The "cartoons are for kids" mentality: does it really exist?

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Nusret

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A recurring discussion point at this forum is the supposedly commonly-held prejudice that all animation is for kids, and the ridicule faced by people who feel otherwise:





But, really, I haven't seen much first-hand evidence of this prejudice. I've never been made fun of for liking cartoons. I remember one time in a college class when the conversation turned to Christian Bale. Earlier on that day I'd bought a copy of Howl's Moving Castle and pulled it out of my bag - "I got a Christian Bale film this morning"
"What is it?"
"Howl's Moving Castle. Ever heard of it?"
"No. Not really into anime."

And that's it. No ridicule, no sneering - just a simple offhand comment. When that's the worst I've ever been through, I start to have trouble believing that this oppression of animation enthusiasts actually exists.

If the majority of adults aren't interested in animation outside of sitcoms, then perhaps the subject matter of the alternatives is to blame, not just prejudice against the medium. I doubt that Batman: TAS would have been much more popular with adults if it had been live action 'cause, well, something tells me that comparatively few adults would want to watch a series about superheroes (Heroes is the exception that proves the rule - it works overtime to distance itself from the genre). Same with teenage boys piloting giant robots.

Of course, adult Anglophone animation has more to offer than superheroes. There's a lot of great stuff out there that can't be classed as action or comedy and I'd love to see it get more recognition. But the trouble is, this board doesn't seem to be interested in it. Just look at this topic, where I posted a bunch of examples for everyone's viewing pleasure, and they were totally ignored. If not even this forum can muster enthusiasm, how can we expect the general public to?
 
Just because you don't experience something doesn't mean it's nonexistent. That's like saying, "I don't know people who are nearsighted, thus nearsighted people don't exist". Contrary to what the song says, it is not a small world after all.

While not cartoon related, someone on the bus I ride noticed me reading a Pokemon Firered Players Guide. His criticism wasn't based off the quality of the product, but simply that Pokemon is for kids. Infact many forum posters have stated personal experience of their parents/friends/peers telling them they're too old for the medium. While we may exagerate or get cynical, I doubt that posters on here lie about experiences.



Superheroes share the same stigma of cartoons. Thus they aren't socially acceptable to enjoy unless you tone down to more comic like aspects (i.e. spandex costume). Spider-Man and Supes are the exception as their costumes are iconic.



As I've said, the problem is that they don't air on tv. While online programs have many viewers, television is viewed frequently as watching TV is more relaxing, plus some program viewing sites may not always load well or at all for some computers, thus not many people get to experience them.
 
The "cartoons are for kids" mentality: does it really exist?

I can say from my own experiences that the belief actually exists, though I?m sure its more prevalent in some parts of the world than it is in others. I was teased immensely by my brothers for watching animated programs that I enjoyed, and at school, most of my colleagues said I should only watch ?mature? animated programs, though in actuality, most ?mature? animated programs are quite immature.

Suffice to say, it?s the reason I watch all of my animated programs in private and under a shroud of darkness.
 
If anyone catches you watching cartoons, say what I did when I got criticized for reading a Pokemon guide, "A book doesn't have to be pornographic to be good". The person giving the critical comment couldn't say anything more than "true".
 
It still exists but with the popularity of Adult Swim, I like to think that sort of perception has gone way down. Not that I really know since I keep most of my nerdy interests online instead of off. But the students in my animation class are all open fans of cartoons (surprise, surprise)!
 
[Adult Swim] has made animation more acceptable to the average adult, that much is true, but it also widened the divide that I spoke about earlier. Most people would call the animated programs on [Adult Swim] “mature” animation, even though it’s not really mature. Trust me, if you tell the average adult that you watch “Family Guy” or “Robot Chicken”, you’ll get a much different response than you would if you told them that you watch “Kim Possible” or "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends".
 
Doubtless, but it comes to something when people use isolated instances of name-calling as evidence of a widespread prejudice against cartoons that's hampering development of the medium. Sometimes a berk on the bus is just a berk on the bus.

And then we have things like this:



Sounds more like they're prejudiced against children's cartoons (and possibly children's television in general) than against the medium of animation.



I'd still have thought that this forum - with its legion of Homestar Runner and Bonus Stage fans - would be open to the idea of online cartoons. I'm well aware that not everyone here has the technology to view the files, but come on - there wasn't a single reply that actually showed any evidence of the poster having watched the cartoons. Surely at least some people here can view them?

And, for the record, some of those films have been shown on TV. Two were commissioned by a major British TV channel, and at least one of the others is available on DVD.



Snuh!?
 
Quite a bit of posters describe it not just on Toon Zone, but other forums. Hardly what I'd call isolated. Again, just because you don't experience something first hand doesn't mean it's any less valid.




I'm talking about channels that the high majority of folks have.



That's why many find no enjoyment with cartoons, especially the ones for the younger demograph. Because they lack profanity and pornographic elements. Thus if someone criticizes me for enjoying something like Pokemon, I use the comeback in the quote above.
 
From my personal experince I can tell you that the stereo type does exist. When I was in Middle and High School, kids made fun of me all time.

