Growing up I watched a large variety of cartoons. You know how parents are. Mine had two boys and a girl very close in age to deal with, so sometimes they got so overwhelmed by the situation that the boob tube as an opiate becomes quite the appealing solution. Who can blame them? Raising kids is rough.
So, my parents bought tapes from all over the place and from garage sales (rarely did they ever watch them before just popping them into the VCR). Often I get comments about why I shouldn't know about Star Trek the original series, Bealtes and the Yellow Submarine, or even these old 20's-40's cartoons with such characters as Betty Boop, Pop-eye, or even the original Superman. But why not? They are all characters I watched on a regular basis while my parents tried to keep their sanity.
Me, being an American child, didn't think much about what I watching then. Today I was wandering about You-Tube just now rewatching all the classics that I wore out on VHS and BETA, and I am truly just stunned at the level of bigotry, prejudice, racism, and political commentary that are just in these little cartoons I thought nothing of.
Betty Boop was one of my favorites as a young girl. I didn't think about much of anything except for the flexible and lively characters that moved in sync with the simple band music of the background. Hence I was highly entertained as a girl.
But this cartoon was banned, can you guess why?
How about this one?
And of course my favorite Disney character is always held in the dissonant and cowardly light.
Could you imagine if they put either Mickey Mouse as the star of this cartoon? Or Goofy? Changes the entire meaning of the propaganda.
And last but not least, something that touches a personal side for me because of my recent trip:
No wonder so many Germans are still touchy about the subject, some won't even admit to being German when they travel abroad because they don't want to hear the inevitable questions;
What do you think of Hitler?"
"Are you a Nazi?"
"Do you come from Nazis?"
Truly irritating this discovery is. Not suprising, but irritating. But it makes me wonder, what kinds of things are we bombarding our children with now? What kinds of imagery are we using to condition the growing American population?
Important question to ask I think.
So, my parents bought tapes from all over the place and from garage sales (rarely did they ever watch them before just popping them into the VCR). Often I get comments about why I shouldn't know about Star Trek the original series, Bealtes and the Yellow Submarine, or even these old 20's-40's cartoons with such characters as Betty Boop, Pop-eye, or even the original Superman. But why not? They are all characters I watched on a regular basis while my parents tried to keep their sanity.
Me, being an American child, didn't think much about what I watching then. Today I was wandering about You-Tube just now rewatching all the classics that I wore out on VHS and BETA, and I am truly just stunned at the level of bigotry, prejudice, racism, and political commentary that are just in these little cartoons I thought nothing of.
Betty Boop was one of my favorites as a young girl. I didn't think about much of anything except for the flexible and lively characters that moved in sync with the simple band music of the background. Hence I was highly entertained as a girl.
But this cartoon was banned, can you guess why?
How about this one?
And of course my favorite Disney character is always held in the dissonant and cowardly light.
Could you imagine if they put either Mickey Mouse as the star of this cartoon? Or Goofy? Changes the entire meaning of the propaganda.
And last but not least, something that touches a personal side for me because of my recent trip:
No wonder so many Germans are still touchy about the subject, some won't even admit to being German when they travel abroad because they don't want to hear the inevitable questions;
What do you think of Hitler?"
"Are you a Nazi?"
"Do you come from Nazis?"
Truly irritating this discovery is. Not suprising, but irritating. But it makes me wonder, what kinds of things are we bombarding our children with now? What kinds of imagery are we using to condition the growing American population?
Important question to ask I think.
posted by Nogias at 1:48 PM
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