Winsor Law Group Blog

By: Mark A. Winsor, Esq.

My wife and I recently offered to babysit for a young couple in our church congregation so they could go on a fun date. We raised 6 children so we understand how important dating is in a marriage. They have darling young children and we were having a great time playing different games with them when one of them wanted me to read to her from her Disney Princess book, a collection of short Disney shoot-off stories.
One of the stories, “Bedtime for Max”, was about Max, the horse in the movie, Tangled. In the story, Max was exhausted from his busy patrolling duties but he refused to take breaks to get adequate sleep. Rapunzel and Eugene, worried about Max, came up with creative schemes to trick Max into sleeping. I was astounded! Each scheme was both manipulative and deceptive. Blatant lies!

Really? A child’s book teaching them that it is OK to manipulate and lie if you think it will help someone? Is this a value we want to instill in our young children?  Why would anyone be surprised at the enormous amount of manipulation, misrepresentation and fraud in the media, business and politics?

Tell me it is just an innocent book and I will ask where to draw the line. Is it acceptable if the intent is to help someone if it is for their own good? I also wonder how Max can ever trust Rapunzel or Eugene again?  In fact, how can Rapunzel or Eugene trust each other?  Can you trust someone, that you know would deceive you if they believed it would help you? The Disney story had a happy ending proving to the young mind that manipulation and lying leads to something good. I believe this is the exception to the rule. My experiences in life is that it is more common that manipulation and lying leads to bad things.  I pray we can teach this to every young impressionable mind.

*The information provided in this article is of a general nature and reflects only the opinion of the author at the time it was drafted. It is not intended as definitive legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and you should not act upon it without seeking independent legal counsel.