Are You Sure?

I'm really curious about the parents who complained about the film with the snowman and said their children were "frightened". Since the researchers found that the children were sad, but in a pleasant way, rather than frightened, I'm curious as to how the parents would make that mistake.

In thinking it over, I've come to two possibilities: First, that the parents just made an honest mistake. Since humans are limited in our expression of emotion, perhaps the parents misinterpreted the children's reaction: Were there tears? Did they turn off the TVs? Did they hug a toy? All those reactions could well mean fright in children. Perhaps the parents tried to draw them out, to find out what was wrong, and the children refused to discuss it. If that were the case, then it's totally understandable that parents would think their children had been frightened and complain to the studio.

The other possibility is that the parents said the children were frightened because they didn't like seeing their children sad. No parent wants to see their child upset: It goes against the laws of attachment to not try to do something to ease that hurt. Did the parents, wanting to protect their children, then decide to complain? And if so, I can see a concerned deciding to blur the truth just a little-- after all, it wouldn't do much good to call up and report that a sad film made a child sad. "That's the point!" I can hear the exasperated manager say. So, instead, the parent goes a step further and complains that her child was frightened. Still an emotional response, but one that is more likely to get a satisfactory response from the television station.