The Peter Rabbit movie has been released. However, it has been met with a fair amount of criticism, not least because of a scene in which the titular character causes Thomas McGregor to go into anaphylactic shock by throwing berries at him. This has resulted in an uproar, so much so that the people behind the movie have since apologized for their lack of sensitivity regarding the issue.
So far, the uproar has provoked a wide range of responses. Of course, there are people who are upset about how the Peter Rabbit movie treated food allergies. However, there are also plenty of people who seem to have seen said individuals as having overreacted. Both sides have a point because the issue can be more complicated than it seems on initial consideration.
On the one hand, people who are upset about how the movie handled the issue of food allergies have understandable cause to do so. After all, anaphylaxis is a serious problem that is more than capable of killing people, which is on top of unpleasant symptoms such as swelling, vomiting, shortness of breath, and low blood pressure. Moreover, it is a common problem, so much so that something between 0.05 and 2 percent of people are expected to experience it at some point in their lives. As a result, anaphylactic shock is much more “real” to a lot of people in a way that other examples of bad behavior in children’s entertainment isn’t, meaning that it is not a laughing matter for them.
With that said, it should also be noted that the Peter Rabbit movie’s curious narrative choices mean that the framing of the incident is rather problematic as well. Yes, Thomas McGregor is an unpleasant person. However, it should be mentioned that Peter and his siblings start out in the movie by harassing McGregor’s uncle before taking over his home when McGregor’s uncle died from a heart attack while chasing Peter. As a result, Peter’s status as the protagonist could encourage children to imitate his actions, which is particularly problematic because the nature of anaphylaxis means that it doesn’t take much for someone to cause serious harm, thus making the whole thing that much more problematic.
On the other hand, people who see the uproar as overreaction have a point in that it is not the purpose of movies and other forms of entertainment to raise children. Simply put, movies are capable of exerting influence on the impressionable minds of children, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem provided that the parents are there to help their children why Peter’s actions are not appropriate in real life. As a result, while the Peter Rabbit movie’s handling of food allergies was more than a little bit tasteless, the sheer extent of the uproar might have been a bit too much as well.
Regardless, people who are interested in the matter should make up their own minds because the issue is neither simple nor straightforward. With that said, there are other reasons that people might want to read the reviews for more information before checking out the movie, with an excellent example being the fact that the Peter Rabbit movie shares little resemblance with its source material save in the broadest strokes, meaning that it might not be well-suited for those who remember the books with fondness.
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