movies/tv Do cartoons often show neglect?

[Scootadress 361]

I was tired and so I decided to rewatch the old cartoons I had loved back then like Ed,Edd,and Eddy and Fairy Odd Parents. I started loving the shows of old again, but then something hit me: do all cartoons involve some inactive parents, "abandonment", or parents that seem to not understand one child of theirs? It started with Powerpuff Girls when I got more into the fandom and how they depicted certain characters as. This started when I also read "Emerald Mirage", a fanfiction. This showed Professor Utonium did continually "neglect" Buttercup in a way that drove her away. Even though she never did a thing to her teacher, she was grounded for it since he thought Blossom was the "good one" and did no wrong. She "always" tells the truth in his eyes. This made me wonder:

 

Do all the parents in cartoons favor drastically one child over another?

 

In the show, she did seem to get the most flack, and she is shown to be heavily divided among haters and lovers. I originally pushed the thought aside then I went to watching a few more shows before watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy. When I went to that show, I reintroduced the question. This happened more and more after reading some fanfictions too, particularly some that included Edd's sticky notes and parents. 

 

Are all parents in cartoons seemingly missing? Or in some drastic cases, abandoning? You see at least hands and a good picture of what some characters show of their parents, but all you really do is see Edd's sticky notes. It made me wonder whether they were abusing him in some way. They never did seem to appear in his life frequently, causing some people to write him "snapping" or "crying" over his parents not being around and, probably were, demanding so he would get the way he was. 

 

I then asked whether they simply just chose not to actually do a thing or make a better situation.  This was a question towards whether or not they most leaned towards child abandonment. In some aspects, even MLP isn't safe from this. We never learned of Scootaloo's parents or Fluttershy's, and happened to learn that AJ's ended up dead. Seems like in most cartoons, the adult always is an idiot.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

It's a pretty common trend in TV generally nowadays, not necessarily limited to just cartoons. While you can do some interesting things with characters who aren't on the best of terms with their parents (see Avatar: TLA and LoK for more details ), on the other hand, it takes a really cynical view of family relationships and it can be saddening to watch after a while. I'd like to see better representation for parents at least in cartoons. At some point, the neglectful idiot thing just isn't funny, if it ever was.

 

I've moved this to Media Discussion by the way, as it's about cartoons in general, not MLP: FiM specifically.

Edited July 9, 2013 by DashForever

[HunterTSN 1,444]

It's a pretty common cliche in most media, mostly because it's an easy way to increase the drama of a story. If you want a character to have a darker past or a more in-depth backstory then it's as easy as saying "they were abandoned or abused by their parents". It's almost like a secret weapon for writers because it makes you sorry for that character and thus gives the story more emotion and feeling.

Edited July 9, 2013 by TheSteampunkNinja (TSN)

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

Another part of it is that it's awfully hard for a child character to have adventures--especially dangerous, exciting adventures--if there are caring parents or other Responsible Adults in the picture.  So we get things like Hogwarts being ridiculously dangerous for a school full of children and teenagers, and no Parents of Twilight saying, "Your Highness, you want our daughter to go into the Everfree Forest and face Nightmare Moon unarmed and unprotected, with a bunch of other unarmed and unprotected ponies she's only just met?  Whatever you're smoking to make your mane and tail like that, with all due respect, it's time to back away from the bucking pipe, Your Highness!" 

[Scootadress 361]

  On 2013-07-09 at 4:00 AM, TheSteampunkNinja (TSN) said:

It's a pretty common cliche in most media, mostly because it's an easy way to increase the drama of a story. If you want a character to have a darker past or a more in-depth backstory then it's as easy as saying "they were abandoned or abused by their parents". It's almost like a secret weapon for writers because it makes you sorry for that character and thus gives the story more emotion and feeling.

I thought about it more as a "cliche that no one likes in any media in general." Its awfully annoying! I wouldn't exactly feel sorry for the characters. I never did during those fanfictions and I won't know.  Originality isn't common, is it?

[HunterTSN 1,444]

  On 2013-07-09 at 5:27 AM, Scootadress said:

I thought about it more as a "cliche that no one likes in any media in general." Its awfully annoying! I wouldn't exactly feel sorry for the characters. I never did during those fanfictions and I won't know.  Originality isn't common, is it?

No it certainly is not. The whole "orphaned and abused children" is just a cheap-trick to boost the drama of a story, but there are plenty of more creative ways to do the same thing that most people overlook in favor of overused cliches.

Edited July 9, 2013 by TheSteampunkNinja (TSN)