Thursday, August 2, 2007

Cartoons...what did they teach us? repost!

This post kind of jumped out at me over the past few days. I've been reading some of the extremely thought provoking and pro African Americn posts and my objectivity went right out the damn window.

As you can see from recent weeks, I have been stuck in kind of a timewarp relating to cartoons and P.S.A.'s. School house has and will be some of my favorites forever. Yet, I can recall vividly some of my other cartoon classics and now they anger me more than I can laugh at them.

Let's take a walk down memory lane..shall we.



My man Daffy Duck. Other than the fact that he was funny, what were some of the other characteristics of this persona. Well let's see.

1. He was a hater!
2. He was plainly depicted as crazed and out of control
3. Portrayed as a sidekick in most episodes to Bugs Bunny
4. He was loud, obnoxious, and spoke with a speech impediment
I'll just stop there for a moment to pontificate on those ideas. oops...he was a black duck.

On to the next character. Do I really need to go into this one at all?....please! I'm disappointed in myself for not noticing this earlier.

click here==>: Thomassss!!!

Next up.....

Pepe LePew...a serial date rapist, stalker. In every episode, pepe chased chicks down, relentless in his approach, never took no for an answer and totally disrespected on every level. Funny..right? Of course it is..and what did they use to make it into a subtext joke? A black skunk. add into the equation the obvious odor that they referenced when in reality the only time you smelled a skunk is if they sprayed. hmmmm..another jacked up attack on my ethnicity.

moving right along.....

I loved this cartoon for real. Jokingly a fellow blogger recently referenced old cartoons and I was reminded of the fact that all of the names of the ethnic heroes displayed their heritage. ie:
1. Black Lightning
2. Black Panther
3. Apache Chief
4. Samurai Tornado
Just ridiculous...I thought about the new green lantern figure. Now a black dude. If the name would change to the "Black Green Lantern". WTF???

And last but not least...the lovable bugs...
Man, I don't know where to start. Let's just give it a little jumpstart.
1. Obvious gay, drag queen.
2. Always depicted as the good guy/defenseless victim
3. Always given the position of intelligence and leadership over other characters when there was more than one animal persona.

I'm just going to stop right there on him. Even in the picture above, it highlights the fact that Elmer Fudd is a closet gay man. Bugs kissed him on the lips without being checked or stopped numerous times when he wasn't in drag.

Oh and not to forget this point, the cartoons also showed that there would be no consequence for shooting someone in the face...other than a little black face and ruffled hair/hats for a quick second or a mouth get dislodged and reattached. What did that teach us, family?

I will make sure that I censor what my kids and young people around me watch. Times have changed and the influences kids have on them now makes those cartoons more dangerous than ever before.

LET'S PROTECT OUR CHILDREN, FAMILY!!

THIS HAS BEEN MY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

15 comments:

Infamous JP said...

Bugs is GAY?!?! No No No No No!!! Now I have to go burn all my bugs memorabilia. Damn you Bugs and your shoe fetish!!!

1969 said...

Returning the visit. LOL

I am not a fan of most cartoons for my kids. The themes are two grown up for the 5 year old mind.

We stick to Sesame Street and Schoolhouse Rock.

Miss Snarky Pants said...

I used to LMAO @ every single one of those characters/cartoons NOT ONCE taking into consideration ANY of the (now painfully obvious things you've just pointed out).

WOW...[SMH]
Just --- W-O-W

dc_speaks said...

lol@jp...hahahahahah shoes lipstick dresses...you name it.

@1969: schoolhouse rock is my absolute fave. I was having SHR thursdays but noone appreciated it but me. sigh... welcome and thanks for the visit.

@ms b: you are not alone. a lot of us did that. now I look at things a lil differently.

as 1969 stated cartoons show things far too advanced for young minds these days. they show sexuality, immorality, and lots of inuendos that steal away childhood innocence earlier and earlier.

have a good day, ya'll....

T.a.c.D said...

you truly bring up some GREAT points and insights...although as racist and crazy as our cartoons were (let's not forget sexist with there ONLY being Smurfet on the Smurfs) they still have nothing on what the kids are watching today...well then again, i am torn...when and IF i ever have any little ones, i will definitely be sure to monitor what they watch...

DJ Black Adam said...

Bugs is NOT gay, he is just comfortable enough in his manhood to kiss a guy!

lol

dc_speaks said...

@t.c.: thanks for the compliment. bringing up sexism is a whole nother post. great idea. let's do some research on that.

@dj black adam: ummmmm...wow...ok he was mighty comfy in his sexuality then. mighty comfy.

Ms.Honey said...

WOW Bugs being gay never would have thought LOL

You are too funny

The Re-inventing of C. said...

Aww..man. Why you gotta call Bug's gay?!? He was eccentric, that's all, eccentric. Dang. lol!

Lo said...

Hahahahahahahaha!!!

I got such a great kick out of this. These cartoons were my faves when I was growing up (I still enjoy watching them), but upon closer inspection, they are definitely rife with material and innuendo ill-suited for the mind of a child.

@ DJ Black Adam RE Bugs being secure in his manhood: LOL!!! Double LOL!!! Triple, even!!! I must have missed the memo on frequent cross-dressing being a measure of confidence in one's manhood.

@ The Reinventing of C: "Eccentric"? ROFL!!! Is that the new term for "transvestite," because Bugs was DEFINITELY a cross-dresser(see my comment to DJ Black Adam above). While there is no clear-cut proof Bugs was gay (although he did kiss a curiously nonresistant Elmer Fudd A LOT while in drag), there is much, much ocular evidence that homie loved donning ladieswear AND makeup.

Excellent post, hon.

Thomassssssssssss!!!

Dave J. said...

I loved those old cartoons (when I was eight). But let's face it, they just further stereotypes. It's one thing to make fun of a stereotype among adults, because they can understand the sarcasm, but when we hoist it onto kids, not all of them get it.

Muze said...

wow. i will never look at cartoons the same again. geesh... my brother always jokes about pool being racist because the ultimate goal is for the white ball to knock the black out. lol.

BK said...

Ok see you just made me HATE a lot of the cartoons we grew up on and loved.. ESPECIALLY TOM AND JERRY.. I NEVER noticed the mother/housekeeper/whatever she was...was Black.. :( ugh

Damn DC I would read this TODAY right... when I got the new tv and planned on watching cartoon reruns tomorrow morning on demand LOL

as for the shows today.. My son is into pokemon and naruto and anything ninja/martial arts related.. I let him be with them because that is his sport.. outside of Cartoon Network with Ed, Edd and Eddy he doesn't watch much of anything else.. oddly enough his tv is on the damn soccer channel all the time LMAO

ok I just posted in your comments.. i'm gone

dc_speaks said...

Hi nat muze...welcome to the blog. I appreciate the comment and have heard the same thing when I was younger too.

what up dave and dj black adam and honey libra..thanks for the cool comments on a hot hot day.

bk diva...sorry. just speaking my mind though. i only gave yo a different perspective. it doesn't mean that I am 100% accurate in my views.

dcsavvystar said...

DC! WHY IN THE HELL DO I REMEMBER THAT TOM AND JERRY! even when I was a little girl, I knew the placement of that woman was just wrong in cartoons! OUCH - that was seriously a hit to the gut as a kid... at 8 years old who needs that! I guess you have to give it up to the tree hugger black power kids ;) Damn Tom and Jerry. What is so crazy is THAT IS THE ONLY episode I ever remember her on. I think she was chasing Tom around with a broom.... not sure.