I know that by wedging Balloon Boy into this blog, I will look pretty shameless. But honestly, when I saw Balloon Boy yesterday -- or what I thought was a boy in a runaway balloon, I thought of The Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not the classic, ancient fairy tales, but the new ones, yes.
The notion of sailing away into infinity tempts us all. Yes, obviously, the boy would have been in grave danger had he really been in the balloon, but who doesn't dream of escape, especially when we are little, and grown ups dominate our lives?
When I saw the little boy throwing up in daddy's lap today, I thought, maybe he wishes he had been able to sail away to Oz
22 comments:
The Wizard of Oz popped into my head immediately, and then i couldn't follow the story at all!
I thought of The 21 Balloons by William Pene Du Bois. It's time for me to reread that book.
Who do you think wished to float away, the daddy getting puked on or the little boy? or both?
When I first saw the video of the balloon on CNN, and heard the 911 call, I automatically asked myself, "How are they going to lower the balloon safely?" That was the scariest thing of it all. I wonder if at the moment the little boy was (if I am getting this right) in the balloon while his brothers watched him, he thought of sailing away. As a child, escaping the reality of home life is as simple as "running away." For me, my running away consisted of 2 attempts. My first attempt was lame and my second got me as far as three streets away from my house before I realized, "I will have nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, and no protection." I then returned home and apologized. Maybe, when the little boy threw up in his father's lap, he had the same kind of realization, however, it was on live TV. I feel sorry for him because in school, he will now be known as the boy that threw up on daddy during the Today Show. I thought that I would include my personal experience with escaping. It did not get me very far.
To further psychoanalyze the actions of the little boy, why did he hide in the attic and not the basement? What does that mean and how can it be interpreted? Do they have a basement? In a hypothetical world, they do and the basement represents the "bad" actions where as the attic represents a haven for the good boy who did something wrong. Furthermore, will there be a new fairy tale written about the "Balloon Boy and the Evil Society." Now, that’s a concept and maybe evens a fairy tale writing contest.
correction, maybe even* a fairy tale writing contest. (Note, this is part of entry 4)
I just thought about the time I ran away from home, and walked and walked only to keep returning to the front of my house. Only later did I realize that was because I was simply circling the block. I was NOT allowed to cross the street on my own after all.
I remember my inner dialogues as I contemplated running away. I spent many an afternoon aching with the injustices doled out by my parents, which would turn to imaginative epic journeys in which I, of course, was the leading heroine. These moments were important in determining my passage into adulthood, and critical for developing who I wanted to be.
Who do I want to be, unfettered or unbounded by the influence of my parents? How will I ever make it on my own? These are important questions for every child, and it’s no wonder that narratives such as these are offered in fairy tales.
Melissa L.
The more that has been coming out about this the “balloon boy” I almost feel that this not so much about the kids being like a fairy tale but that the parents are. They asked their sons to do something for them which is against the law just so they can have some publicity. What kind of parents put their child in that position? The bad fairy tale parents would. Hansel and Gretel’s parents take them into the woods and leave them there just so the parents are able to eat, survive and not have to worry about feeding the children. Jack and the Beanstalks mother was fine with him stealing as long as it meant they would have money. I know my child will come first in my life; I wouldn’t through them under the bus just to survive. Who’s to say the parents wouldn’t have gone as far too really put him in the balloon, and then to put him through interview and after interview until he is ill. I just feel that these are this is an example of the bad parenting we see again and again throughout fairy tales.
When I first heard about Balloon Boy when I was watching TV I couldn’t help but think how his parents could’ve let this happen. If they were doing their job as parents how would a boy at his age even get alone with the Balloon and have the time to untie and get away without anyone realizing it until he was gone. And then as Daniel stated in the comments section, how are they going to get him down. That become a scary thought of how were they to get the boy out of the balloon and back down safe.
