Masha and the bear than harmful cartoon. “Russian superweapon”: why “Masha and the Bear” is being persecuted in the West. Video review “What does the cartoon Masha and the Bear teach?” and attempts at censorship

For many years in a row, people who (like me) grew up watching wonderful Soviet cartoons complained that Russia, as a country producing children's animation, had disappeared from the world map. The situation changed a few years ago, primarily thanks to the cartoon "Masha and the Bear", which became a worldwide hit. It is watched in different countries by people far from Russian folklore, with its eternal theme of a girl wandering among bears.

"Just a couple of weeks ago in the States. We are sitting with relatives in a Japanese restaurant, eating sushi, talking... Then my daughter says, “I hear something familiar somewhere.” We listened - it seemed like there was something somewhere, but I couldn’t remember... My daughter went out for a walk, returned slightly confused: a couple of tables away there was a black woman with her daughter (the same one) and the daughter of “Masha and the Bear” on a tablet" - I read it on Facebook yesterday.

Something similar can be seen today in many countries: from France to South Korea. Moreover, the general opinion, which can be read in reactions in different languages: this series belongs to that rare category that adults can watch together with children. And burst into laughter together.

But not everyone is happy with the series. There are also critics who warn about the harm that Masha can cause to the child’s psyche, public consciousness, and state ideology. About twenty years ago, one slightly hysterical head of a single-parent family (in common parlance: a single mother) told me:

- Why doesn’t anyone pay attention to the fact that the fairy tale “The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats” is about the problems of fatherlessness.

- Fatherlessness?!

There is no goat. The goat raises the children alone. No goat.

This woman could be understood. I didn't argue.

But it was precisely with this method of interpretation that the critic approached the cartoon “Masha and the Bear”"Haaretz" Rogel Alper, seeing in the popular Russian cartoon "an annoying and gloomy sediment hidden in a double bottom." After seeing this news on IzRus website , I didn’t believe it at first.

Rogel Alper, following my friend’s method of interpretation, discovered the main problem in the absence of parents: “Girl, where are your mom and dad?” He was able to diagnose a whole bunch of unhealthy and ideologically harmful complexes in the cartoon: from paranoid existential fears of loneliness in a girl who is afraid that a bear will run away from her, since people have run away from her before (where are her parents?), to an unhealthy sense of guilt and unrealized debt in dreaming of escaping from a child predator. With animal seriousness, Alper analyzed the relationship between Masha and the animals, which are hampered by a hyperactive little girl poking her nose into everything. “Masha is a foreign body in this environment that accepts her existence,” Alper concluded, urging parents to pay attention to the frightening essential content of the Russian cartoon. After all, children can unwittingly absorb these psychologically unhealthy, ideologically harmful and environmentally hostile messages.

People who, having read the text, immediately began to brand “left-wing bastard” and “Russophobia”, began to mock “what are they smoking in this Haaretz,” I hasten to assure. Alper is not alone. Russian professor Lidiya Vladimirovna Matveeva, who heads the Commission for Monitoring the Implementation of Federal Law 436 “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” under the Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of Russia for Children’s Rights shared with the “Psychological Newspaper” with his thoughts about the impact the series “Masha and the Bear” has on a child’s psyche. Lidia Vladimirovna is a very serious person - professor of the Department of Psychology Methodology of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Doctor of Psychology, head of the research group "Psychology of Mass Communications", studying the problem of the impact of the media on the human psyche and the problem of human psychological safety in information global space. She is a learned official authorized by the state to oversee content. And her sentence also does not sound childishly serious.

“Let’s, for example, consider how the animated series “Masha and the Bear” affects children. It is made according to the laws of children’s perception and therefore children like it. But, as we know, not everything that a child likes is useful for him. As a specialist, I believe that this animated series is harmful to the children’s psyche, moreover, from a psychological point of view, it is an “information bomb” planted under the Russian mentality,” says Lidiya Vladimirovna. Her sentence is so strict that it is completely incomprehensible why she does not call for the cartoon to be banned and its creators to be sent to places not so remote.

She has a lot of accusations against the cartoon. And the pictures in the cartoon, as it seems to the professor, move too quickly, and therefore the child may develop logoneurosis. And there is also a “hierarchy discrepancy.” In an old folk tale, having come to the bears' house, the girl does not sit at the table in the place of Papa Bear, but chooses the place of the bear cub that is appropriate for her age, that is, the place of the youngest, then Masha from the cartoon, to the great professor's regret, behaves differently. “Showing disrespect towards the Bear (who simultaneously embodies the image of an animal sacred to our country and the image of a father) and constantly violates social norms with impunity, receiving positive reinforcement for this. That is, the father is not an authority...”. And if today a girl is allowed to break the taboo regarding her father and the Bear, then tomorrow, growing up, she will take aim at the “bearish” party “United Russia”, and even, scary to think, at the All-Russian father himself - President Putin!

