“Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?

1. Which of the animated films Boxer mentions have you seen? Do you generally agree with her assessment of how they treat mothers and motherhood? Do you think anything has changed since 2014, when this article appeared? What animated films can you name that pass Boxer’s test of having “a named mother in it who lives until the credits roll” (para. 4)?
2. Boxer anticipates some readers saying “Get over it. It’s just a movie…Let it go” (para. 15), but the last emotion she mentions—and seemingly endorses—is “pure rage” (para. 42). Where along the spectrum from indifference to rage would you situate yourself, and why?
3. In “‘Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt’: Advertising and Violence” (reading from our last unit), Jean Kilbourne takes the advertising industry to task for condoning and normalizing violence against women; near the end of her essay, she writes that “this pervasive harassment of and contempt for girls and women constitute a kind of abuse” (para. 48). To what extent do you think animated films are another way girls and women can get hurt? What similarities and differences do you see between misogynistic ads and the films Boxer describes, and so you think the films “constitute a kind of abuse”?
4. Boxer praises The Incredibles for having three important female characters, including Elastigirl—a “really flexible, sexy, and strong superhero” (para. 39). Can you think of any equivalents to Elastigirl in other media arenas like gaming, comics, Manga, or anime? Do these media, like animated films, tend to ignore or kill off mothers?

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