaches them that such behavior is safe and desirable. But, as adults, we know that this is not so.
The range of emotions that Masha demonstrates is very limited - even the least developed child experiences much more emotions than the heroine. In fact, all her emotions manifest themselves only in the field of cognitive experiences - she is interested in something, something surprises her, amuses her, and she wants to know something. This is all. She does not sympathize with anyone and even her own pain, for example, when she falls, she does not experience it. As a biorobot, she does not take criticism and is indifferent to the condition of those around her - in one of the episodes she creates a very difficult situation for Santa Claus (a sacred, archetypal character) and has fun with it. And many such examples can be given.
As a specialist, what worries me most is that the authors of the animated series, for some reason, consciously or unconsciously, created for our children a heroine who is deprived of the ability to love. She lacks what underlies the feminine principle - acceptance, sympathy and tenderness. We know that children learn to perceive this world by imitating their favorite heroes. The image of the heroine is an example that a little girl will be guided by, so psychologists and parents need to look very carefully at the image of the heroine that the authors created and decide for themselves whether they want children to perceive the world and communicate the way Masha communicates ? How will this grown up Masha relate to her own children? It is no secret that modern mothers often refuse to breastfeed their children for fear of spoiling their figure, and deny them attention and love when they cry at the age of three weeks or three months, or closer to a year, believing that the child is manipulating them with his cry. But in fact, the child simply has intestinal colic or is starting to teethe, he is simply in pain and scared. It’s enough for mom to hug him and hold him close, and the pain and fear go away, but for this, the grown Masha must be able to feel someone else’s pain as if it were her own, but our Masha from the cartoon practically does not experience this.
Returning to the beginning of the conversation: I want to emphasize that the problem of proper certification of media products is now very relevant. Psychologists should, in collaboration with other professionals, protect children from uncontrolled media content.”
For many years in a row, people who (like me) grew up on wonderful Soviet cartoons, complained that Russia, as a country producing children's animation, had disappeared from the world map. The situation changed a few years ago, primarily thanks to the cartoon "Masha and the Bear", which became a worldwide hit. They look at him different countries people who are far from Russian folklore, with its eternal theme girls wandered among the bears.
"Just a couple of weeks ago in the States. We are sitting with relatives in a Japanese restaurant, eating sushi, talking... Then my daughter says, “I hear something familiar somewhere.” We listened - it seemed like there was something somewhere, but I couldn’t remember... My daughter went out for a walk, returned slightly confused: a couple of tables away there was a black woman with her daughter (the same one) and the daughter of “Masha and the Bear” on a tablet“I read it on Facebook yesterday.
Something similar can be seen today in many countries: from France to South Korea. Moreover, the general opinion, which can be read in the reactions to different languages: This series belongs to that rare category that adults can watch with children. And burst into laughter together.
But not everyone is happy with the series. There are also critics who warn about the harm that Masha can cause to the child’s psyche, public consciousness, and state ideology. About twenty years ago, one slightly hysterical head of a single-parent family (in common parlance: a single mother) told me:
- Why doesn’t anyone pay attention to the fact that the fairy tale “The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats” is about the problems of fatherlessness.
- Fatherlessness?!
There is no goat. The goat raises the children alone. No goat.
This woman could be understood. I didn't argue.
But it was precisely with this method of interpretation that the critic approached the cartoon “Masha and the Bear”"Haaretz" Rogel Alper, seeing in the popular Russian cartoon "an annoying and gloomy sediment hidden in a double bottom." After seeing this news on IzRus website , I didn’t believe it at first.
Rogel Alper, following the method of interpretation of my friend, discovered main problem in the absence of parents: “Girl, where are your mom and dad?” He was able to diagnose a whole bunch of unhealthy and ideologically harmful complexes in the cartoon: from paranoid existential fears of loneliness in a girl who is afraid that a bear will run away from her, since people have run away from her before (where are her parents?), to an unhealthy sense of guilt and unrealized debt in dreaming of escaping from a child predator. With animal seriousness, Alper analyzed the relationship between Masha and the animals, which are hampered by a hyperactive little girl poking her nose into everything. “Masha is a foreign body in this environment that accepts her existence,” Alper concluded, urging parents to pay attention to the frightening essential content of the Russian cartoon. After all, children can unwittingly absorb these psychologically unhealthy, ideologically harmful and environmentally hostile messages.
