16 January 2011

Good guys vs. bad guys

Here's a thought-provoking question posted at Reddit this morning:

"If we want our children to grow up smart, why do we send them mixed messages in cartoons saying that the villain is a genius and the hero beats them with brawn?"

Ponder that for a while.

3 comments:

  1. one of my favorite things about looney tunes cartoons: the protagonist almost always defeats the villain by outsmarting. and usually with a healthy dose of humor.

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  2. We live in a society that worships violence - from books to cartoons to movies to TV shows and popular music (not just rap, either), violence is endemic in American culture. Those who can "kick ass" are presented as someone to admire and/or emulate, whereas those who are intellectually brawny are depicted as weak, ineffectual and usually flawed in some way as compared to the ass-kicker.

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  3. I have to admit I wonder about that as well, this is probably the reason why I like cartoons and shows in which both the hero and the villain are equally trying to outsmart each other, or why I never really cared for superheroes with superstrength as their superpower.
    For a series I created, the characters would not be as superpowered as similar characters in likewise series; rather, like the old role playing game Bunnies and Burrows, the main character as well as her friends have to plan out and problem solve their way out of a situation, rather than rely on combat all of the time.
    To further on this whole arguement, I have to remember a quote from the movie, Spaceballs: "So Lonestar, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb."

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