Walt Disney’s Finding Nemo (2003) was one of my favorite movies growing up as a child. However, around the age of 12-13, I had told myself that I had officially grown out of the “kiddie movies” phase. It was time for PG-13 movies. In my experience, being a teenager in middle school was one of the most socially shaping times of my teenage and grade school experience. Throughout these years I learned what music was and was not acceptable to listen to, what video games were and were not acceptable to play, and what movies and television shows were and were not able to acceptable to watch. What would be classified as “cool” would be the hip hop and R&B that was gradually appearing on the ipod’s of suburban children. The first person shooter games like “Halo” or “Call of Duty” that consisted of guns, blood, and “mild language” is what everybody was playing. And the new PG-13 movies, and television shows that appeared after 9pm on shows that weren’t on channels like Nickelodeon or Disney. Anything else would be considered “uncool” or unacceptable.
However, as I grew older, I became more independent from the social expectations that came of a 16-18 year old boy. Those expectations being basically more intense variations that come of a middle school boy. Yet, to this day, Finding Nemo is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and I watch it frequently. The reason this qualifies as a Guilty Pleasure is because of the nature of the movie itself. A animated film produced by Disney, a corporation who typically makes movies and other entertainment made for children. In addition, the fact that the movie is an animated film about fish is a fairly childish in itself. In terms of cultural capital, if somebody does not have a preconceived notion that I am an educated intellectual, and they knew that I frequently watch Finding Nemo, they would most likely be inclined to believe that I was not much of an intellectual. The lack of social capital is what makes me feel guilty about loving Finding Nemo. However, admittedly, this doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop.