Children's Grief Narratives in Popular Films

Abstract

Children's grief narratives, conceptualized as portrayals of the grief process in children, in popular films are examined. Four films focus this study: Snow White, Bambi, The Land Before Time, and The Lion King. These films reflect a range of acknowledgment of death and descriptions of grief in their young characters. They also vary in the extent to which they are consistent with traditional models of grief that emphasize detachment and contemporary models that focus on the importance of ongoing connections with the deceased. These films are consistent in their portrayal of the availability and usefulness of support and comfort for grieving children. They are also uniform in their presentation of possibilities for hope and some forward development after loss. Use of popular films for children's death education and for grief education is discussed.

Death in Disney Films: Implications for Children's Understanding of Death

“…In contrast with Sedney (1999Sedney ( , 2002 who found positive aspects of portrayals of death in children's films, Schultz and Huet (2001) examined the highest grossing American films and Academy Award nominees and concluded that the majority of portrayals of death are unrealistic and sensational, and are rarely accompanied by realistic and normal grief reactions. This was true about some children's films as well.…”

“…In general, there is limited research that examines the relationship between popular children's films and children's comprehension of death. For instance, Sedney (1999) examined the portrayal of grief in young characters in children's films. The films all had hopeful messages showing the possibility for a happy life following the death of a loved one.…”

Sources of children's knowledge about death and dying

“…In times past, one function of literature, particularly fairy tales and oral stories, was to help children to understand and develop a sense of meaning about the world they lived in [49]. While this role continues today, researchers acknowledge that for modern children, conveyors of these messages are more likely to be movies and television shows [6]. It is estimated that children under 8 years of age spend an average of 3 h per day consuming media, with the majority of that time dedicated to film and television [50,51].…”

“…Alongside concerns about unrealistic and inaccurate depictions of death and grief in the mainstream media, there is also recognition that carefully crafted media portrayals can have a positive influence on children's understanding of death [6,52,58,59]. For example, there is a small children's literature on death education, aimed at providing facts about death and suggesting ways to cope and normalize grief [59].…”

“…Coincidently, there have been significant changes to attitudes concerning how children should be raised [1] and this includes attitudes about exposing children to death and dying [6,7]. Overall there has been a marked shift in Western societies from the stance that death is a 'natural part of life' to an attitude of protecting children from the realities of death [6,7]. This attitude was documented by Miller et al [7] in their interviews with Mid-Western American parents and teachers of 3-to 6-year-old children.…”