The Anti-Homeschooling Bias of Horton Hears a Who

The merits (or more accurately, the lack thereof) of Horton Hears a Who have been discussed to death elsewhere, so I'm limiting my comments to the subtle but palpable anti-homeschooling bias I was dismayed to discover in this movie. I am not a homeschooler. In fact, I'm a strong advocate of public schools and knew nothing about homeschooling before joining Associated Content, where it's a popular topic. I took my kids to see Horton Hears A Who on their day off and was expecting nothing more than a chance to grab a nap in the dark theater. To my own surprise, I came out seething about the way the movie portrayed homeschoolers.

It's only one line in the beginning of the movie, so if there was a crowd at the popcorn stand you'd miss it. The villain of the movie, a kangaroo (voice courtesy of Carol Burnett), berates Horton for using creative methods to teach the local kids, and then states proudly, "That's why my little Rudy is pouch-schooled." I'm sure it was intended as a quick laugh in a script that was sorely in need of some, but it really bothered me. See, the movie goes on to portray the kangaroo as rigid, judgmental, prejudiced, closed-minded, intolerant and evil. There's even a scene in which she debates giving away her son in exchange for having a local hit man (a vulture named Vlad) getting rid of Horton.

While there's also a throwaway scene at the end where she's "redeemed," mostly she's portrayed as the stuck-up busybody that everyone loves to hate. As far as I could tell, one of the two primary messages in this movie is supposed to be that there are things that are worth believing in even if you can't see, feel, or hear them, which sounds like a pro-God message to me. (The other primary message is explained by the refrain, "A person's a person no matter how small," which is straight out of the original Dr. Seuss book.)

So it seems odd to me that a homeschooler was the villain, considering that I know many people make this choice because they're unhappy that you're not allowed to talk about God in public school. I believe prayer should stay out of schools, but I also believe that parents should have the right to teach their kids at home if they feel differently. In spite of the fact that I'm a liberal I'm getting pretty darn sick of Hollywood trying to tell me what my value system should be.

That still doesn't explain why the anti-homeschooling bias bothered me personally, though. The answer is that I've always been an empathetic person. I'm picturing the homeschooling mom or dad, rewarding their kids for hard work by taking them to the movies. Horton Hears a Who has to be a safe bet, right? Everyone's read the book; there should be nothing objectionable in this movie. So they're sitting there in the theater expecting to enjoy themselves and all of a sudden their lifestyle is mocked in a manner that indicates that all rational people would agree with the ridicule.

Maybe I'm being too politically correct, but I strongly object to anything that condemns whole classes of people, and I object even more when the condemnation takes a form that will damage the self-esteem of small children. If I'm that homeschooling parent, my choice becomes walking out of the movie I just paid over $20 for or having to explain to my kids that the real judgmental, intolerant parties are the filmmakers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for freedom of speech, so if someone wants to express anti-homeschooling sentiments, let them, but it doesn't need to be done in a gratuitous and condescending manner that insults part of their paying audience.