People who, having read the text, immediately began to brand “left-wing bastard” and “Russophobia”, began to mock “what are they smoking in this Haaretz,” I hasten to assure. Alper is not alone. Russian professor Lidia Vladimirovna Matveeva, who heads the Commission for Monitoring the Implementation of federal law 436 "On the protection of children from information harmful to their health and development" under the Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of Russia for Children's Rights shared with the “Psychological Newspaper” with his thoughts about the impact the series “Masha and the Bear” has on a child’s psyche. Lidia Vladimirovna is a very serious person - professor of the Department of Psychology Methodology of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Doctor of Psychology, head of the research group "Psychology of Mass Communications", studying the problem of the impact of the media on the human psyche and the problem psychological safety person in the global information space. She is a learned official authorized by the state to oversee content. And her sentence also does not sound childishly serious.
“Let’s, for example, consider how the animated series “Masha and the Bear” affects children. It is made according to the laws of children’s perception and therefore children like it. But, as we know, not everything that a child likes is useful for him. As a specialist, I believe that this animated series is harmful to the children’s psyche, moreover, from a psychological point of view, it is an “information bomb” planted under the Russian mentality,” says Lidiya Vladimirovna. Her sentence is so strict that it is completely incomprehensible why she does not call for the cartoon to be banned and its creators to be sent to places not so remote.
She has a lot of accusations against the cartoon. And the pictures in the cartoon, as it seems to the professor, move too quickly, and therefore the child may develop logoneurosis. And there is also a “hierarchy discrepancy.” In the ancient folk tale, having come to the bears’ house, the girl does not sit at the table in the place of Papa Bear, but chooses the place of the bear cub that is appropriate for her age, that is, the place of the youngest, then Masha from the cartoon, to the great professor’s regret, behaves differently. “Showing disrespect towards the Bear (who simultaneously embodies the image of an animal sacred to our country and the image of a father) and constantly violates social norms with impunity, receiving positive reinforcement for this. That is, the father is not an authority...”. And if today a girl is allowed to break the taboo regarding her father and the Bear, then tomorrow, when she grows up, she will take aim at the “bear” party.” United Russia", or even, scary to think, on the All-Russian father himself - President Putin!
And Masha’s emotional limitations: “Even not the most developed child experiences much more emotions than the heroine. In fact, all her emotions manifest themselves only in the area of cognitive experiences - she is interested in something, something surprises her, amuses her and she wants something find out. That's all. She doesn't sympathize with anyone and even with her own pain, for example, when she falls, she doesn't take criticism, and is indifferent to the condition of others." Indeed, here we can agree with the professor. In the image of Masha, the theme of the fifth level of civil responsibility and the line of readiness to die for the Russian Spring near Lugansk are not revealed.
And belittlement of the status role Russian woman also reflected in the image of the little girl Masha. “Historically, it so happened that in Russia a woman is the one who supports a man, helps him in his work, feeds him emotionally and energetically, accepts, unselfishly regrets, sympathizes.” And little Masha, as we see in the cartoon, is far from meeting this high standard. She gets the bear, but does not support it. It doesn't help with your work, it interferes and spoils it.
But in this note we are interested in the points in which the supervising professor is similar to the critic of a liberal newspaper. And the resemblance is striking. Matveeva also condemns the film for the fact that the girl in the forest is a foreign body, a destructive principle that all animals are afraid of: “In the first episode of the cartoon, we get to know the characters. We don’t see everyone yet, but as soon as the girl appears on the screen, we see the animals’ reaction “All the little animals are hiding more reliably, because a destructive force is coming, which is dangerous.”
The head of the Commission for Monitoring the Implementation of the Law “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” also believes that the cartoon is harmful from an environmental point of view, since it destroys the child’s connection with nature, with environment, a part of which a growing person should feel himself a part. The professor stigmatizes the emotionally limited Masha for her inability to love, irresponsibility, etc.
And the topic of the relationship between children and parents, which are absent in the cartoon, also worries Professor Matveeva: “How will this grown-up Masha treat her own children?” Professor Matveev’s interview is generally full of pearls. And I am making extraordinary efforts to stop quoting him, since I have already many times exceeded the size of the note recommended by the editors of the site.
I will not draw long-winded conclusions. I will not list the arguments of aesthetic, ethical, psychological plan in defense of "Masha and the Bear". This masterpiece does not need my protection. I have only one question: why does the opinion of the liberal author of the progressive newspaper Haaretz coincide so much with the opinion of the Russian reactionary government?
