Take a moment to think about the television shows that children watched in the past: Goosebumps, Rugrats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Jetsons, Tom & Jerry, Spongebob Squarepants, etc. Now, think about the children shows airing on TV right now: Jessie, Gravity Falls, Thomas and Friends, Girl Meets World, Shake It Up, Dog With a Blog, etc. Doesn’t there seem to be a difference in themes and messages? The shows of today focus too much on treating children with sensitive ideas and simple concepts to understand; unlike the shows from older days, which focused solely on the entertainment factor. Why has the television industry taken such a harsh direction change? Will this change affect children throughout their lives?
First of all, television shows in the past, such as Tom & Jerry and Goosebumps, showed cartoon violence. There was something absolutely hilarious about watching a mouse cause harm to a cat by outwitting him, once again. There was something entertaining to children about getting their pants scared off by the latest swamp monster or pumpkin headed spook. It was the norm to see anvils dropped from cliffs onto the unlucky victims below, sharp objects being placed on chairs for unexpecting characters, and sticks of dynamite being hidden in unlikely places just waiting to explode. The generations who grew up watching those shows turned out perfectly fine. They did not turn out any more violent than the generations before/after them. The cartoon violence allows children to take a peek at the horrors of the world, without actually scaring them. So why remove the harmless violence from television?
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Children shows of today show nothing but constant kindness. The characters spend their time during each episode to help each other with their everyday problems. Sure, that seems like a decent show. It seems to be teaching children to help others, but in reality it’s teaching children that the world is just one big happy place. If children continue to watch these lies, they will be oblivious to the real horrors of the world. They deserve to know that the world we live in is a mess, and it can’t all be like an episode of Thomas & Friends.
Many people still watch Tom & Jerry and Spongebob Squarepants as teenagers, or even adults. There is something about them that makes them enjoyable to watch, even now. Nickelodeon has just recently announced that they will have a separate channel for all of their 90’s shows because so many people were requesting them. They were so enjoyable to watch as kids, that we still care to see them now.
The shows airing on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon these days are nearly unbearable to watch. They are either too sensitive, or incredibly stupid. It is extremely unlikely that this generation will actually care to see reruns of these shows when they get older. Hopefully, their parents will expose them to the wonders of older cartoons. It will allow the parents to bond with their children, while uncovering what they find quality television. The kids of this generation will then be more likely to request the shows of earlier generations.
Many shows from earlier times snuck in the occasional “adult joke” because they knew that parents were being forced to watch the shows too. They were nothing too vulgar; just a little something to make the older audiences chuckle. One example is Spongebob Squarepants. In the episode “ Sailor Mouth”, Spongebob walked around saying words that were bleeped out with dolphin noises. One fish replied, “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Adults could clearly depict what choice words Spongebob was actually using. In the episode “Gary Takes a Bath”, Spongebob hands Gary a bar of soap and then says, “Don’t drop the soap.” The older audience understood what Spongebob was referring to, while the children were completely oblivious. It’s harmless fun.
On the other hand, shows of the present stay true to their younger audiences. They don’t even attempt to supply fun for the older people being forced to watch their terribly scripted shows. The jokes are often lame and unfunny for anyone other than who the show’s audience is intended to be. What’s the fun in that?
Stereotypes weren’t an issue to the television industry in times of the past. They knew how to destroy stereotypes through their characters easily and effectively. Charlotte Pickles from Rugrats was a hardworking business woman/boss, Chas Finster from the Rugrats was a single dad, The Powerpuff Girls showed that men weren’t the only ones able to save the world, and the whole gang from Scooby Doo broke the stereotypes. It was a lot easier to get away with going against the grain back then. Now, there is always someone pointing things like that out.
In the shows of today, stereotypes are very common. Although originally, it seemed to have a good plot, Jessie is very big with the stereotypes. A show about a rich and famous family who adopted children of different ethnic backgrounds sounds like a decent storyline to follow, but it got less interesting when the Texan actress-wannabe babysitter stepped in to save the day. The parents are rich, stuck-up people who have no time for their children. Emma is a teenager who is a rich, dumb blonde who uses words like “totes” and “extra lame” and talks trash on everyone who doesn’t wear designer clothing. Ravi is the nerdy Indian kid who likes to play chess. Bertrum, the butler, is always being made fun of by the kids for being overweight. Zuri, the little African American girl, is a little fireball, constantly trying to pick a fight with anyone who doesn’t give her what she wants. Jessie is being talked about on a wide variety of parenting blogs throughout the internet, and it’s not in a positive way. Disney Channel clearly doesn’t understand how to steer children away from these awful stereotypes. Cancelling Jessie would be a good start to removing the stereotypes.
Overall, it is simple to tell that television shows in the past were much more entertaining, not to mention better for kids. They showed children that sometimes the world is harsh. They also showed kids that it’s okay to stray from the stereotypes. They didn’t bother to pamper children with important life lessons, because they knew that television is not the first place that children should be learning how to live their lives. In order to open the eyes of the youth, they should be required to watch a little cartoon violence. It couldn’t hurt.
