by Douglas Black

Created on: February 21, 2008

Are adult cartoons suitable to be aired on television?

I try to keep my tongue tightly bound when it comes to discussing the subject of adult content type animation that floods the airwaves today, but comparing silly children cartoons to real mature forms of animation is ludicrous. Censoring or banning adult rated animation from television is not going to suppress it, and it certainly won't prevent children from being exposed, unless we consciously make the effort to be parents. Would you let your child sit in while you watch after-hours adult entertainment, opposed to a rated G movie, No! So why is it that when anyone discusses animation they blame "cartoons", instead of accepting the responsibility of censoring the type of material they allow their children to watch.

I consider my self a connoisseur of animation, feasting on vibrant images, and skilfully drafted three dimensional models. I personally don't see how this debate has much relevance since every program we find on television can somewhat be deemed inappropriate for young children, save the channels designated only for children rated programming, which I have securely setup on my own television setting using the parental controls. Some parents might find no harm in letting their kids watch The Simpsons; others would be mortified to find their young minds being tarnished by potty type language used by Homer J Simpson. I can remember when some parents were up in arms for the B word being used, and now if you watch NYPD Blue, you can actually have a contest to which episode uses it more!

Censorship should not discriminate based on the medium or forum that is chosen to depict their stories. I am not saying I agree with the content that is found in cartoons like South Park, or Sons of Butcher, but these programs are usually only found in the later hours when young minds should be resting. If a parent is fully aware that their child is up in the wee hours of the night, than the responsibility of shielding their minds solely lies on their discretion, and not on the Networks or producers of such animation.

There is a lingering dominating generation of people who were raised on family shows like "Little House on The Prairie", or "I Love Lucy", that defy the ever changing climate in television programming. I always revert to my argument about comparing today to the early cartoon years, by debating the Looney Tunes. If anyone wanted to compare violence in animation today, they need only to look at the predecessors of animation to know the argument is falling on deaf ears. Sure a few obscene words are uttered, and a bit of blood and gore may be found, but not every episode involves a shot gun blast to the head, or a perilous plummet off a steep cliff. So to compare apples to oranges we would be debating the subject until the cows came home.

It all boils down to freedom and rights, since everyone should be able to choose whether to rent or watch an animated program, with the full understanding as adults we have to deem the content as safe or suitable for our children to partake. So it really is up to us the parents; to screen content to ensure that our children are not being exposed to something they are not mature enough to digest. Later on it will be them that will have to make that decision for themselves, and I will give them the same freedom that I fight for now, so that the choice will not be left in the dutiful hands of the powers that be!

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