Breaking the Spell of the Bambi Syndrome
I do realize that anybody who criticizes Bambi may be subject to this response:
However, I’m not too fond of saying things that are nice in order to mask the truth. Therefore, what follows is a casual yet critical analysis of the widespread infection of the Bambi Syndrome in our culture.
Ever since the movie Bambi came out in theaters in 1942, it has moved and wooed several generations of North Americans, including myself. It has also not-so-subtly coloured our understanding and conception of the woodlands and woodlands creatures. It truly is an amazing piece of animation, and has some really tender and beautiful moments in it.
But, let’s get real for a second. In real life, that owl would do it’s best to eat that rabbit we know as Thumper. It also certainly would not be hanging out during the day. Owl’s are nocturnal! On the other hand, there is an aspect to that poster that seems fantastical but is apparantly not too far off base…
The emotional impact of this movie, especially when seen at a very early age, is undeniably powerful. Many people admit to crying openly each time that mother deer is killed. In fact, this scene has become a serious motivator and even a point of argument against hunting and hunters. With that in mind, how affected by this movie have you been? Do you suffer from Bambi Syndrome?
A quick definition of Bambi Syndrome is: A disorder in which you just can’t deal with reality and Nature as it is, and so throw away any semblance of rationality or observation in preference for a fantastical, Disney-like, fairy-tale sense of reality.
Take this image, for example. Although this ad was apparently inspired by a care for animal welfare, at first glance this is without a doubt THE poster for the Bambi Syndrome. I find the placement of the real deer to be very symbolic. It is located behind the woman (who seems very miserable, by the way), completely out of sight, as if to suggest that when fantasy is at the forefront, we tend to completely ignore what is real and worth valuing (the actual, living breathing deer).
Here is some more serious reading on the subject at hand from some web-articles:
The Bambi Syndrome
Written by Mark Banta
via: http://www.strictlybowhunting.com/Anov01issue/bambi_syndrome_MB.htm
“Swolenogin Bambitis Ignoramus, or more commonly called the Bambi Syndrome can be defined as follows: A disorder in which rational thought is thrown out the window in exchange for a Walt Disney fairy tale-like sense of reality. In other words, those afflicted with this disorder can not deal with life on life’s terms, so they make up a fictional sense of reality, sometimes borrowing ideas and morals from Hollywood children’s movies.
Symptoms of this disorder include the following: 1) Repeatedly telling hunters that they have killed Bambi. 2) Encouraging innocent children to share in their delusional sense of reality. 3) Anger and emotional back stabbing when confronted with the truth.
So now that we know a little more about what the Bambi Syndrome is, let’s take a look at some of its causes. It would be easy to lay the blame on Walt Disney for making the movie “Bambi”, but that would be like an alcoholic blaming alcohol for their troubles. The leading cause of the Bambi Syndrome is misinformation. From what I’ve been able to determine, the disorder is usually manifested during early childhood development, and is reinforced throughout childhood into adolescence, and beyond. In other words, it is passed down from an infected parent to child, then from that child to the next, and on and on. Like alcoholism, the Bambi Syndrome is a vicious cycle.
Another cause is the inability to cope with how cruel life can be. Things happen in nature every minute of every day that would give almost anyone gooseflesh. However, those susceptible to such disorders as the Bambi Syndrome refuse to believe that such things exist, even when confronted with it face to face. To accept the reality of Mother Nature would force them to accept the role they play in the circle of life. So in order to shirk their responsibilities as a human being, the Bambi Syndrome is born as a classic coping mechanism.
I’m happy to report that there is a cure. The Bambi Syndrome or BS for short begins in the home, thus the cure must also begin there. The key to breaking through the BS is to present the facts and truth to the infected individual. This can often be easier said than done since the BS often runs deep within the family line, and anger and emotional back stabbing is a symptom of the disorder. Most sufferers of this disorder have trouble replacing the BS with fact, but with vigilance and patience, a properly trained hunter or conservationists can wade into the mind of the sufferer and literally pull them back out of the BS.
Swolenogin Bambitis Ignoramus in its most basic from is a coping mechanism, therefore when its removed from the mind, the individual is often left feeling vulnerable and in dire need of comfort. Luckily, the truth of how Mother Nature works and each individuals role in it will comfort the sufferer’s mind, and leave them feeling more secure with who they are and how they fit into the circle of life.”
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The Trouble with Bambi: Walt Disney’s Bambi and the American Vision of Nature by Ralph H. Lutts
Published in Forest and Conservation History 36 (October 1992): 160-171.