And Masha’s emotional limitations: “Even not the most developed child experiences much more emotions than the heroine. In fact, all her emotions manifest themselves only in the area of ​​cognitive experiences - she is interested in something, something surprises her, amuses her and she wants something find out. That's all. She doesn't sympathize with anyone and even with her own pain, for example, when she falls, she doesn't take criticism, and is indifferent to the condition of others." Indeed, here we can agree with the professor. In the image of Masha, the theme of the fifth level of civil responsibility and the line of readiness to die for the Russian Spring near Lugansk are not revealed.

And the belittling status role of the Russian woman was also reflected in the image of the little girl Masha. “Historically, it so happened that in Russia a woman is the one who supports a man, helps him in his work, feeds him emotionally and energetically, accepts, unselfishly regrets, sympathizes.” And little Masha, as we see in the cartoon, is far from meeting this high standard. She gets the bear, but does not support it. It doesn't help with your work, it interferes and spoils it.

But in this note we are interested in the points in which the supervising professor is similar to the critic of a liberal newspaper. And the resemblance is striking. Matveeva also condemns the film for the fact that the girl in the forest is a foreign body, a destructive principle that all animals are afraid of: “In the first episode of the cartoon, we get to know the characters. We don’t see everyone yet, but as soon as the girl appears on the screen, we see the animals’ reaction “All the little animals are hiding more reliably, because a destructive force is coming, which is dangerous.”

The head of the Commission for Monitoring the Implementation of the Law “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” also believes that the cartoon is harmful from an environmental point of view, since it destroys the child’s connection with nature, with the environment, a part of which a growing person should feel part of. . The professor stigmatizes the emotionally limited Masha for her inability to love, irresponsibility, etc.

And the topic of the relationship between children and parents, which are absent in the cartoon, also worries Professor Matveeva: “How will this grown-up Masha treat her own children?” Professor Matveev’s interview is generally full of pearls. And I am making a remarkable effort to stop quoting him, since I have already many times exceeded the size of the note recommended by the editors of the site.

I will not draw long-winded conclusions. I will not list the aesthetic, ethical, and psychological arguments in defense of “Masha and the Bear.” This masterpiece does not need my protection. I have only one question: why does the opinion of the liberal author of the progressive newspaper Haaretz coincide so much with the opinion of the Russian reactionary government?

Cartoon today is more than a cartoon. Perhaps this is how we can start an article devoted to the development of the modern animation industry. Yes, yes, exactly the industry. A twisted plot, box office receipts, formulaic humor, famous producers, soundtracks, advertising - we now associate all this and much more not only with adult cinema, but also with animation. And, of course, after the release of the next cartoon, a huge number of products appear with the images of the main characters of these new films. Demand has not yet arisen, and there is already an abundance of supply, so all we can do is consume. And somehow these characters imperceptibly become an integral part of our lives, the lives of our children. Often I am ready to sympathize with these characters in advance, without even seeing the product itself - the wrapper is too good and attractive, the advertising campaign was carried out with high quality and skill. And yet, what is behind the popularity of modern cartoons? Can we unconditionally trust those media products that are at the peak of popularity today? This is what we will discuss in today’s article.

What is behind the popularity of modern cartoons?

“We were rightly worried,” notes Tatyana Lvovna Shishova. – Cartoons should carry an educational message, since children often want to imitate their favorite characters. The image of the girl Masha is extremely attractive to them: the mischievous laughter, the quick change of pictures and thoughts of the heroine, her mobility, disrespectful and sometimes rude attitude towards the bear - all this attracts and disinhibits the unstable child’s psyche.

Now parents are generally very lucky: there is a lot of necessary information, you just need to get interested and ask questions, and now you can find the answers. When I was raising my three children, that’s when we hit a lot of bumps - we, like pioneers, went through everything by touch, looking for the right vector.”

Analyzing, Tatyana Lvovna proposes to consider the characters from the angle of juvenile ideology: “Masha is a wayward child who has no respect for elders, and Bear is the image of an adult (parent or teacher), who admits his own powerlessness, does not know how to curb an ill-mannered child. This model of incorrect, unpunished behavior, without proper comment from an adult during viewing, is firmly embedded in the child’s consciousness, leaving its gross mark.”