Well it came out they didn’t have to worry about that because the boy wasn’t in the balloon. No, he was at home hiding because his dad told him to. How can a parent use their child like this to get a little bit of promotion for his balloons? I think it’s horrible and hope when all is said and done he goes to jail.
John J
I'll see your Wizard of Oz and raise you with Where the Wild Things Are.
As a child -- and even as an adult, now that the film has debuted in cinemas -- that book by Maurice Sendak was, for me, the pre-eminent literary example of what it was like to be a child and constantly want for an escape from a quickly approaching adulthood.
Equally parts fantastical and terrifying, Max's adventures with the Wild Things and his eventual longing for a return to home and normalcy was huge factor in my emotional development. Like all kids, Max and myself both dreamed of a world without responsibilites, where everyday was a new adventure -- but, as he learns, it's simply unrealistic and, much to his surprise, the comforts of home are much more missed than first believed.
In regards to the Balloon Boy, my first thought was that it was indeed a hoax. I had been unfortunate enough to see the family on their episode of Wife Swap (don't ask...) and came to the conclusion that this family was balls-to-the-wall weird; nothing would surprise me about the situation, so I went with the most shocking conclusion.
Let’s see here, my running away fantasies started when I was about eight and did not go away until I left home at sixteen. I moved in with my boyfriend and his mom, who took me in as her own. If that would not have happened I would probably have ended up back at my parents’ house within a week and continued to fantasize about getting away from my wicked stepmother and passive father.
As for our balloon boy, it sounded like a hoax to me from the beginning and I believe I heard that the father admitted it was a hoax. I thought it was a hoax because I remember being a child and if my father was yelling my name and trying to find me I went no matter how scared I was because if I didn’t go and he had to find me the consequences would be much worse. I just found it hard to believe that the boy would hide and not respond to his parents’ calls because there is a difference in the tone of a parents’ voice from anger at the child and fear for the child’s safety.
From what I've heard of this, which is pretty limited, it seems to me that it's the parents that fit much better into the fairy tales. From what I understand, the father had set up the entire thing and knew from the beginning his child wasn't 'flying away' on a balloon. He used his child in hopes of gaining attention and I heard also to gain a reality t.v show. He's not the worst parent by far, however he seems to fit in with some of the unsavory parents in the fairy tales...perhaps the kids should watch their backs.
When I heard about the balloon boy, I recalled what I always wanted to do when I was a child—run away from parents, brothers and sisters, or school. Everyone has something that who wants to escape from such as children want to run away from home or parents want to run away from debts or loans. We all know that the reality is not always same as what we expected. However, we have to learn how live with it. Moreover, we have to understand everyone has power to change the reality, just the different of time. Escaping is not a wise choice because eventually we have to face it anyway.
Ever A.
As usual, I didn’t hear about this story until long after it happened but the first thought that came into my head was: What kind of message is that guy sending to his kids? In a society where lying to someone is always considered bad, what does it mean for a parent to teach their children that it is alright to lie to a news station, the police station, and the entire country all for the sake of publicity? Isn’t that sending the message that it’s alright to lie if you just want to get attention? I’m pretty sure that this guy is going to go to jail or at least get a serious fine (he might have already I don’t really know) because he did knowingly place a prank emergency call. The sad thing about this whole thing is he probably will get a show about this on TV simply for the fact that he tried to do this thing and failed so miserably at it.
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This topic made me think about all of the fairy tales that have even subtle cases of children needing to escape the things their parents have done to them. Already mentioned is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In this case, Charlie was living in poverty because his parents were poor. He needed to escape this state to make something for himself and his family, but he was just a child. The Wizard of Oz had Dorothy, who did not have a good life being under control of adults either. As discussed in class, Beauty and the Beast is about a girl who, in a very unhealthy way, is incredibly committed to serving her father. After all, her father allowed her to exchange her own life to save his. Snow White and Hansel and Gretel have the plot line of children needing to escape evil stepmothers who want them dead. Then there is the story Tiger’s Bride which shows how a father is willing to gamble away his own daughter because of greed. All in all, I agree that this sad story of Balloon Boy is very similar to fairy tales’ theme of bad parenting and the need for children to escape.
