I was suggested to watch this video as it pertains to identity with young Sikh girls. As I was watching, I found the speaker to be very interesting. The speaker expressed that she feels comics are a form of self help because, "I feel like comics really show you how to deal with life versus just telling you." But I wasn't making the connection about what this has to do with Mai Bhago and the Kaur animation.
She goes on to say how much she identifies with comic characters, "For me Cyclops and Gene Gray (super powered mutants from X-Men) are more real than Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt." She explains how she was raised in a conservative family of engineers in Alabama. She really didn't fit in with anyone, how it was, "really confusing and a bit of a nightmare. And then I met the X-Men. They showed me that I wasn't alone, that there were other people out there who didn't fit in, who had to fight for their rights to be individuals."
Now it was hitting home how impactful media like comics can be. Now I'm imagining a little girl who's living in a world full of strangers and how her best friends are comic characters. Then she adds, "And not only that, there were just as many women on the team and they were just as powerful and important and intelligent as the male characters, which really confirmed a lot of suspicions I had about gender equality. I got to live vicariously through these characters. They helped me to have an understanding of society's fear of the different and I learned that heroes NEVER GIVE UP! And I learned that they get to look super snazzy while doing so. Even more than that, I got to appreciate my struggles from a higher perspective and cope with an imperfect world in a healthy way."
Now it started to make sense. It rings back to another experience that I've had. Recently I saw some of the feedback that KAUR received from children and adults. People are saying that they cried while watching it. One girl said "That's what I want to be when I grow up!" and that the story is a part of her now.
Story telling has always been VERY important for children and how they shape their world. In today's day the story telling probably needs to take an additional along with the traditional reciting stories to kids when they go to bed. Comics and animations are things that children choose to read or to watch. It's really humbling to see how they absorb so much and how deeply they absorb it.
ComicGirl19 has based her life on non-traditional story telling. I think she speaks to the modern female, her personal experiences and articulate perspectives might make you think more about what impact media like 'Chaar Sahibzaade,' SuperSikh, and SikhNet's 'KAUR' animation has on your children. Young minds need heroes, it shapes their future aspirations. Do watch this and do think about Sikh media for the future.
Click on the image below for the video:
