# Most Over-the-Top Morality Fable for Children or Teens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139 "2010-11-18T20:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/41 "2010-11-19T12:43:49Z")
I always thought The Red Shoes was pretty over the top. Girl likes red shoes - obviously that means she’s an ungrateful slut who deserves to get her feet cut off. There was another Andersen tale about a little girl who uses a loaf of bread to keep her feet out of the mud (she uses the loaf as a stepping stone). She immediately gets SUCKED INTO THE BOWELS OF HELL for eternity. Her parents tell her she deserved it and ask her to think of the starving children in Africa OMFG!!!1!!!111!!!11! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/42 "2010-11-19T13:36:00Z")
I immediately thought of this little gem that was screened for my sex ed class in middle school: 1979’s classic [Am I Normal?](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1456478722718096426#) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/43 "2010-11-19T13:37:04Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > _Seduction Of The Innocent._ By Wertham. > [Amazon.com: Seduction of the Innocent: 9781596830004: Frederic Wertham: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Seduction-Innocent-Frederic-Wertham/dp/159683000X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290169333&sr=1-1) > Summary: **homosexuality is caused by comic books. So is Communism.** That wasn’t a morality tale, though. It was an analysis of the psychological harm that violent or sexual comic books could cause children. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/44 "2010-11-19T13:57:45Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > There was another Andersen tale about a little girl who uses a loaf of bread to keep her feet out of the mud (she uses the loaf as a stepping stone). She immediately gets SUCKED INTO THE BOWELS OF HELL for eternity. Her parents tell her she deserved it and ask her to think of the starving children in Africa OMFG!!!1!!!111!!!11! Damn it, I came in here to share that one. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/45 "2010-11-19T14:14:08Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Close, but the winner is Jesse Spanno’s incredibly hilarious and badly acted “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so…scared!” breakdown on Saved by the Bell. > > ETA: [Link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bflYjF90t7c) :eek: WTF!?! /win Why aren’t they both in jail for abuse of hair products? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/46 "2010-11-19T15:03:34Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > IIRC, didn’t Regina also have a heart murmur? (god, I can’t believe I remember this bullshit) > > Oh, and she didn’t know any ASL, but she could read lips, so no one who met her knew she was deaf!!! > Okay, I’ll probably think of some later, but I’m off to bed. That’s right! Man, she was sure born under a bad sign… ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/47 "2010-11-19T15:11:34Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > No, but I’d love to hear about those! Can you describe one? During their _freshman year_… Well, Jessica and Elizabeth go to SV University, along with several friends. Jessica meets and falls in love with Mike, who’s a “bad boy” (not really - he just hangs out in pool bars) and she marries him (because Lila had married an Italian Count who was later killed in a speed boat crash - she then returns to SVU). Mike is vaguely a jerk who talks to other girls, drama ensues, and Steven (the brother who is also there) gets into an argument, the gun accidently goes off and Mike is now paralyzed. Jessica annuls the marriage and joins a sorority. Elizabeth goes to SVU and gets depressed and gains 30 pounds, then gets happy and joins the college TV station, and reports on sports stars getting bribes, which ensnares Todd, and they break up. Todd goes on to turn into a drunk college drop-out and ends up sleeping with Enid. Elizabeth falls in love with a guy at the TV station and ends up being stalked by the head of the SVU “Secret Society” who’s in love with her. He tries to kill her several times, and ends up in a mental institution. It’s the same SV crowd, but with slightly bigger and complex problems. The morality tales continue however, and the series is very great. Plus! They can be read in as little as an hour. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/48 "2010-11-19T19:35:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I recall once, browsing in the remainders at a bookstore, I came across a collection of stories in verse called [_From Bad to Worse._](http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Worse-Silly-Tales-Verse/dp/B001M5PESK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1290112670&sr=8-2) One story was about “The Scissors Man,” a bogeyman who appears in a puff of smoke before a small boy sucking his thumbs, and cuts off his thumbs. Of which eventuality the boy was warned many times by his parents, if he would not quit sucking his thumbs. Significantly, this all happens _as soon as his parents leave him alone._ I think this counts as a [Family Unfriendly Aesop.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FamilyUnfriendlyAesop?from=Main.WarpedAesop) See also [Disproportionate Retribution.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DisproportionateRetribution) This sounds and looks like a bad translation of the German [Struwwelpeter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter), and therefore, the same applies: it was written in **1845** by a pediatrician in Frankfurt. The story of Pauline and the Matches, for example, was based on a lot of real-life burnings of children, because back then, matches were a new thing just introduced on the market. Neither parents nor children were fully aware of the dangers of them. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/49 "2010-11-19T19:37:11Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I see your Reefer Madness, and raise you a [Struwwelpeter.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter) I don’t think a book written in 1845 based on real-life experiences of Dr. Hoffmann in his work as pediatrican counts in the same category as a movie using scare-mongering about non-existant dangers. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/50 "2010-11-19T20:25:18Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Hey, This one [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esy2b7qA9U4&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esy2b7qA9U4&feature=related) > appears to be straight-faced. Oh. My. God. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/51 "2010-11-19T20:27:24Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Sorry, try (NSFW) [here.](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3930000348900501724#) :o This got reported as NSFW – since I’m at work, I’m taking the person’s word for it. People, remember, pls. label any NSFW links and put them in spoiler boxes to meet the two-click guideline. Thanks, **twicks** ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/52 "2010-11-19T20:28:33Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > I don’t think a book written in 1845 based on real-life experiences of Dr. Hoffmann in his work as pediatrican counts in the same category as a movie using scare-mongering about non-existant dangers. If “the great, long, red-legged scissorman” is based on his real-life experiences, I feel sorry for his patients. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/53 "2010-11-19T21:39:09Z")
[The Finishing Line](http://blip.tv/file/4356935) - 70’s/early 80’s British film about the dangers of doing middle school sports on rail road tracks. Or something. Heard about that from the recent [snarky review on thatguywiththeglasses.com](http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/guruandwez/fycw/28509-the-finishing-line) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/54 "2010-11-20T19:48:16Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > That wasn’t a morality tale, though. It was an analysis of the psychological harm that violent or sexual comic books could cause children. In many ways, psychology substitutes for morality in Post-Modern society, as psychologists are substitutes for religious counsilors. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/55 "2010-11-21T02:18:34Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Close, but the winner is Jesse Spanno’s incredibly hilarious and badly acted “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so…scared!” breakdown on Saved by the Bell. > > ETA: [Link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bflYjF90t7c) What I came to say. Made worse because it’s CAFFEINE PILLS!!! Don’t know if this counts, but I always laughed at the Ann Landers / Dear Abby column, [Please God, I’m only 17](http://www.pianet.com/Publications/pleasegodbrochure.htm). Joe ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/56 "2010-11-21T08:43:23Z")
Basically, these come in categories with their own subgenres. There are: Sex Drugs Religion Safety Social Comportment Have I missed any? ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/57 "2010-11-21T16:31:27Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > I don’t think a book written in 1845 based on real-life experiences of Dr. Hoffmann in his work as pediatrican counts in the same category as a movie using scare-mongering about non-existant dangers. Wait, you believe that an imaginary boogeyman who chases kids who suck their thumbs to chop them off is more realistic than a movie that exaggerated the threat of a real drug with documented negative qualities? I don’t know if you felt special for having looked something up and got confused about the details of what you were arguing or if you’ve just demonstrated one of the dangers of pot. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/58 "2010-11-21T19:16:23Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Oh. My. God. Is what I was thinking (well, actually it was more “…the fuck?” but you got there first). I’d agree with Dio on chick tracts, they’re the most vile things I’ve ever seen. I’m a firm atheist and they make ME feel bad. I read one that had two teens form a suicide pact and the boy went through with it and found himself in hell where his eternal torment was started, and the girl was stopped at the last minute by her parents who explained to her what a lucky escape she’d had. And this is meant for KIDS??? I nearly vomited reading it. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/59 "2010-11-22T02:27:02Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Taking Drivers Ed in the early 1970s, they decided to show us “Signal 30”…a traffic safety film by the Ohio State police showing lots of dead bodies/gore from those seat belt/air bag-less 1950s. Ah, that’s what we waited for all semester. The older kids tried to scare us with it, the teachers got us to behave “or no Signal 30 next week.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139/60 "2010-11-22T04:32:35Z")
Any “Very Special Episode” of any sitcom. Or the old PSAs you used to see during Saturday morning cartoons. “The More You Know…” Remember, they’d have a moral dilemma, it would pause right before the person had to make their decision, go to a commercial, and then it would come back, and the person would make the “right decision.” (I wish I could have watched those gory driver’s ed films.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-over-the-top-morality-fable-for-children-or-teens/561139.md?page=4)