Growing up in the 90s, thousands of kids across the country were blessed with a variety of cartoons, anime and shows that gave us a reason to watch television (Family Matters was my favorite). The reason why they were so popular was because it was the decade of experimentation, where the creators of shows like Hey Arnold and Rugrats pushed the limit on creativity. All while making life lessons fun for kids and enjoyable for adults. Soon many more shows would rise up to the challenge in the early 2000's, like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Kim Possible.Long story short, animation has come a long way in terms of creativity and progression. Instead of endless slapstick and stale cartoon antics, people are beginning to see more substance in their cartoons, which is exciting to see.
Yes, there have been a lot of shows today that don’t really have substance and plot that would make you want to throw away your TV, but there are some good shows that will make you reconsider. Take Adventure Time artist Rebecca Sugar’s show, Steven Universe for example. Steven is a kid who lives with aliens called “The Crystal Gems”, and goes on adventures in the color palette world of Beach City. It sounds odd, but if you give it a chance you’ll experience more than just pretty colors and clean animation. It includes lessons of determination, coping with the loss of loved ones, understanding emotions and dealing with them head on, and how to understand relationships. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill cartoon show, but rather something that should be worth watching with your children, nephews, and nieces, or baby siblings. There’s just something about it that keeps me tuned in every time.
But it isn’t the only show that is making progress. Recently, the Loud House decided to introduce a bi-racial gay couple on the animated show, a choice that I’m glad was made. Watching the clip made me happy seeing the doting parents look after their son. It was refreshing to see an actual gay couple in cartoons because representation matters to everyone. No one is forcing a gay agenda on children, but showing them and the adults how cartoons are getting with the times creatively and emotionally. After all, love wins ladies and gentlemen.
“But Jelani, these are children shows. Why do you watch them, let alone care about what they put on?”
Just recently, I watched an episode of Gravity Falls, where it focused on a character’s past involving his father that was never around and eventually having the character coming to terms with it on a positive note. I felt that one on a personal level because my father was never around when I needed him to be. It hurt me a lot, and at times I felt that no one really understood what I was going through until I watched this episode. Ever since then I realized the power cartoons have. They inspire us, make us laugh and cry, and make us realize that our children need that. Our children need substance in what they watch, play and read, If not then are we really giving the next generation what it really needs?
