Whatever happened to my cartoons? Differences between now and then...

A recent conversation has spurred me into remembering the good ole days that was Cartoon Network/Toonami/Adult Swim and Saturday morning cartoons. MA CHILDHOOD! I know people always feel like their generation had the best stuff, but when comparing my old cartoons vs whatever the hell kids are watching now, I can only shake my head in disgust at the new generation of animation.

Remember shows like Dragon Ball Z? Ed, Edd, N' Eddy? Johnny Bravo? Spiderman? Batman? Gargoyles? Dexter's Lab? The many Gundam shows? Foster's Home? Doug? Pokemon? Digimon? Justice League? Adult Swim's block which was actually good for the most part?


Good times. Good times.



I also remember shows like All That, essentially the very dumb down version of SNL. Annnnd Kenan N Kel-ORANGE SODA! (Ok...not aniomation..but it's MA CHILDHOOD!)




Good times. Good times. :3



One of my personal favs was actually Megas XLR- this series pays homage to anime, video game parodies, and all things pop culture (such as MTV). The coup de grace is that the story takes place in my state, New Jersey, and in nearly every episode NJ gets obliterated. Especially Hoboken. :3






Now I really don't watch cartoons anymore, getting too old for them. I think the last one I watched that was actually new was Avatar the Last Airbender. And I have to admit, I rate it as a very good show. But aside from that, nothing has really grasped my interest as Avatar and some of the old shows did. I mean, I guess my medium now is anime, but good ones are too few in between for my taste now (FYI, the types of anime I prefer to watch are like Ghost in the Shell, Code Geass, FLCL, Eureka Seven, etc...not so much Naruto and Bleach). One would be lucky to get good ones once every 4 or 5 years. Maybe more if you don't want one trapped in filler and crap animation that is on the level (or worse) of the Backyard Baseball computer games.

(Is that guy's head actually a fetus in disguise?)



As for the current generation, I am guessing animated shows are being replaced with shows of other genres entirely, such as American Idol and other live action shows. I have only glimpsed of what CN has to offer as I flip through the channels, and all I can do is just....shake my head.

I mean looking back some of the shows I mentioned ARE overrated but they were the talk at school and of friends. I just cringe to even ponder what kids are watching now.

I mean c'mon animators and studios-give us a new Avatar quality show! Or a show like Megas XLR. Stop sitting on your asses!

Gay? So what?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/opinion/05blow.html?src=me&ref=general

In the NY Times there's an article about a recent Gallup poll which shows that attitudes towards gay relations has improved to the point which over 50% find such relations "morally acceptable." Now of course take note that it is just a poll. I know Gallup is supposed to be very reliable but I take polls and surveys with a grain of salt. To use the phrase Twain popularized, there's "lies, damn lies, and statistics."
So why even bother to take note of this poll and article. Because despite how I think polls aren't really all that factual, a couple of figures caught my attention.


In just 4 years that number from male respondents went from 39% to 53%. Also I didn't expect such a huge jump in the Men 18-49 category but voila- a twenty point jump. And according to the chart, men seem to be more tolerant, though I doubt this. Again, it is just a poll. And sadly, while the numbers have improved, they are still too low. I think it is important news but I hate how how so many similar articles -- even those written by gay people -- are so quick to praise heterosexuals for what should be common sense decency. I dunno, I'm guess I'm just an angry hetero. Hear me roar...


Edit: just to add, this following excerpt is from the article and it is very interesting! :0

" In fact, there is a growing body of research that supports the notion that homophobia in some men could be a reaction to their own homosexual impulses. Many heterosexual men see this, and they don’t want to be associated with it. It’s like being antigay is becoming the old gay. Not cool."