2016-11-03 19:16 5529
The primary source of information about the harmfulness of cartoons
In the central media, information was widely publicized that Russian psychologists had compiled a list of harmful cartoons. The series “Masha and the Bear” took first place in this rating, second place went to , third place went to , and fourth place went to “Tom and Jerry.” The primary source of the publication was the Planet today website. The news was published on October 30 and in the original it looks like this:
Russian psychologists studied the effect of various popular cartoons on the psyche of children and compiled their TOP of the most dangerous animated series.
One of the most successful modern projects for children - the cartoon “Masha and the Bear” took first place in the rating. According to scientists, because the main character Masha can be capricious and behave badly with impunity, children may adopt her behavior and not understand why they are doing something wrong.
The second place was taken by the American cartoon about monster girls “Monster High”. Experts believe that the vocabulary used in conversations between the main characters can significantly spoil lexicon kids.
The series “SpongeBob” took bronze in the anti-rating. square Pants”, which has become popular among the older generation. According to psychologists, main character- an overly selfish creature who constantly criticizes adults, even if they give him good advice.
It is interesting that the classic series “Tom and Jerry” took only fourth place, despite the fact that in each episode one main character (the mouse) constantly mocks the other (the cat), and Tom, in turn, constantly shows aggression.
Development of the scandal
Despite the high resonance caused by this information, it is still not known what kind of group of psychologists assessed cartoons in this way, and no detailed arguments about the harmfulness of cartoons have yet appeared in the press. In this situation, the director of the cartoon Masha and the Bear, Denis Chervyatsov, has already hastened to declare that “the Internet is a trash heap in which anyone can write whatever they want.” And psychologists, according to him, most likely did not even watch the cartoon, and in general, supposedly no one will tell you “how this or that work of art affects the human psyche.”
Other publications, such as Pravda.Ru, began to disseminate the opinion of the President of the Association of Child Psychiatrists and Psychologists Anatoly Severny, who called the situation with the hype around the cartoon Masha and the Bear a “provocation.” According to him, there is nothing criminal in the cartoon, and harmful advice can supposedly even be useful for children. “Russian psychologists did not give such an assessment to the cartoon Masha and the Bear, I can tell you that for sure. Yes, this is anti-advertising,” said Anatoly Severny, who for some reason took upon himself the right to speak on behalf of all psychologists in Russia.
Opinion of Doctor of Psychology L.V. Matveeva about the cartoon “Masha and the Bear”
Although the situation with the announcement of the list of harmful cartoons looks really strange, we urge readers not to be fooled by the assurances of the safety of the animated series “Masha and the Bear” from such affiliates as Denis Chervyatsov and Anatoly Severny, one of whom says that psychology cannot assess the influence of art at all. and the second justifies teaching children harmful behavior patterns.
As an argument, we present in this article an interview with a much more qualified specialist - professor of the Department of Psychology Methodology of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Doctor of Psychology, head of the research group "Psychology of Mass Communications", studying the problem of the impact of the media on the human psyche and the problem of human psychological safety in the global information space by Lidia Vladimirovna Matveeva, who in 2013 headed the Commission for monitoring the implementation of Federal Law 436 “On the protection of children from information...” under the Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of Russia.
Let’s take an example of how the animated series “Masha and the Bear” affects children. It is made according to the laws of children's perception and therefore children like it. But, as we know, not everything that a child likes is useful for him. As a specialist, I believe that this animated series harms the children’s psyche, moreover, from a psychological point of view, it is an “information bomb” planted under the Russian mentality. Historically, in Russia, a woman is the one who supports a man, helps him in his work, emotionally and energetically feeds him, accepts, unselfishly regrets, and sympathizes. The maximum embodiment of this role is a loving mother who selflessly gives her love. It was this position of a woman that for centuries helped our country overcome difficulties while preserving itself. It is this image, embodied, among other things, in art. Now, thanks to the advent of information technology, many children can see animated films created by someone. What images do they put into them and how do these images correspond to our mentality?
Let's talk a little about what children see on the screen. If you analyze the video sequence, you can see that the pictures in the cartoon change quite quickly - a child who often watches a lot of cartoon episodes may develop logoneurosis, since the cognitive information he receives is not assimilated. In the first episode of the cartoon, we get to know the characters. We don’t see everyone yet, but as soon as the girl appears on the screen, we see the animals’ reaction - all the little animals are hiding more securely, as a destructive force is coming, which is dangerous. From the very beginning, the opposition between the child and nature is laid down. As psychologists, we know that young children, on the contrary, often associate themselves with animals; they perceive themselves as part of nature and in harmony with it. The authors of the cartoon destroy this connection by showing the child that the world around him and everyone who lives in it are just means to achieve your goal.
