Pinocchio is the protagonist of Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio and one of the best-known characters of children and adults, thanks to his leap to the cinema screens by the hand of Disney. In the collective imagination is the image of Pinocchio as the wooden child whose nose grows every time he lies, but not just a childish lie.
We want to focus on the Disney version because it is the best known, despite the many differences it presents from the original, it started in 1940 and remains a good example of the importance of education for children. The world has changed a lot since 1940, it is important to contextualize and try to imagine what life was like at the time, if we want to update, in any way, the beloved character.
- At the beginning of the film appear three books: Alice in Wonderland.
- Peter Pan and Pinocchio.
- The talking cricket opens the latter and the story begins.
- Interestingly.
- The reference to the other two works.
- Which would have their animated version of Disney a decade later.
- Seems interesting.
If we compare the works, we can find different parallels
We could analyze each one in depth, but today we will focus on Pinocchio and some of its most relevant aspects.
Pinocchio is a puppet created by Geppetto, an honorable, hard-working and generous man, we observe in Geppetto a parental instinct from the beginning, and we notice it in the way he cares for his pets: Figaro, the cat and Cleo, the fish. He treats them as if they were part of the family, created a home, and behaved like a father; however, I wanted to have a real child and I wanted Pinocchio to have life.
The Blue Fairy will have the task of making Geppetto’s wish come true and bringing Pinocchio to life. It is no coincidence that the material chosen is wood, because it has great symbolism. In some mythologies, the idea of the wooden man was used to explain creation. Pinocchio will be a wooden child until he proves he’s ready to be a real kid.
The fairy gives Grillo the job of being the conscience, the guide to Pinocchio’s life, and also not an opportunity to choose cricket, because in many cultures he is considered a carrier of luck and wisdom. The blue fairy symbolizes the role of the mother for Pinocchio, she gives her life and appears at times when she needs her most.
What is consciousness? I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, consciousness is that inner voice that no one hears, that’s why the world is doing so badly. Speaking of cricket?
The main problems arise when Pinocchio has to distinguish between good and evil and learn to overcome temptations. Talking Cricket will try to help you, even if it fails several times. Consciousness is the inner voice that we all have, it is something small, as small as the cricket that speaks and sometimes it is difficult to hear.
The next morning, Pinocchio leaves home and learns his way to school, this crossing is a kind of metaphor of the vital path, where there are obstacles to the realization of good and, on several occasions, it is easy to deviate and difficult. to correct the error. Pinocchio is neither good nor bad, but he must learn/grow to attain wisdom and therefore follow the right path.
Because of your innocence and ignorance of the world, you will face problems that you will have to solve. On his way, he encounters two thieves: a fox and a cat. The choice of these animals is also not accidental, as it is common. associate the figure of the fox with cunning and that of the cat with betrayal.
Both characters are ignorant, can’t read or write, but they are greedy and take advantage of the innocence of Pinocchio, who ultimately succumbs to the temptation to be an artist and profit effortlessly.
“Why does an actor want a conscience?” Speaking of cricket, Pinocchio?
Pinocchio works as a puppet for Stromboli, he sings and dances, he moves without wires, nobody controls him, here we observe the irony and metaphor of the puppet: a puppet does not move alone, he needs his strings and someone to move them. no need for cables and therefore free. However, he soon discovers that the reality is very different.
Education avoids deception, illiteracy makes us vulnerable
Once released from Stromboli, Pinocchio falls back into a trap of Honest Joo, who gives him an Ace of Swords making him believe it is a ticket to the island of games. Smoking, drinking, being violent? They can even be seen destroying Da Vinci’s famous Gioconda. There are no laws and children are free; however, they have been deceived and their acts of pure pleasure eventually turn them into donkeys. The donkeys that will be used to work, that is, that the lack of education led them to slavery.
Finally, Pinocchio discovers that Geppetto has gone looking for him and ends up being swallowed by a whale. Worried, Pinocchio decides to remedy his mistakes and goes out to save his father. The time to leave the inside of the whale indicates liberation, overcoming adversity and opening doors to knowledge.
On the other hand, the film highlights the subject of lying, we see that Pinocchio is lying to protect himself and he does so when the blue fairy asks why he had not gone to school, Pinocchio knows that he has done something wrong and instinctively protects him. himself, it’s a defense mechanism.
It is not a premeditated lie, nor very elaborate, but improvised, just as children lie to avoid being punished when they know they have done something wrong. This kind of lie usually appears between the age of four and five, although it can continue. to develop in some cases. In addition, the importance of lying in this work gave its name to the well-known Pinocchio syndrome.
It is important to see the film from the point of view of the time, illiteracy remains a serious problem in Western countries, and both the education system and the family model are subject to a certain way of thinking, uncompromising and uncompromising in many cases. A way of thinking that in some places it is still present, but that in many others it has been modified.
The message left to us by Pinocchio is clear: education frees us, knowledge leads us to make good decisions and not fall into error, so it is our responsibility, as guardians of future generations, to educate children to be free, to develop critical capacity and to achieve a certain degree of autonomy in their decisions.
I am not just talking about education restricted to academia; Be good at math, languages or sports. What about education based on the ability to reason, think, analyze, be critical?Every child is a world, he has different concerns, and it is our duty, and at the same time our privilege, to take care of him. The role of the teacher is critical, but the most difficult job is that of parents at home.
“The first task of education is to stir life, but to set it free to develop. Maria Montessori?