Irina Yakovlevna Medvedeva goes a little further during the discussion and introduces medical terms into the conversation: “psychopathic behavior” - this is how she evaluates Masha’s behavior broadcast on the screen. Another interesting term – “converted form” – reveals the secret of the cartoon’s popularity among the adult population. The image of the girl is recognizable: her appearance has been somewhat altered in a modern way, but still she is associated with a positive hero - with that Masha in a sundress and headscarf, whom today’s adults looked at in their childhood. But at the same time, the character’s internal appearance has changed radically, that is, the form does not correspond to the content. It is interesting to note that the bear in this cartoon is also deprived of his voice - in other words, he is completely left with no opportunity to somehow influence Masha. That is, with a boorish and cruel attitude towards him, all he can do is tear out his hair, knock his feet and try to hide in an inaccessible place.

And I liked this quote: “Art is only in its proper place when it is subordinated to benefit. His task is to teach lovingly; and it is shameful when it only pleases people and does not help them discover the truth.” (John Ruskin).

The cartoon "Masha and the Bear" was included in the top five most popular children's shows in the world, as well as in the 2019 Guinness Book of Records as the most watched. Why the series, which is based on the characters of a Russian folk tale, is so loved by children around the world, the 360 ​​columnist explains.

During the month of research, the international agency Parrot Analytics analyzed 20 thousand children's cartoons. Of these, only the five most popular among the audience were chosen, among which was “Masha and the Bear”. Series “Masha plus porridge” on YouTube looked more than four billion times - it was she who opened the way for the cartoon to enter the main book of record holders. Now the “Masha and the Bear” series has been translated into 36 languages ​​and is shown in more than 100 countries around the world.

This has been the case with cartoons for a long time - if it’s interesting or at least funny to watch not only for children, but also for their parents, then it’s a success. In our most favorite cartoons there was always something that children did not yet understand, but parents understood. And how much fun they had from it! It was even more fun for children who watched the cartoon a few years later, when the adult themes became clear.

For example, in the wonderful Soviet cartoon “The Flying Ship” there were such characters - Grandmothers-Hedgehogs, they were singing ditties by Yuri Entin when the Chimney Sweep came to them for tools for the flying ship. While you are a child, you perceive the words “I was tipsy and flying on a broom” without a catch, but for adults, remembering your naive and literal perception of everything around you can be very funny. And there are many such examples - there is not enough time to describe them.

The secret of the popularity of the cartoon “Masha and the Bear” is very simple and understandable to any adult; even one episode is enough. Mashenka is the quintessence of most children in the modern world. And the unfortunate Bear, trying in vain to raise a disobedient hyperactive girl, is a typical good parent of such a child. Tortured, but not yet despairing.

Moreover, many - both ordinary people and psychologists - call “Masha and the Bear” not only a harmful, but also a dangerous cartoon. Some even diagnose Mashenka with a number of mental disorders! But for some reason, the cartoon is still liked by hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

It can be assumed that so many people are mistaken, and there have been such cases. But I still want to find something good in the cartoon. After all, both children and adults probably watch it not because of the sadistic tendencies that are attributed to the little girl in a pink sundress. Maybe Mashenka still reminds us of the happiness and spontaneity of childhood - the episodes always end well, even if she plays a lot of pranks. And the Bear still gets his way - he looks with care at the calmed down or happy Masha, walks with his Bear...

Yes, it's difficult for him, but who said parenting is an easy job? Maybe that's why Masha and the Bear is good - it's honest. They're both not perfect, but they're both willing to care. Let Masha’s care more often lead to problems for Bear, but this often happens with children - they are just learning. Masha knows that she can be a naughty girl, and the Bear will still love her. And this is very important: allowing the child to be a child. Otherwise, he won’t turn out to be an adult later.

Do your children watch the cartoon "Masha and the Bear"? Yes? And our children too! And then it turned out that this cartoon, according to psychologists, is the most harmful. Experts suddenly (five years after the appearance of the cartoon) started talking about the danger of Masha and the Bear. “Monster High,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “Tom and Jerry” were also blacklisted. Why exactly these cartoons were considered dangerous for the child’s psyche, and which ones you can then watch, we tell you in our “Question and Answer” section.

Why is the cartoon "Masha and the Bear" dangerous for children?

Psychologists have found that in this cartoon Masha demonstrates bad behavior and a bad character. At the same time, the girl always gets away with far from childish pranks (by the way, I did this even without the cartoon as a child).

Young children tend to believe everything that happens and also copy the behavior of the main characters. Thus, the child initially develops an incorrect model of behavior, and subsequently parents may experience great difficulties in raising him.

The bear appears in the cartoon as kind and gentle. In the cartoon, Masha systematically mocks him. But, in fact, behind the appearance of a bear there is an image of an adult, a little inhibited, but adequate person. He can only be offended. Experts believe that the child takes an example from Maria and forms his own model of behavior in communicating with adults: they must be mocked!

But you know what... Yesterday we tried to stop the daughter of the deputy editor-in-chief from watching the next episode of the cartoon, so she screamed all evening. And at that moment, the absence of Masha and her Bear from children’s lives seemed more dangerous to us than their presence. Although this is our subjective opinion and it apparently differs from the opinion of psychologists.

