The Emperor’s New
Groove has always been one of my favorite kids movies. I have always loved
it for the comedy, but the movie also sends out a lot of messages; good and
bad. These messages align with what Giannetti considers a “leftist” film.
According to Giannetti, leftists prioritize similarities between people,
cooperation over competition, and the poor over the wealthy; all things the
film emphasizes.
One of the strongest messages in
the film is the message of self-improvement. Throughout the movie we see Kuzco
turn from a selfish and greedy ruler into a more compassionate friend. In the
beginning of the movie he wants to build his summer house where a village is
and he does not care that it will displace all the villagers. As the movie
progresses, we see Kuzco start to care more about people, largely due to Pacha’s
influence. In the end, Kuzco moves his summer house to a different hill and we
see him hugging and having fun with Pacha’s family. Kuzco’s own journey of self-improvement
teaches kids that people can change for the better, and they can improve
themselves.
A message
we learn from Pacha is to always try to find the good in people. No matter how
awful Kuzco is to Pacha and his village, Pacha always ends up helping him out.
There is one point when Pacha says he’ll take Kuzco on the four-day journey to
the city, even though Kuzco is going to take out his village. He remarks “Well,
four days is a long time. Who knows, maybe you’ll change your mind.” In the
end, Kuzco does change his mind, largely due to Pacha. Pacha teaches children
that even if people seem bad at first, everyone has some good in them and it is
important to seek it out.
A more
negative message is about greed. Kuzco, the main character, is very greedy and
materialistic. He lives very lavishly and seems to prioritize wealth and
affluence. This is clear when he explains his plans for a big summer house with
a water slide. Although Kuzco does improve throughout the film and becomes more
compassionate, his greed remains. He moves his summer house to a vacant spot so
as not to displace villagers, but he still builds it and seems to enjoy the
extravagance of it. This could be a potentially harmful message for kids
because it seems to celebrate greed and love of material things.
The film
also seems to portray the stereotype that wealthy people are heartless and
selfish. This is shown through Kuzco’s actions and the way he treats people. He
throws an old man out the window for bumping into him and he flat out tells a
bunch of women that they are not pretty. He also has no regard for the poor and
does not care what happens to them, so long as he gets what he wants. In
addition, Yzma, who also seems to be fairly wealthy is also portrayed this way.
She even says to a villager who says his family does not have food, “You really
should have thought of that before you became peasants!” This contrasts with
Pacha and his family, who are less wealthy and are very loving and caring. This
might send a negative message to kids that all wealthy people are cruel and all
poor people are kind. These messages
were shown largely through the use of pathos. The interactions Kuzco has with
other people, both when he is cruel and when he is kind, are full of emotions.
In my
opinion, the positive messages win out over the negative messages. The movie
centers on Kuzco’s change for the better and on the friendship that develops
between him and Pacha. The more negative messages, although present, are not as
obvious. For this reason, I would recommend The
Emperor’s New Groove to children and give the movie 4 out of 5 nachos.
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