[Talbain]

Well, since I've started watching X-Men from the 1990s, I figured I'd start a discussion thread for the more general purpose of American cartoons in the 90s. I gotta say, that as I watch more, I see more cliches, yet I'm endeared further with the characters. It's almost like it's ok that they're blatant cliches, or the plot's completely ridiculous, because the characters seem genuine at least.

They all fight the good fight, with pride and dignity, and they're not so afraid of the censors that they can actually show "oh so not politically correct scenes." There's lots of violence, lots of romance, comedy, and a little bit of everything else. It's almost like a variety cartoon show with a somewhat continual plot (it jumps around a lot, which is a good and bad thing)

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?

I watch shows like Xiaolin Showdown, or the Cartoon Network stuff, and it seems like it either spends endless amounts of time with schtick (ATHF for example; funny at first, but it gets old quickly), or is so involved with one thing or another that you never really get an idea of the characters you're watching.

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.

I apologize if some of this seems jumbled or disorganized, feel free to PM me if you have any suggestions on how I might improve it, or what I should move around or re-order.
_________________

[Talbain]

I'd agree with that, Batman The Animated Series was certainly an interesting look (for its time) on contemporary views of good and evil. Skewing the line was something that I absolutely loved that seemed to have a good foothold in the 90s. Somehow that seems to have dissipated in what is now available.
_________________

[Talbain]

I wouldn't necessarily say it's entirely a form of media's fault (again, I was generalizing), but it does seem strange that the new problems of today seem to be with people having too much, rather than not enough. I figure a good place to start, besides parenting itself, would be to the many influences outside of parenting that can't really be controlled. The internet is now one such medium as well (it can be controlled, but if you try to do it, you know they'll find a way around it).
_________________

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

I agree and disagree with you haze.

I agree with you in that I like shows to be individual enough to be seen individually and just "hit the ground running," so to speak. I disagree with you in that episodic content is a menace, because I like episodic content.

The reason for this is primarily because writers aren't very good at it. Take a series like Ergo Proxy or Cowboy Bebop and you can see it done right, but any average series doesn't really live up to the standards of these shows. The reason for this is almost wholly the writer's responsibility.

As far as them not being good at it, I simply mean that most writers do not know how to keep episodic content and an individual show in balance. Most shows look at it one way or the other. Either you have something like Family Guy or The Simpsons, where stock characters are pervasive and real changes are few, or you have a series like Neon Genesis Evangelion or Serial Experiments Lain where you MUST watch all the episodes in order to make any fucking sense out of it.

As a result, it seems the times are beginning to favor episodic content, and I must confess that I do not believe its influences are a good thing, because striking the balance is more important to me. Granted, American shows generally stick to the stock characters and scenarios idea, but with shows like "Heroes" or "Lost," it is very apparent that episodic content is becoming more and more ingrained. Frankly, I'd much prefer there to be a subtle series of plots that take effect slowly as sub-plots, moving towards the forefront when they are important to the particular, "individual" episode. X-Men actually reminds me a lot of this.
_________________

[Talbain]

I was never a huge fan of Rocko's Modern Life. All my friends loved it, but in general I never really understood a lot of the humor. The same for Ren and Stimpy. It just seemed gross to me.

But then, maybe that's because I just don't really respond to gross. Horror movies for me are like watching a person masturbate with their feet. Sure it's got some value of some sort, but I certainly can't pin it down. B-movie style horror's a different story though.
_________________

[Talbain]