How does the plot develop further? We see that it is very difficult for the heroine to determine the boundaries of her behavior. We can remember the old Russian fairy tale about Masha and the bear: having come to the bears’ house, the heroine of this fairy tale does not sit at the table in the place of papa bear, but chooses the place of the bear cub, which is appropriate for her age, that is, the place of the youngest. Unfortunately, the cartoon heroine behaves differently, showing disrespect towards the Bear (who simultaneously embodies the image of a sacred animal for our country and the image of a father) and constantly violates social norms with impunity, receiving positive reinforcement for this. That is, the father is not an authority; the father can be used in any way. The message that girls secretly receive when watching this cartoon: “The world is an interesting place where you are in charge, you can play with this world and do whatever you want. Even if you break all social taboos, you will be fine.” This is scary for children because positive reinforcement teaches them that this behavior is safe and desirable. But, as adults, we know that this is not so.
The range of emotions that Masha demonstrates is very limited - even the least developed child experiences much more emotions than the heroine. In fact, all her emotions manifest themselves only in the field of cognitive experiences - she is interested in something, something surprises her, amuses her, and she wants to know something. This is all. She does not sympathize with anyone and even her own pain, for example, when she falls, she does not experience it. As a biorobot, she does not accept criticism, she is indifferent to the condition of those around her - in one of the episodes she creates a very difficult situation for Santa Claus (a sacred, archetypal character) and is amused by it. And many such examples can be given.
As a specialist, what worries me most is that the authors of the animated series, for some reason, consciously or unconsciously, created for our children a heroine who is deprived of the ability to love. She lacks what underlies the feminine principle - acceptance, sympathy and tenderness. We know that children learn to perceive this world by imitating their favorite heroes. The image of the heroine is an example that a little girl will be guided by, so psychologists and parents need to look very carefully at the image of the heroine that the authors created and decide for themselves whether they want children to perceive the world and communicate the way Masha communicates ? How will this grown up Masha relate to her own children?
It is no secret that modern mothers often refuse to breastfeed their children for fear of spoiling their figure, and deny them attention and love when they cry at the age of three weeks or three months, or closer to a year, believing that the child is manipulating them with his cry. But in fact, the child simply has intestinal colic or is starting to teethe, he is simply in pain and scared. It’s enough for mom to hug him and hold him close, and the pain and fear go away, but for this, the grown Masha must be able to feel someone else’s pain as if it were her own, but our Masha from the cartoon practically does not experience this.
Video review “What does the cartoon Masha and the Bear teach?” and attempts at censorship
Based on this interview, as well as the classification of signs of a harmful cartoon, the Teach Good project back in 2014 created a video review “What does the cartoon Masha and the Bear teach?” Immediately after the video began to gain many views, it was blocked on YouTube hosting at the request of copyright holders, allegedly for copyright infringement. In fact, this was an element of outright censorship on the part of those who seek to prevent the spread of the truth about the impact of such content on the psyche of children. In response, our project carried out, and the video review has since been distributed through other video hosting sites and social media, already gaining millions of views.
We hope that the current situation with the hype around the cartoon Masha and the Bear will attract even more attention to the problem that has filled the Russian television screen and is literally destroying the psyche of millions of children. We urge you to actively spread the truth, which, even despite censorship, will always find its way.
Be brave, comrade, publicity is our strength!
The series Masha and the Bear contains the following:
- The main characters of the cartoon behave aggressively, cruelly, maim, kill, and cause harm. Moreover, all the details of this are “savored”, even if all this is presented under the guise of humor.
- The bad behavior of the characters in the story either goes unpunished or even leads to an improvement in their lives: gaining recognition, popularity, wealth, etc.
- The plot demonstrates what is dangerous if it is attempted to be repeated in real life, for health or life behavior.
- In the cartoon, the characters exhibit behavior that is non-standard for their gender: male characters behave like women, female characters behave like men.
- The plot contains scenes of disrespectful behavior towards people, animals, and plants. This may be mockery of old age, infirmity, weakness, physical disabilities, social and material inequality.
- The cartoon cultivates an idle lifestyle, promotes the ideal “life is an eternal holiday”, the policy of avoiding difficulties and achieving goals the easy way, without labor or even deception.
- The plot ridicules and shows values from an emphatically unsightly side family relations. The main child characters are in conflict with their parents, who are shown to be stupid and ridiculous. The hero-spouses behave meanly, disrespectfully, and unprincipled towards each other. The ideal of individualism and refusal to honor family and marital traditions is promoted.