via: http://www.history.vt.edu/Barrow/Hist2104/readings/bambi.html
Walt Disney’s influence is so pervasive in American culture that it often goes unrecognized. It is easy to overlook the obvious… One of these characters, Bambi, has played and continues to play a key role in shaping American attitudes about and understanding of deer and woodland life. It is difficult to identify a film, story, or animal character that has had a greater influence on our vision of wildlife than the hero of Walt Disney’s 1942 animated feature, Bambi…
It may be that more people have, consciously or unconsciously, based their understanding of deer and woodland life on Walt Disney’s Bambi than on any other single source. Its images and concept of nature have been impressed on the American psyche and reinforced through decades of exposure to the film, its multitude of spin-offs, and Disney’s marketing magic. Bambi has become one of our most widespread and emotionally powerful national symbols of nature, one that motivates deep concern, and dedicated action to protect wildlife. However, Disney’s Bambi is an empty symbol, because the concept of nature that his fawn represents is impoverished. The film motivates, but does not educate. It may stimulate action, but not understanding. Instead of affirming nature, it represents a flight from the natural world into a comfortable nature fantasy. Ironically, it offers no hope for us poor humans to be anything other than destroyers of the natural world
Nature, symbolized by Disney’s infant Bambi, an infant with endearing human qualities, becomes something fragile and vulnerable. It becomes something that we must nurture and protect. This can be a useful metaphor, given our enormous technological abilities to destroy our environment. However, grave problems lie ahead if we confuse a fetching metaphor with the living reality of deer, other wildlife, or our environment. After all, the challenge we face is to protect real wildlife in a real environment, not the Disney version.”
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Do you suffer from the Bambi Syndrome?
Here is a quick test to gauge your level of affliction:
Which image do you find more disturbing...
This one?
or this one?:
Bambi Taxidermy by Melissa Dixson
And WHY??? The first image is a cartoon. It is merely a line drawing filled in with colours, and depicts the death of a drawing of a creature that never was alive at all. The second image is a taxidermy baby deer. At one time it really was alive. Alive and breathing and sensing.
Although the first image is gruesome and graphic, and the second image seems calm and even pretty, I find the second image to be much more disturbing. I wonder how that deer died. Was it shot? Was it run over by a car? What was it like to eviscerate and mummify this little creature? But the real question is this, I guess: Do you care more about a cartoon that you have an emotional connection with than a real, living deer that you never met or had any relationship with at all?
Another quick test.
Which image is more vulgar to you:
This one?
or this one?
Although these ‘tests’ are in no way meant to pass moral judgment, I have found my own internal reactions very interesting and informative. Before I even saw the first photo, I had the idea to mount a Bambi plushy. As with all good ideas, it was already done, but I wanted to try anyways. I thought it would be a powerful statement in the vein of eco-psychology, and a funny item to have around the house. However, despite having all the materials I need, I have been having an impossible time convincing myself that decapitating a Bambi plush toy is a good idea! I literally cannot bring myself to do it! It seems somehow evil. Wrong. Immoral. Morbid. And yet…and yet… I do realize that it is a synthetic object that depicts a cartoon character that is definitely not real at all. The extent of my own Bambi Syndrome disturbed me. I feel brainwashed or at least emotionally manipulated by Disney into coveting this image or symbol of the Bambi, merely an invented character in a children’s story! This photo-essay is in part an attempt to shock myself out of the Disney brainwashing I was exposed to and influenced by at such an early age, and to reclaim a saner grip of reality.
Here are some humorous and slightly subversive Bambi images that are meant to make you re-think, re-frame and re-consider the saintly and innocent Bambi image that has been seared into our collective imaginations:
Knowing how many animals people kill and eat every year, is above image at all upsetting to you?
How about the one below?
The unfinished, barely started “Who Killed Bambi?,” the Sex Pistols-Roger Ebert-Russ Meyer collaboration via: https://ecoartland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/who_killed_bambi.jpg?w=300
Considering that we are omnivorous creatures who sit near the top of the food chain, is it really so awful that we kill and eat animals? And what’s with placing a higher value on the lives of so-called cute animals such as deer, whereas pigs are considered fair game? I know for a fact that pigs are much more highly intelligent than deer, who are not the smartest and are basically giant rabbits in a lot of ways, but should intelligence be the marker for not consuming either? Is eating an animal an awful, immoral act? And if so, what’s the difference between eating a flora or a fauna, to put it mildly? Does not all life grasp to it’s own survival as fervently as possible? Is it more immoral than eating a fish, or an insect, or a vegetable? Causing suffering and initiating violence is never something that I condone, and of course the capitalistic factory-farm method of using animals as merely feed without respecting their right to live or their dignity is more than questionable… but what about sustainable, subsistence hunting? Does it then become more of a matter of taste? A personal choice regarding what you like to put in your body? Death is not the worst thing in the world by a long haul. There are many ways to die, and we all die sooner or later. Is it death itself that we recoil from?
Big questions, big controversy, but no easy answers. Just like ecology, there is no such thing as a simple answer, for the intricate web of life is vast and complex beyond our ability to perceive or even imagine. Yet I know for a fact that ‘Nature’, if you believe in the validity of this word, does not operate or care one whit for our human morality, which shifts and changes all the time anyhow. It is eat and be eaten everywhere in the world. There are bacteria and bugs living on our human bodies, eating us as we walk around the Earth. Not to mention the manner in which we decompose.
The main point that I am trying to make is that although Bambi is cute and nostalgic and holds emotional significance for many of us, Bambi is not real, never existed at all, and is merely a 2D line drawing that came to life through story and animation. What we must remember is to cherish, without too much sentimentality but with the respect shown to all our relations, all of our neighbours and fellow contemporaries upon this planet we call Earth, the real and the living breathing animals that we share the air with.
Like Rupert the baby deer, shown below.
Eat your heart out Bambi!
Eco Art Land 
