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Taken from msmagazine - From The Issue (April-May, 2001)
MICHAEL FRANTI
Musician
 My older son is 13 and my younger
son is two, so there's a wide range in what theyre watching. The thing I've always thought with my 13-year-old is that if he brings home Eminem and I tell him, "You can t listen to that! Thats sexist and misogynistic and homophobic," it's not going to teach him about sexism and misogyny and homophobia. It's going to teach him that dad is a fascist and he has to sneak around to listen to Eminem. Same goes for videos. I figure its better if I talk with him about the issues it brings up. For my younger son, we have a great video from HBO calledGoodnightMoon, which features superstars telling stories as if to their own kids. It s narrated by Susan Sarandon, and it has Hush, Little Baby sung by Lauryn Hill. They interview kids talking about their dreams. Its incredible to hear what dreams mean to kids that age.
LOIS-ANN YAMANAKA
Author of Father of the Four Passages (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001)
My son, who will be ten in April, is autistic. His favorite videotapes are The Great Mouse Detective and The Rescuers. He really enjoys movies with mice, even the mice in Cinderella. I think it's the quality of their voices, high and squeaky. When we have to do something thats traumatic for him, like cut his hair, we let him pick out the videos - something he takes quite seriously, reading the backs, looking at every single tape. He generally chooses things that are fun, like Disney.
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