The Lorax: Is he anti-capitalist?

Because she deserved a reward for good behavior, I took my daughter to see the Lorax. As a person who grew up in the 1980s where Saturday morning cartoons were it, I've become an adult who still enjoys watching cartoons. And I love the new computer animated cartoons, such as the Lorax.

I thought the Lorax was very entertaining. I thought it was a fast paced movie a kid of just about any age could enjoy. I think my 8-year-old was easily entertained by the movie. I actually think if I had taken my 3-year-old she would have been fine too. As far as me, well, I was entertained too, but....

As Pee-Pee Herman once said in one of his Big Adventure Movies (I think it was Pee-Wee's Big Adventure), "Everyone has a big But." As an adult, I see more than just the cartoon and the humor. I saw in the Lorax more than just the message, "Don't waste natural resources." I saw an anti capitalist film. I saw a moral that was not at all what Dr. Seuss had intended in his book, "The Lorax."

After watching the movie I surfed the net to see if I was alone in thinking this, and I was not. The Wall Street Journal wrote a good article, and Lou Dobbs chanted about how the movie was both anti capitalist and pro environment.

In a sense, the movie seemed like an attempt to brainwash kids into believing capitalsim was bad and that no tree should ever be chopped down for the good of anyone, even to feed the poor.

Now I'm not going to tell people not to watch this movie, in fact, just the opposite. It's not like Ron Howard's version of "The Cat in the Hat," which was full of sexual innuendos that were inappropriate for children. I would never recommend the Cat in the Hat movie to anyone.

The Lorax was a good movie with good graphics and... well, it was simply good. I can see how it made so much money on its opening. Yet Lou Dobbs is right that the message was definitely a socialist message, and an attempt by Hollywood to indoctrinate our children.

Go ahead and see it with your kids, just make sure to prepare yourself for a good discussion after the movie.

This article was originally published on April 6, 2012.

Further Reading:

• Lou Dobbs says Lorax is anti-capitalist