Let's say I agree about Masha, but what's wrong with Tom and Jerry?

We all grew up watching this cartoon, and nothing bad happened to us (at least we didn’t notice it). But psychologists say that in “Tom and Jerry” the mouse mocks the cat, and this also affects the child’s psyche.

The cartoon "Monster High", which was in second place in the anti-rating, forms, to put it mildly, a poor vocabulary in children. The main characters in it speak slang and also set a bad example of skipping classes. Here the experts are probably right. "SpongeBob SquarePants" teaches a child to conflict, argue with friends and scold adults (bad Bob!).

What kind of cartoons should you watch if they only show monsters and Pokemon?

It is not at all necessary to watch what is shown on TV. Almost every home has the Internet or a DVD player. Parents can choose their own repertoire of cartoons and fairy tales for their children.

Psychologists from the Center for Psychological and Pedagogical Expertise of Games and Toys recommend giving preference to old cartoons and fairy tales. Older children will enjoy adventure cartoons. Well, remember these wonderful “12 Months”, “Swan Geese”, “The Snow Queen”, “Thumbelina”, “Winnie the Pooh”. These cartoons instill in children kindness, justice and mercy. We grew up with them, and they still evoke the warmest memories.

So what, don’t watch new cartoons at all?

Of course, you can watch it, but you need to approach the repertoire very seriously. In many modern cartoons there is a rapid change of episodes, because of this the child does not remember the plot and cannot retell the content. Such cartoons will definitely not do any good. You should also beware of computer games where fights occur, since the child may subsequently transfer some episodes into real life.

At what age can children be shown cartoons?

Psychologists recommend not turning on the TV for children under two years of age. Watching any, even the kindest, cartoons can cause irreversible mental changes in them. So until this time, you shouldn’t sit your child in front of the TV, even if you really don’t have time and you need to keep your child occupied with something. It's better to give your baby a toy.

If your child has already blown out three candles on the cake, then he can watch cartoons. But the session should not last more than 15-20 minutes. At the same time, parents are recommended to be present during the viewing and, as the cartoon progresses, to give their explanations of what is happening on the screen and why the hero acted this way and not otherwise.

The politics in the cartoon “Masha and the Bear” were discerned by a professor at the University of Buckingham, who wrote in the Times that “”. One could ignore this, as well as the fact that the Kiev writer proposes to ban the cartoon in Ukraine. This is a personal opinion. But the Minister of Education of Georgia already believes that the cartoon is dangerous: it prevents children from learning English and forces them to learn Russian.

In a crimson headscarf, quickly shuffling his boots, “a ghost is wandering around Europe.” And once again all the forces of the Old World united for “sacred persecution.” In Scotland, newspapers write: “Meet little Masha - new Russian superweapon.” In Estonia: “Masha and the Bear is a hybrid form of ideological sabotage.” In England: “The children’s show is Putin’s propaganda.”

And well, journalists they always embellish, but professor and security expert Anthony Glis also talks about the Kremlin’s clawed paw. “Masha can be impudent, even unbearable, but at the same time brave. She's trying to get in over her head. Without exaggeration, Putin’s features are visible in her,” he notes. Now experts are haunted by, for example, a cartoon series in which Masha puts on a cap and goes to protect the garden from a hare.

The official English-language channel “Masha” on Youtube has 4.2 million subscribers. This is a million more than the official Disney Channel. And she is also loved in Muslim countries: a girl with her head covered, in a long sundress - the halal ideal of oriental animation. “Masha From Russia” is the most popular product in the world from Russia: more accessible than oil, more understandable than Dostoevsky, healthier than vodka. In Italy, in a huge amusement park near Bergamo, a separate play area is dedicated to our cartoon hero. And life-size dolls of Masha and the bear are in every second photo from here. Apparently, this popularity and.

Yuliana Slashcheva, Chairman of the Board of the Soyuzmultfilm film studio: “I see pure competition in this. Because animation is a business. The business is very serious and big. A lot of money is made in animation in the world. And when strangers come, another company from another market, which is not an animation power and is not considered, and suddenly begins to take away a large volume of the market, then, of course, everyone begins to fight with it.”

At the same time, for some reason no one accuses the American cartoon “Tom and Jerry” of militarism. One of the episodes even won an Oscar in wartime 1943. And the world found out who is the best fighter. Then in America they will call it “soft power”, which indirectly influences minds. And it turns out that it is very easy to call propaganda what bothers you in the market. But in the 21st century, with the free Internet and freedom of choice, it is not so easy to convince the viewer what and when to watch. He will respond to a good cartoon by liking or watching, but next time he will not read the newspaper.