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"Kids Shows" VS "Mature Shows" And The Double Standards In Quality


Shanks

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I have noticed for a long time that the quality of entertainment has really gone downhill and with that standards in general seem to be going right down the crapper, especially with shows geared toward children. But despite the fact that the general public has even lower expectations because of the notion that is "just a kids show" "mature" shows have gone downhill even further as fast than shows geared toward children yet nobody makes the argument that this is okay because "it is just an adults show." Thought provoking topics as baby dadies, cheating lovers, inbreeding, racist morons and much more have been common fare for daytime talk since the early 90's and possibly even longer but their ugly cousin the "reality show" started airing its ugly head sometime around the 2000's with bland, boring cliched obviously staged clones being churned out every two seconds and helping feed a celebrity infotainment culture that has been with us a long time but is continuing to grow worse as the public continues to get more and more dumbed down.

 

Even the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and most other channels that once played host to thought provoking, shows, specials and documentaries have been affect by this "reality show" craze with fewer and fewer quality shows being aired. The video game industry has also been affected by this though thankfully not as much. I have never minded violence or sexual content but it seems like many games are simply putting it in just for the sake of having it while not paying much attention to things like gameplay, story and characterization for example. Where this is of course at its worst is in first person shooter games, in the 90's and early 2000's there were plenty of good games in this genre but now they are few and far between because developers are simply repackaging the same game over and over again with a slightly different title with the Call of Duty series.

 

"Teen" shows have never been known for their quality but have also taken a hit. They have never been known for their quality but the teen shows in the 80's and 90's were at least tolerable but you turn on Nickelodeon or Disney Channel (Disney Channel especially) and no matter what "teen" show you turn on it is always a dumbed down bore fest of bland phony baloney Mary Sue and Gary Stu characters that are the epitome of wish fulfillment gone horribly wrong and are insulting even to two year olds.

 

Yet despite all this nobody argues that "it is just for adults" "it is just for teens" but even a lot of bronies will argue "it is just for kids" when anyone brings up even the most glaring and obvious flaws in a cartoon geared toward children which honestly baffles me. Part of the argument is that kids shows need to be simple to not confuse them but what these people fail to understand is that there is a major difference between simple and dumbed down. Of course I will get more into those differences in my next blog post so, stay tuned.

  • Brohoof 8

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I never understood the "its for kids" argument. Rescue Rangers had an episode about an extremist cult, it's for kids. Lion King featured themes of death and loss of a loved one, it's for kids. There are so many other works that take their audience seriously, regardless of demographic....I just don't get it especially when adults who watch MLP say it. I mean, isn't that hypocritical?

  • Brohoof 1
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Good points. I mean Disney and Pixar, are just for kids but they've never been more relevant and popular as quality cinema than this decade. Comic book characters should be "just for kids" but tell that to all the people who go out and see the Avengers, Spider-man, and X-Men and make them the biggest movies of the decade. Equally with Harry Potter which has young and old fans alike. MLP sadly is more anchored down to "just for kids' by its official toy line then anything. Yes its the bronies who really have done more to say it's much then that through their own creations (art, music, fiction, etc).

 

As for "Adult shows" i remember when Bravo was about art, design, and a strong pro-LBGT agenda. Now that's been unsurped by reality shows about rich yuppies who contstantly fight and are terrible human beings. It's a shame that creativity and ingenuity are not given the same respect that it used to have and it's been replaced with trash culture.

  • Brohoof 2
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Good points. I mean Disney and Pixar, are just for kids but they've never been more relevant and popular as quality cinema than this decade. Comic book characters should be "just for kids" but tell that to all the people who go out and see the Avengers, Spider-man, and X-Men and make them the biggest movies of the decade.

What most people don't even know is that comics have had stories geared toward older audience for a long time. In the original Batman comics Batman actually used lethal force against his enemies, one of the Nolan Batman movies actually a subtle nod to this in this one scene with the Batman imposters. Batman didn't start to be marketed toward children until the introduction of Robin. The Xmen comic series was known for tackling a lot of complex political and philosophical issues and while the cartoons had to tone certain things down to make them appropriate for children, nothing was dumbed down. One of the best comics Civil War dealt with civil liberties issues with the superhero community divided over the Superhuman Registration Act which required all "superhumans" to register with the government. Captain America lead the opposition which cemeted him as my favorite Marvel superhero, Ironman lead the the support and some heroes such as Spiderman were neutral at first as part of an effort to keep the superhero community together.

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