‘Robots’

If Pixar is the granddaddy of new-school animation, it’s
largely because they make smart movies for adults that happen to appeal to
kids. Dreamworks — the Shrek folks
— take the formula farther, with adult-only humor that goes over kiddies’ heads mixed with broad potty slapstick.

I like the 20th Century Fox cartoons — Ice Age and now Robots —a tad less,
but maybe that’s partly because Fox is aiming more squarely at children.

“I liked it a lot,” Lila says of Robots. “I think it’s good for all ages; Oscar (3) liked it.”
Indeed he did, and Iris (6) says it’s her favorite movie. If the story is more
predictable, and the adult humor not as smart and omnipresent as in The Incredibles, maybe that only makes
it a better flick for kids.

A quibble would be the use of stars rather than great
voices, but Robin Williams shines through his rusty parts. “It sounds as if he
doesn’t know what he’s talking about, although he acts like he’s really smart,”
Lila put it. “He’s also the star inventor in Flubber.” Good catch. And a dog with an interchangeable voice box
provides a great vehicle.

Don’t misunderstand; I really enjoyed the film, laughing
especially hard at the musical jokes (the super-deluxe voice box at the end
brought a hearty guffaw). And the film is visually stunning, particularly
during the Rube Goldberg-inspired cross-town-express scene. Roger Ebert
favorably compared the color scheme to that of his beloved Fiestaware.

In short, you’ll like it and your kids will love it. And
it’s a big-screener, so don’t wait for the DVD.

— Lila and Adam Wilcox

This week for
families:

Brighton Memorial
Library storytimes: Mondays 10 a.m. (ages 3-4), 10:30 a.m. (ages 1-2.5);
Thursdays 7 p.m. 2300 Elmwood Avenue. 784-5300, www.brightonlibrary.org

Cool Kids Thurs,
Mar 24. Stuart Little, Rochester Children’s Theatre, Geneseo Community College,
Batavia, 7 p.m. Free. 637-3752, 964-7845

Genesee Country
Village and Museum 1410 Flint Hill Rd, Mumford. Genesee Country Nature
Center hours: Sat-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 538-6822, www.gcv.org

Head Start/Early Head
Start now accepting applications, Action for a Better Community. 325-5116
ext 3300

Henrietta Public
Library storytimes: Tuesdays 11-11:30 a.m., Wednesdays 10:15-10:45 a.m. 455
Calkins Rd. 359-7092, www.hpl.org

Hot Shot Final
Competition Thurs, Mar 24. ages 9-18, East High School, 1801 E Main St, 7-9
p.m. Free. 428-7294

Penfield Public
Library through Apr 30. poetry contest, grades 6-12. 1985 Baird Rd,
Penfield. 340-8720

Special Storytime Wed
and Fri, Mar 23 and 25. Kevin Serwacki, Barnes & Noble, 330 Greece Ridge
Center Dr, Wed 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., Fri 7 p.m. 227-4020

Stormwater Coalition
Logo Design Contest for grades 7-12. entry forms: www.monroecounty.gov.
deadline: Mar 31.

Swimming Lessons through
June 4. Tuesdays and Thursdays 5-8 p.m., Saturdays 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.,
Freddie Thomas Learning Center, 625 Scio St; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
5-8 p.m., James Madison School, 200 Genesee St. 428-7888

Kids on psychoactive drugs

There are more kids on prescribed psychoactive drugs than
ever before. Why? Are kids more susceptible to stress nowadays? Do more kids
have anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and attention
problems? Is it just that better drugs are available? Are more families
demanding prescriptions for these drugs? Do doctors prescribe more easily? Do
we, as a society, accept less suffering? Nobody seems to know.

Mark Twain wrote: “It is not what we don’t know that’s the
problem. It is what we know for certain that just ain’t so.” The promotion of
psychoactive medications starts with the myth that attention, anxiety,
depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorders are primarily due to altered
brain chemistry. If you buy that then it makes perfect sense that the growing
variety of these drugs work simply by correcting a “chemical imbalance” in our
brains.

Of course this “just ain’t so.” The fact that psychoactive
drugs affect brain chemistry does not mean that a huge range of emotional and
thinking impairments are just chemistry problems. They are not. They are
complex conditions that have roots in family structure, early emotional
experiences, relationships, learning styles, genetics, and more. Psychological
suffering is no more chemistry than a headache is a lack of aspirin.

On the other hand, we have never had safer,
better-controlled, and more effective prescription psychoactive drugs. They
work. While this is great progress, it does not mean that these medications
alone provide answers. Like aspirin, they relieve symptoms. But nobody really
knows how they work, and their effectiveness must not overshadow more holistic
therapies. The most effective treatments of psychological problems are
customized blends of psychotherapy, changing habits, insight, family change,
and maturation, along with symptomatic relief.

We need to be careful not to confuse pills with skills.

— Laurence I. Sugarman, M.D.

This article appears in Mar 23-29, 2005.