Why, my one brother who is possibly one of the biggest *******s I have ever met even makes fun of me, he makes all kinds of dumb comments when I'm watching TV on Saturday mornings like; "There's a reason it says 4Kids TV and Kids'WB! in the corner, cause it's for kids." Sometimes he'll even go as far as calling me a 40yr Old virgin. I've learned to ignore comments like these from people but it does get annoying. Yet these comments come from people who have no problem watching Family Guy, South Park, Drawn Together, and other crappy cartoons like those. Oh I forgot those are "mature" cartoons. These people also have the same mentality on videogames, unless the game requires you to blow someones brains out and if the characters aren't cussing all the time the game is for little kids and are not "real" games. I'm not a big gamer but, are you serious?

Because of this "Cartoons are only for kids" thing, I try to keep most of my favorite shows private.
 
It depends on the show I mention, really. If it's a show aimed at a considerably younger demographic (I'm an almost eighteen year old girl, so it would presumably be a cartoon directed towards the 7-11 year old boys, I guess), I'll get polite smiles or maybe an awkward cough. However, if it's something that's 'mature' then I'll get a better response.

This conversation reminds me of something- I was told the summer before my sixth grade that 'sixth graders don't watch cartoons, they watch grown-up shows!' I relayed this to my mother, who raised an eyebrow and said, 'Wow, someone should have told my father that, cause he was in his fifties when he passed, and he loved cartoons!"
 
While I've never dealt with it, I say that it depends on what you watch. If you watch cartoons meant for preschoolers, you would get more awkward stares than watching cartoons that's aimed more for your demographic. :shrug:
 
My school is more or less divided into three camps concerning animation: the kids who don't care whether a show is live-action or animated, the kids who watch Family Guy and Robot Chicken but disregard anything else animated as dorky, and the kids who believe that because both of the first two groups have some interest in animation that they all act as immature as the second group tends to do and thus look down upon all animation unless it's someone being "sensitive" and talking about how they like Dora the Explorer or something ironic like that (this last group tends to obsess over Hanna Montanna, which is somehow more sophisticated than The Simpsons by their standards).
 
Having heard it firsthand from several members of the industry, I can tell you that the mentality absolutely does exist within a great deal of network and studio executives. Even if the audience is primed or available for wider-reaching animation, the industry's greenlighters (ESPECIALLY the ones these days) refuse to approve anything that's not "for kids".
 
I hear it everyday. I mean a friend of mine, who is a huge anime fan, kept trying to convince another guy how violent alot of anime series/movies are and that guy didn't care.Alot of people just refuse to listen because they are close minded and I think they just don't want to be proven wrong.Thats basically it.
 
I hear it from people regarding animated movies. Even if it's a good one, they're like, "I don't wanna go see no cartoon."

I do remember back in the early 90s my dad would religiously watch BTAS every day and my mom would be like, "what are you doing watching cartoons?"
 
It still exists to a certain degree. Like many people said, animated films aren't as appealing to the older demographic even though I myself in the 18-24 demo find them to have more thought and direction behind them than most live-action movies. For instance, I was a big fan of Monster House, Cars, and Robots, but many of my friends just didn't see the appeal.

In terms of animated TV series, we've come a long way. The mainstream is a lot more accepting of shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Robot Chicken most likely because of the central character humor and references.

The only way I've seen it get worse is that cartoons on Saturday mornings have become less adult-friendly. I remember my teacher was big into Batman TAS, my parents were into Tiny Toons, and my older uncle was into Ren and Stimpy. Nowadays, I can't think of a single show on Saturday mornings they'd be into watching.
 
So, it's pretty clear now that most of us have been told that "animation is for kids", or at least that some of it is. I here this from my parents every time they see me watching a cartoon. And worst of all, I KNOW they'd like some of the animation I watch, they just refuse to give it a try because they're "mature" And, it's also pretty clear that the people who tell us this are such rigid conformists that they refuse to watch them out of embarrassment, and instead watch a lot of the "mature" trash that's on Mtv, VH1, Fuse, etc. (note: I'm not saying everything on each of those channels is trash, just that vast majority of it is.) Thankfully, more than half of the people at my school are still big animation fans, even of the younger demographic stuff from the 90s like Rocko and Fairly Odd Parents.

Personally, I pretty much only watch shows aimed at my age group of (generally) 16-24. However, I still enjoy cartoons aimed at younger demographics such as Rocko, Ren & Stimpy, Invader Zim, AH! Real Monsters, etc. I'm also sure I'd like the newer shows in this genre like Chowder. But I rarely watch these because of my parents' nagging at me whenever they see me watching them. But whatever, they're just douche bags.

Still, I do know of adults and teens who still love animation, and I know lots of you all who love animation, and your age groups very widely here. So, with that knowledge, I refuse to be embarrassed by my love for animation.
 
I'm generally safe from mocking since at least some of my family and friends have no room to talk (ex: my dad, who's almost 60, watches Fairly Oddparents and Jimmy Neutron on a daily basis). But I have come across conversations in the past that imply that people over, say, 10 or 11, should not be watching cartoons, be it online or offline. I just ignore them. They're missing out and I hope I never become as "mature" as they are ;)
 
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