Should we be going forward in addressing serious issues in kids tv?

[ManaMinori 4,143]

MLP seems to shy away from a lot of serious issues, like death or disabilities, but it's 2017, for pete's sake! Its not as if kids' shows haven't addressed serious is issues before! I doubt any og them received controversy from parents, after they raised awareness about bullying, eating disorders, HIV, racial discrimination, and the like. How do you feel that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic tends to shy away from the more serious issues that the target demographis might be experiencing?

 

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,671]

 

I really can't blame DHX and Hasbro for playing it safe with hypersensitive parents around. It's as though blood has to be spilled if someone's kid ends up crying (or worse, just uncomfortable).

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

They did depict a pony with dysfunctional hind legs in the episode "Trade ya".

Don't forget that people flipped their gourds when they depicted Derpy as being a bit different than other ponies.

 

[ManaMinori 4,143]

1 minute ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

They did depict a pony with dysfunctional hind legs in the episode "Trade ya".

Don't forget that people flipped their gourds when they depicted Derpy as being a bit different than other ponies.

 

I have always appreciated Stellar Eclipse, and applauded DHX for having him as a paraplegic. Derpy, on the other hoof- I have heard manymixed messages  regarding her- from it was because of her derpe'd eyes and voice that she was changed, to it being ITune's fault, but Amy Keating Rogers apparently said that people did, in fact complain about her, and she was altered to be less offensive to those with disabilities.

 

to that, I have to again point at Stellar, And Scootaloo. And Twist, who suffers from a speech impediment. Also, the retconning of Derpy's derped eyes, in various scenes beyond "The Last Roundup". They need to take a stand, because ponies are going to be different. If the parents don't want to teach their kids about that, then they have no right to pitch fits when a cartoon show with fictional characters does it for them. Because many other shows have, again, in the past, and I doubt that THEY received any backlash against the messages they were getting across to their viewers.

[K.Rool Addict 718]

17 hours ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

Don't forget that people flipped their gourds when they depicted Derpy as being a bit different than other ponies.

^Which is sooo stupid, btw. Although, I have to admit the voice they gave Derpy in the second recording was way cuter <3

 

 

[cmarston1 5,951]

Well we already got shows like Avatar (and Korra if you count it, as it is rated TVY7), Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, and Steven Universe addressing topics including, but not limited to the cruel reality of war, PTSD, identity, anxiety, prejudice, broken families, social inequality, depression, abuse, fearing the future, and more, so it's not like we don't have children's animated shows dealing with heavy topics, especially during this day and age, including shows that are able to address heavier themes than MLP FIM will ever handle.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

A lot of Disney cartoons very lightly touched on certain issues. Darkwing Duck was a single father with an adopted daughter. Kim Possible's Ron Stoppable is Jewish, and from time to time would demand Kosher food from the lunch lady (but get the same glop as everyone else!) In Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers, Gadget Hachwrench is found as an orphan living alone since the death of her father Geegaw. It's part of the reason she's a bit odd. She spent too long by herself. In Goof Troop, Goofy is a single father. I always wondered what happened to max's mom. 

[Daring_Do 552]

Bullying - Isn't that kind of what they did in One Bad Apple?

Racial Discrimination - Covered in Friends Forever... #14, I think, of the comics - The Spike and Princess Luna one. And all the bronies hated on it for being "SJW".  (There were a couple legitimate criticisms as well, of course)

[K.Rool Addict 718]

Do we really need MLP tackling more "serious" issues though? I mean, I view Ponies as a way to escape from the issues in RL; why have these issues foisted upon a show like this?

The last thing I want is FiM becoming like South Park or Family Guy or (God forbid) the 2016 reboot of Power Puff Girls; desperately trying to grasp for any societal hot topic just so they can remain "relevant" or under the guise of "relatability" or making the world seem more "believable". 

Can't we just have a cute, heartwarming show about magical talking horses with witty writing, awesome musical numbers, and the occasional DBZ-esque power struggle?

