HORTON HEARS A WHO Co-opted by Anti-Abortion Groups

Originally submitted by: barcode 2x

A new animated feature film version of Dr. Seuss' HORTON HEARS A WHO hits theatres this week, and the film has become the focus of a growing debate on abortion. Anti-abortion groups gathered at the film's Los Angeles premiere to distribute fliers and information using the film's famous catch phrase: "A person's a person, no matter how small."

The estate of the real Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel, objects to the use of Seuss characters and material by political groups. Though many of the books contain political satire and commentary ([i]The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book[/i]) the books are intended for children, and were never intended to be used in such a way.

Horton is one of my most beloved characters from children's literature. In this book and his other appearance in HORTON HATCHES THE EGG, he is a loyal protector of the small and meek. Though some owuld argue, in this latter book, that Horton is a symbol of the anti-abortion camp; he is entrusted to be a surrogate mother while the bird Mazie abandons her own egg. He is the adoptive father, accepting full responsibility even when she returns from Palm Beach. The egg hatches and the child is a strange half-elephant-bird, a strange creation wrought through Horton's care of it. Powerful and sensitive, he is a poet and a saint in a big, lumbering body. Dr. Seuss threw the poor elephant into various uncomfortable positions. Our hero stands strong against a cruel animal kingdom that would destroy all that he has worked for. Is Geisel saying arguing for the rights of the small, and the unborn?

Or, perhaps, are these illustrated children's books with no such agenda? The problem lies not in the story, the film, or their powerful portrayals of loyalty and responsibility. The problem lies with any organization that would co-opt the symbol and use it to influence real-world changes. Furthermore, the film is aimed at children, who need not be roped into a political debate when they do not understand the complicated debate over the rights of a fetus.

HORTON HEARS A WHO opens today in theaters everywhere.