21/03/01

Modern Kids TV!!!

After taking a day off school recently simply because I felt like it, I began watching BBC Choice. On it they showed The Animals of Farthing Wood. It reminded me of the good old days of children's television.

You see when I was growing up cartoon characters didn't just "disappear" or "faint" (f**k you pokemon) characters actually died. Take Transformers the movie, Optimus Prime, the mother f**king leader of the Transformers, the reason most people watched the program died!!!!!!!! I was in tears and so were you probably. True he was resurrected in the dark awakening but just incase we got to attached to him they killed him in the same episode. He flew into a sun to save his friends, now that is bravery.

Today's equivalent, Pokemon. Quite frankly a disgrace, they faint for f**K sake!!!!!!!!! They mother f**king faint!!!!! What a bunch of pansies the program makers are. Pokemon is watched by 5-14 year olds on the whole, when I was that age I had to watch an old friend, a second father (Optimus Prime) die before my very eyes. But in the new age of Political Correctness they faint a bit.

Also in Round The Bend  the main character was a crocodile who traveled the world through sewer pipes to gather stories for his magazine. With other characters such as Pee-man and Thunderpants and Kylie Manure it was the pinnacle of children tv. It taught children how to be twisted. However Mary Whitehouse struck and soon it was gone.

I admit in He-Man no-one ever died, in fact in the last ever episode He-Man killed someone and then give up his powers. This was the exception to the rule. But then again you'd expect some random killings here and there.

The best example of real - life violence in cartoons was in the Animals of Farthing Wood. On their journey half of the animals died in horrific circumstances e.g. shootings, car crashes, beatings and hunger. That was in 1993 and since then I haven't flinched once in disgust at a violent cartoon. True I hear Dragonball Z is quite violent but that came out in 85 and even thought I do not like it that was a violent program.

So when you turn your computer off go get an old copy of Transformers the Movie or something of similar eighties ness and watch, enjoy the violence. It's funny how the number of school shootings, acts of violence, copycat deaths have all risen in tandem with the rise in cutesy children's programs in which apparently everyone is immortal or partial to a bit of a faint, even the bad guys.

Have a Foam Filled Day!

© Paul Hunt 2001