It would be nice to write something definitive about Dr. Seuss, but perhaps he not so easily defined that everything about him is definitive. Interesting things abound with him. He was (said to be) a liberal, but is being championed by conservatives no end this day. Consider: He referred to the isolationists who argued for America First as being in companionship to Nazis, Fascists, and Communists. Don't miss the connection here, for a Trump motto is America First, and Trump is, indeed, an isolationist. Would this man who has had Trumpites rallying to his defense these past few days be anything but a Trumper if he were he alive today?
Who knows.
Now, the big shocker about Dr. Seuss might be that he was a government propagandist. Yes, beat that, if you can. I didn't just say, "propagandist," I said, "government propagandist." Moreover, you can look at the fact that his documentaries won Academy Awards -- and consider that as a sign they were influential -- and you can listen to the films, themselves, and see the persuasiveness in them, and wonder if he was not somewhat one of the more notable opinion-shapers in modern American political history on such matters.
How about that for the guy you thought was all Cat in the Hat, and nothing but children's books? You get to know him, and you discover he was a great propagandist, part of America's war machine, and wielder of opinions that trace down to things we belief in so very strongly today.
You could even argue that he ended up helping to save this planet from further war -- yes, you could. Take two of his little films -- Our Job in Japan and Your Job in Germany. They argued persuasively that those two nations both were steeped in beliefs -- brainwashed in their minds -- that they were destined to rule over the world. The films warned that though the war was over, the peoples of those nations would still need to be deprogrammed (though the word "deprogrammed," was not used.) Was Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and the American War department right? Did he articulate that idea in his films in a way that helped us understand it and belief it to this day? Did our efforts to deprogram the minds of the Japanese and Germans change those people so that they stopped from a future rush to war?
Who is to say.
Certainly on the sad side of what he propagandized about, was that he helped persuade America that throwing American Japanese in determent camps was the right thing to do. The sentiment that that was right might have faded but let it not go unnoticed that it was Dr. Seuss who helped persuade America at the time that it was right. One of the cruel injustices of American history lies partially at his feet.
Whatever you are to say about how influential Dr. Seuss's war films were, consider that his were but a drop in the bucket compared to all those released during World War II. There are lists of movies and films and animations that make you wonder if all Hollywood didn't take up making films and military advertisements for war bonds and such. And, it should be noticed that much of this came with government grants. Hollywood was quick to make movies supporting the war in large part because it was easy money. Government was footing the bill. If you can make a movie and get called a patriot while doing it, and make a dollar, there's a way to go.
An industry was born. And Geisel became part of it.
But, one can only wonder about the secrets Theo Geisel/Dr. Seuss took to his grave, secrets about himself. It is written that he exited World War II haunted by it. Look at the animations he did do while serving in the Army's information department. A series of them had little of what we would call propaganda value. They featured a character called Private Snafu, who was a bumbling soldier, at best. The films lampooned the military perhaps about as often as they praised it. One film even laughed at how the military censored the soldiers letters home. Is pointing out in a film that government was censoring a good thing? Not laudatory of America's war machine, were a lot of the Private Snafu films. Dr. Seuss, were you telling us how you really felt about the war?
A writer of children's books? Then, one should be surprised to see the naked women strewn through the military cartoons Geisel/Dr. Seuss created. These, too, make us wonder about the enigma, the riddle, known as Dr. Seuss. One major interesting thing about him was that he had an affair, and his wife committed suicide.
Oh, and you could study his book Horton Hears a Who, and consider on the line it repeats over and over, "People are people, no matter how small." Consider how that line has been taken up by anti-abortionists. It is said, by a biographer, that Horton threatened to sue the anti-abortionists for using that line. But, it is also said that Dr. Seuss never gave his opinion on abortion. "People are people, no matter how small," and the book speaks of them being so small they are smaller than a spec of dust. And, one thinks of how we speak of , "Dust thou were, and dust thou shalt return," and of how the unborn start as one-cell zygotes so small they can't even be seen. Would Dr. Seuss be outraged that we even draw these parallels? Are we wrong to even verbalize them right now? Or, since the likenesses are there, can we be allowed to wonder?
Interesting things about Seuss? It is said the word "nerd" was coined by him.
Bless this Dr. Seuss. He was a human. He was a complicated person. He had flaws. He has been hero to Americans, but is now falling from that perch. One must consider, though: If our heroes are allowed no flaws, then we shall have no heroes at all. Here is one voice calling for Dr. Seuss to remain a great American hero.
(Note: Slight changes made in blog 3/4/21)
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