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,410]

Once upon a time cartoons used to. I remember Static Shock had an episode all about gun violence and school shootings. Another about homelessness, and their primary plot was about gang violence. Now cartoons are just fart jokes and brain drying. What happened?

[SONICchaos 824]

I like the fact that Sesame Street recently added an autistic puppet character to relate to children how to connect with them and autistic children to others.

Spoiler

 

I think its beneficial for children to learn how to interact with others with different backgrounds early because its obviously becoming very common to meet them. Not every issue should be addressed for children tho. I mean I do believe now at days kids are able to handle more risque stuff than before but there are some things obviously children developmentally cant understand. The idea like in the above posts of interacting with others with mental or physical disabilities is helpful to the children but we often see most shows shy away from heavier subjects due to parents.

Back in my grade school days, my parents didnt care if I watched Jerry Springer, Robocop or South Park. As long as I seemed well behaved it simply remained entertainment but I think thats because thats all she saw in it. I dont think she was assuming I would be taking any lessons from this media so it was okay to let TV raise me. This is how I see Derpy. When I watch it im not seeing a real world representation of a mentally disabled person but a cartoon character doing goofy things that anger the ponies around her. This has always been the case in cartoon comedy so its not new. And Derpy didnt seem written in any way as a character we were to learn from so it didnt seem like it made her anything more than a minor comedy character. But parents saw more into it than was there. They saw a character that represented a real world person and thought "this will offend children with mental disabilities" despite probably not even asking said children if they were offended(most likely they didnt even notice or think about it). But because of that Derpy had to get a name and voice change to sound less "retarded". For protective parents they dont even want to run into the possibility of offending or "harming" children with what they see and learn on shows.

It seems with the internet children's exposure to world has worried parents about what they may learn. Many parents are very protective of what children should learn even if its probably beneficial to them. This is why heavier subjects like death, sexuality, gender identity, politics or religion  displayed are even implied. Children learning about death, how to treat others with different lifestyles and self discovery can good. Death explained in a positive way can help children who lose loved ones can understand and promote healthy coping. But parents dont like that because its "dark and inappropriate" for children. "Let them have their innocence" even when life doesnt stop because children shouldnt have to think about it. How to treat others with different lifestyles can offer children develop positive social habits promoting more life long friends but parents see this as "pandering" and brainwashing kids into thinking "They're weird because they're different and shouldnt be treated the same" often prompting the show as indoctrinating their children into bad behaviors while using the bible as a counter to the indoctrination they are fighting.

Most parents arnt bad people as they want to protect their children from harmful experiences but the reason why shows play it save and skirt subjects only slightly without going straight into the "death" or "gay" subjects is because parents. As mentioned parents want to protect their children from harmful experiences but they also often treat the painful truth or "different than me" the same. Parents want to teach their children what they believe is "acceptable" and as long as kid shows display these harmful themes parents arnt just going to turn the TV off, they are going to complain to the company that its even on TV "poising children's minds".

Id like to see more development in dealing with real life issues in a constructive way in kids shows but as long as there is one offended parent, its probably not going to happen.

[EpicEnergy 22,074]

I think that it is fine to address serious issues in children TV shows, but not every show has to address that. They are for educational and entertainment purposes, and it is not wrong for them to be only for entertainment purposes, nor is it wrong for them to not educate children on every topic and issue. In MLP FiM's case, it is used for both educational and entertainment purposes but it does not educate children on serious issues and there is nothing wrong with that.

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

Isn’t it bad enough that I can’t go anywhere or do anything without being beaten over the head with an ever-growing cacophony of ‘issues’??? There has to be something that isn’t a statement, and entertainment used to be a means of escaping the problems of the world and enjoying one’s self for a few fleeting moments. Even the people who personally experience the issues involved don’t always want to be reminded of them. Ultimately, the producers who stack shows with public service announcements, social statements and politics are just using them as another soapbox to gain popularity points among their peers; a practice which has now become so abused and self-serving that there isn’t any pure entertainment anymore. If people want to immerse themselves in issues they can always turn on the news, but some of us watch certain shows, especially kids’ shows, to escape that stuff.