Cartoons And Violence

3 Pages 654 Words

That’s All Folks

When cartoons initially appeared on television, they were simple animations targeted towards the younger generations as a form of entertainment. As the world has evolved, so had the development of cartoons. They have become much more graphic and instead of Sunday morning cartoons, major motion pictures shown in theatres are now animated. Cartoons used to be juvenile skits where Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse held hands and occasionally kissed on the cheek. A new form of comedy has been brought to the screen in animation in shows like “The Simpsons” and “South Park”. These programs introduced violence in animation and changed the stereotype that anything in cartoon is appropriate for mature audiences as well as young children. The television program “The Simpsons” has many sexual references and underlying meanings, and the character Kenny from South Park is guaranteed to die at least once throughout the duration of the episode. Violence and sex have become the foundation of humor in many cartoons. How much fun would Popeye be without his muscles ripping off his clothes so he can fight 30 men to save Olive Oil? It’s known that violence is everywhere in the millennium, but an important question that this essay will answer is whether or not children are affected by violence in cartoons.
It is often said that young children are impressionable, so the television programs that they watch may be interpreted as reality. Nonetheless, if a child is old enough to understand what is going on in the cartoon, then they should also be at the age where they understand the difference between television and reality. The father character Homer from The Simpson’s often strangles his son Bart when he is frusterated with him, this often causes children to laugh. If a child were to be placed in front of a man actually strangling his son, most certainly the reaction would be very different. People need to give more credi...