Descendants: Child Indoctrination? (DARK THEORY)

Hello, Fanaticals! Today is going to be a bit of a doozy, but it's something that I have touched on but in a different verbiage. I, personally, consider it a darker theory as it's a bit of a touchy subject. There are no trigger warnings for this theory, but it's definitely a bit more of an adult theory. Honestly, this post has been a bit dificult for me to write. Let's take a look at why.

On Tuesday, we took a look into the need for a Good vs Evil balance in fairytales and I mentioned how there is the issue of not treating a child for the crimes of their parents. However, the theory is that Descendants has a huge underlying storyline of child indoctrination. The first installment is where it is primarily seen, but there's a bit of it in the whole series.

The fact that it is drilled into the children of Auradon's heads that any and everyone on the Isle is evil. When you take into fact that child indoctrination is when children are taught in their childhoods to believe in one specific thing persistently until that is all they believe, that is exactly what we see when the VKs come over and everyone (except Ben and Doug) judge them immediately.

On the flip side in the Isle, the VKs have been taught with every breath of their parents that because the people of Auradon believe that they are evil means that they are, and that good is not something that they will ever achieve. Meaning that trying to make "an honest living" while on the Isle will never happen because honesty doesn't actually exist.

Generally, we most often see two different types of indoctrination in life: religious and (for lack of better phrasing) bigoted. This happens when children are taught only what their parents and sometimes communities believe and are told that is the only real way to live. As we see in Uma when Mal and the others go to Auradon, there is a jealousy there which shows the growth that comes normally in life.

It is not unusual that while growing up, children will begin to question what they are taught, and many will open their minds to other things. Very rarely do you see it happen when you are stuck in the same space that you learned these things from, because you are constantly in a state of hearing and learning the same things over and over. However, sometimes there can be questions. When Mal and the gang are accepted over into Auradon, it starts placing seeds of doubt into the other VK's minds that maybe what they've been taught isn't exactly the complete truth.

Considering that despite what Mal and the gang grew up knowing, and the mission they were given when they left, the longer they were exposed to the differences of Auradon vs the Isle, the more their minds were open to learning other things. This is one of the reasons why exploring cultural differences can be so important in preteens and teens, even young adults. It prevents that stagnant spot of continuing to believe that the way you've learned is the only way.

As Mal and the gang learn that there are rewards in life to being good rather than evil, they change sides, yet their personalities are still the same. This is normal growth.

How does this fit into Descendants?

Funny enough, most people don't realize that movies that show these issues actually go highly ignored in the real world. Indoctrination in general is what keeps the world stagnant and causes our divides.

As the series goes on, it is in the third installment that Mal truly realizes that in order for her to rule, that includes the Isle as that is where she originally hails from. The true life lesson in that, is showing that we are better united than we are divided; something that is show in that mass acceptance as the barrier between Auradon and the Isle is brought down for good.

While those from the Isle may not be perfect (something we see in the fourth installment as Uma takes over the Principal's office) there is more acceptance amongst all the subjects of Auradon. Even Audry winds up dancing away with Harry at the end during the celebration.

While we live in an imperfect world, child indoctrination is a dangerous thing; something that the world could take away to learn from this series as it shows what acceptance of other's can be like. This was a bit of a heavy subject that took a good bit to figure out how to write, but it's very plausible. What do you think about the plausibility of it? Why do we in the real world make movies and shows that show things like this, and the easy solutions that can come with it but yet we reject those types of solutions in general? Come join our community, as I would love to see a thread in our forums about this topic! Until tomorrow, keep on theorizing, Fanaticals!