Watch the Dr. Seuss cartoon posted to the blog. Post a thoughtful response to the movie on our blog. Your response should address your initial reactions to the film, what you think the film reveals about prejudice, who the star-bellies are in your community, school, etc..., and any other reactions/responses/connections you have to the story. How does this film connect to Anne Frank? Jim Crow Era? How does this story connect to the world we live in today? How might this film connect to the novel we have just finished and the play that we're currently reading?
Even though the video was really cute and it was done for young kids, it just seemed so sad. People become so obsessed with being better than their "enemy" that they end up just seeming stupid. The Jews in Germany had done nothing wrong- they were just born to Jewish parents. Just like the plain Sneetches. They had lived good lives (probably better lives than the Sneetches with stars) but they were picked on because of the way they were born. And i think the underlying message of the Sneetch clip is that there is not appeasing that sort of people. They don't really hate you just because you're different, they hate you because they need someone to hate and you happen to be standing there. You can try and change, but it's not going to do anything. Star bellied sneetches will always see some sort of difference between them and you.
ReplyDeleteI thought this film was very well made. Though at first glance it seems elementary, it makes a very good point, and teaches an invaluable lesson. That lesson is that you shouldn't hate someone just because they're different from you. Something physical, like the stars on the bellies of the sneetches, or the color of ones skin, does not determine what a person is like. It is not something they can help, if they were born that way. Hating someone because they are different from you will get you nowhere. They may be different from you, but they never did anything to you. Just leave them alone, people are all people. This film describes life for Jews during World War II, and life for black men and women during segregation in the United States. They were hated for the way they were born, something they could not change. Hated simply because they were differnt. Just like the plain-bellied sneetches.
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was very good and a little sad. It definitely referred to segregation in the way that they stayed apart but then realized that the differences were only skin-deep. I think that it relates to Anne Frank in the way that there was a group who thought themselves superior but really weren't. Star-bellied sneeches are like the whites from the Jim Crow era and the barebellied are like the blacks because they are separate by prejudice that is only in place because one group wanted it.
ReplyDeleteI think that this movie was very educational and it displayed a very helpful lesson that can be applied to in everyday life. Even though young kids don’t pay attention to the lesson that is being brought out by Dr. Seuss, we, as 8th graders should understand that everyone should be treated as equals, not enemies based on whether you have a star or not. The Sneetches were obviously fooled by McBean and his inventions by addressing that he could help the Sneetches in their time of need and by charging $10 to get your star removed and to have it put on. Since the star-bellied Sneetches felt superior over all the plain-bellied Sneetches, they let the power get to their heads and started mistreating the plain-bellied Sneetches and calling them names. Most of the common “star-bellied Sneetches” we think of in today’s society would probably be celebrities and people of wealth who think that they have a lot of power, but in reality they don’t. While watching this video, I thought in my mind, why don’t the plain-bellied Sneetches just revolt against the star-bellied Sneetches or move to another side of the beach? It seemed to me that the plain-bellied Sneetches were afraid to do anything to stop the star-bellied Sneetches because they were worried that the star-bellied Sneetches would send them away to isolation. I think this film connects to Anne Frank’s era because the Jews in Nazi Germany were afraid to do anything to stop the Nazis because they were afraid of Hitler’s power and would not think of challenging him at the time. Also, the Jews were mistreated by the Nazis and they were sent into isolation just like in the story. This film relates to the Jim Crow era by explaining the prejudice between the star-bellies and the plain-bellies, just like how whites discriminated against blacks. This film connects to the world we live in today by telling how there is still racial prejudice between races and how everyone wants to be popular in social society. The kids portrayed in The Wave were so caught up in having a lot of power that eventually it drove them to become violent and force other people to join the wave. In conclusion, all the Sneetches needed to realize that everyone should be created equal was the loss of all the money the Sneetches owned.
ReplyDeleteIn this cartoon I think the Sneetches are just like people today. The Star-bellied ones, to me, represent the stereotypical hipster. Hipsters are stereotypically very elitist and will start hating something they used to love just because it went mainstream. This is like the Star-bellied Sneetches because after the rest of the Sneetches got stars, they went and took theirs off, even though that's why they used to think they were the best. The Plain-bellied Sneetches are like regular people because most people follow fashion as it progresses. Sylvester McMonkey McBean represents popular style because normal people will pay money to follow it and Hipsters will pay money to shun it and feels better.
ReplyDeleteWhat most people don't understand is that if there were no Plain-Bellied Sneetches, than the Star-Bellied ones would be equal. For one to feel superior, they need someone to look down on. Thsi is normally done because it is easier to pass the blame to somebody else than to admit your own error. Anne Frank was one of the Plain-Bellied Sneetches, but unlike the ones from the movie, she had her own "Marshmellow Parties" in a sense. She didn't feel like she needed "Star-Bellied Sneetch", aka German, approval to have fun. In the Jim Crow era, blacks were the Plain-Bellied Sneetches, and the whites were the ones with stars. The Star-Bellied Sneetches could also represent those in The Wave Movement.
ReplyDeleteI really love all of Dr. Seuss' work. He teaches morals and values to the future generation while keeping the stories light and whimsical. This story is an excellent example of segregation. He shows that no race is superior to others and in the end, we are all the same no matter if we are different races (or if we have stars on our bellies)The Plain-bellied Sneetches would represent the Jews, Gypsies, Handicap, Homosexuals, and all of the Holocaust victims. The star-bellied Sneetches would represent the Nazis and their "perfect" Aryan race. The machines and Sylvester McMonkey McBean would represent the war that ended the Holocaust.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete*I actually deleted my previous comment because I realized I forgot to mention some things! Sorry!*
ReplyDeleteANYWAYS...
I greatly enjoyed this video on Dr. Seuss' "Sneetches". Before, as a child, I never completely understood Seuss' purpose for writing such books and thought he just wrote for entertainment purposes. Now, I realize the different real world themes that older people face. I felt quite sorry for the Plain-Bellied Sneetches. I do not feel that it was right for the Star-Bellied Sneetches to treat them without respect. It was quite interesting that the two groups simply did not realize that it doesnt matter what is on the outside, but rather the inside. I was quite pleased with the end as everyone learns a lesson and everyone treats others equally. I feel that this text greatly relates to the texts we are reading in class. It may be possible that the text relates to Anne Frank as she had to face the great racism against those who were Jewish. Under Hitler's reign, the Jews were unable to participate in the same activities as Aryan people and they were looked down upon. This text could most definitely relate to The Wave as well. In The Wave, Robert Billings is considered to be an outcast and is picked on by other students. However, during the time that The Wave was a huge occurence, Robert became friends and equal to everyone else, similar to the end of "Sneetches". I believe that the actual "Wave" project could have represented McBean as it posed hope for Robert as McBean to the Plain-Bellied Sneetches. Additionally, I feel that "Sneetches" is a great piece of allegorical text that could possibly refer to some of history's biggest events. It may be possible that the text refers to the tension between the African-Americans and Whites during the Jim Crow Era when African-Americans were looked down upon (similar to the Plain-bellied Sneetches). I also thought in some respect that the Plain-Bellied Sneetches represented Germany, while the other Star-Bellied Sneetches were other countries that blamed Germany for WWI. If I look at the text in this case, then it may be possible that McBean would have represented Hitler as Hitler had given hope to Germany as McBean did to the Plain-Bellied Sneetches. This piece could also greatly relate to our World today as the Star-Bellied Sneetches could represent those who are eccentric and do not care for others while Plain-Bellied Sneetches could represent the working middle class. I believe that there is nothing wrong for the two groups to befriend each other, something that this book teaches. I feel that main themes in the Sneetches included both integration and segregation. Before, there was much segregation in the United States between those who were White and those of African, Asian and other cultures. However, in today's time, America has become a great melting pot with many cultures working together to create our future, similar to the end of the plot in the Sneetches. Overall, I really liked how the Sneetches was an allegorical text that greatly related to the topics that we are studying during class.
The star bellied sneetches are like the Aryan race who thought they were above everyone that wasn't part of the Aryan race. The sneetches that didn't have stars are like everyone that the Nazis went after during the Holocaust. What happened to the sneetches is like segragation because people were seperated because of something that doesn't matter. Both realized that it didn't matter, now every race can go to the same school.
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction to this video was that it was quite an accurate representation of the world we live in. It would mean the same thing to people a hundred years ago too as it does to us today. The film is about prejudice, and the first type that comes to my mind is what type of clothes someone wears. People take that very seriously nowadays even though it is not important at all. People use their clothes to determine their rank, even though it doesn't matter at all. The deeper meaning, and perhaps the meaning Dr. Seuss was trying to convey is segregation. I think he was initially talking about the Jim Crow laws because those inspired the laws used to segregate Jewish from the others. Anne Frank was like the one of the Sneetches without stars because she was part of the "minority" group and the Nazis though themselves better than everyone else. This film connects to the The Wave because the nonwave members were considered not as special, and one person was even beat up because he was not part of the wave. The Wave members thought themselves higher than anyone else and couldnt imagine why someone would not want to be part of the wave. Even today, the rich oftentimes think themselves better than those not so well off and scorn them for not working or making their own money.
ReplyDelete