Balloon Boy for sure makes me think of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” What a total chaos this whole story has created. It is absolutely ridiculous. I only first watched the story to see what everyone was talking about. I have not yet since then followed really what has been going on. I know there were talks about the parents really just putting this on in order to try to get a reality show. What is up with parents these days? It blows my mind that there are parents who actually are using their children in order to get fame. The “octo-mom” is another good example. As much as I try to be on her side of the story, it is really hard for me to believe that she has the best interest of those children at heart. Don’t even get me started with Jon & Kate Plus 8. Kate drives me insane. I guess when you compare some parents today to fairy tale parents nothing has changed. As we continue to study fairy tales, it is not that I see parents using their kids for fame, but they do think of their own benefit in front of their own children. “Hansel and Gretel” is one common example. Both the mother and the father are setting their children up to die in a forest so that they will have enough food to eat. It is crazy how even things today can always relate back to a fairy tale.
Colleen B.
The theme of escape appears throughout culture. For example, James and the Giant Peach comes strongly to mind in relation to the “Balloon Boy” story. Sailing away not only provides a means of escape from an adult-dominated life, but also provides freedom and adventure that a child would normally not have. In fact, the success of the video game “Pokemon” can be attributed to filling this innate desire in children. This game gives the player freedom to travel an entire country by themselves while gaining and managing assets. In the video game world, the child can go anywhere and do anything he wishes (as allowed by the game). In real life, several factors limit the child’s freedom such as dependence on adults on transportation, money, and time occupied by school. In a sense, the video game itself is an escape from the children’s regular world.
Unfortunately, “Balloon Boy” really has no cultural relevance. As soon as I saw the picture of it, I instantly knew it did not have enough volume to lift a boy. However, I am sure the theme of escape from the mundane reality of life into a fantasy will prevail on into the future.
-Andrew S.
That story was crazy all together and the family was just kuku. But it does make sense we all want to escape as a child but even as an adult. We all have problems that we want to run away from but just cant seem to do because we know it's not the smartest thing just to drop everything and runaway from all of our problems. I have plenty of problems of my own but in reality I can’t run away from of them; this boy didn't run away he was in the attic the whole time. When we found out that this whole thing was a game they got in more trouble than they had before. So this really states that you can never run away from any of your problems and if you try then it's just going to be worse for you at the end. So nothing is ever accomplished.
KM
When I first heard about this story, I thought to myself, “How in the world could something like that happen?” Two things then came to me. Maybe he’s a curious boy, after all he is at an exploring age, so this was just an accident on the boy’s part. Maybe he is like a curious Jack from “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The second thing was where were the parents? Talk about bad parenting. We have seen plenty of bad parents in fairy tales, however, this is not a fairy tale. To make matters worse, it was all a hoax. I think it would have been one thing if it was an accident but it is a clearly another to set the whole thing up and act like they were worried for his life and safety. If I were that kid, I would probably want to float away too! I think the best part to this whole bizarre story was that the child revealed on national TV that dad had told him to stay in the attic and to say that he was doing it to be on TV. The ultimate revenge and twist on a modern day fairy tale!
Marianne H.
I have dreamed of escaping into my own world but not in a balloon. When I first heard about the story I was confused thinking how could someone fit in that balloon. It was a story that was not going to end well mostly the next day when the family was on TV I am guessing they (the parents) wanted their own fairy tale. A different kind of fairy tale one that would make them money and for the parents to become famous like all the other family shows. If I was them I would make sure my kids knew what the plan was from the beginning because at the end the fairy tale they wanted was not what they expected. It was the parents ending up in jail because of the hoax. Can you say ‘bad parents’, we have read about bad parents in fairy tales. Balloon boys parents used him to get a story in national television, they didn’t harm the child physically but emotionally they did. They should be ashamed for doing that.
Maria G.
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