DarwinMayflower
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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 Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:37 am Post subject: Re: Oldschool American Cartoons, Games, and Character |
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| Talbain wrote: |
In some ways, it makes me regret that current cartoons have never reached the level of intelligence of something like, say, Animaniacs, and at the same time, makes me wonder (I'm generalizing, bear with me): is it possible that the reason the youth of today are so desensitized to everything is because we never show characters who actually feel? |
It's hard to say really. I think one of the main problems is the increasing amount of young heartthrobs of television series becoming more prevalent on the airwaves. I remember a time where it seemed more live-action kid oriented shows seemed to outnumber any sort of new animated cartoons were airing at the time.
However not to deliberatly detract from the thread's main point about cartoons, me personally I think youth are desensitized is mainly due to the media promoting the golden age of 18-21. It's like if you don't act, look, dress, mingle or feel like a 18-21 year old, you're basically useless. 12 year olds dressing in leather jackets, 40 year olds trying to look like they're 20. It's like the length of a childhood is shrinking more and more every decade. With a lot of teen shows that seem to add some potty humour here and there and films like Mean Girls glorifying a 16 year old who seems more comfortable to dress like a person twice their age...it's kind of weird. Especially considering that Rachel McAdams was already 30 when she shot the film.
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| Anyone else interested at all, or see any paradigms like this? Maybe even in games? It's all relational, but I'm just curious as to what people think. Shows like Jackass and things tend to concern me more and more as I age, particularly with things like Youtube popularizing 15 seconds of fame equating to 15 seconds of absolute idiocy. |
Well the thing with Jackass is that I compare them to be the modern day Chaplins and Stooges. What a lot of people don't realize is that they're not idiots doing random things, they are prepared and professional idiots doing random things. How is that any different from the preparations that Chaplin did when falling some some stairs? Or when the Stooges hit each other in the head? Johnny Knoxville has an education in performance art (which explains a lot) and Steve-O is a fully fledged Circus Geek. I'm not exactly saying what they do is smart, but I don't think Jackass should get such a bad rap for doing something funny at times but totally prepared for the consequences. I think to actually see any sort of artist with a sense of humour (especially from the fine arts community) is good enough for me.
However back to cartoons. To tell the truth I think a lot of it has to do with nostolgia. Now granted there are only a few shows worth watching nowadays, but I'm sure that could be said of any decade. If you look here and there (with the exception of the 80's flower power shit) I imagine the ratio of good shows to utter shit shows are about the same given in any decade.
Cartoons have matured (in character development, not just adult themes) and grown to have complex storylines, but I don't think that's because children are getting desensitized by it. I think it's mainly following the idea that perhaps children aren't as fucking stupid as people make them out to be or that cartoons are extending their demographics behind a certain age. However with shows like Fairly Odd Parents, even though it's not the greatest show to me, I still get a kick at how Timmy reached the moral message of the story in a sort of know it all way. It's not the best message, almost counter to the purity of the moral shown but it's sort of funny and sort of reflective of how kids think today. |
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