Are cartoons creating the violence in today's society?

PO2 Rocky Kleeger — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 16:46:57 -0400

Saw a question about cartoons so I thought I'd throw this one in...

My generation grew up with the most violent cartoons known to Man...those old Road Runner/Wyle E. Coyote cartoons. Every Saturday morning, I watched these and NOT ONCE did I ever hand someone an anvil if they were going to fall off a hill. NOT ONCE did I ever paint a tunnel on the side of a mountain and hope a car tried to drive through it. NOT ONCE did I ever strap a firecracker to my back and try to fly.

What are y'all's thoughts?

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Apr 27 at 2014 5:49 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 17:49:21 -0400

Roadrunner and Coyote they were pretty violent when you think about it but they were presented in humorous way. Are todays Cartoons More Graphic and Desensitize Us is probably the better question to ask. I love "Freemans Mind" which is pretty damn Violent but never felt the need to do anything Freeman does. Maybe it is the awareness of the Violence that I inflicted from afar has made me more sensitive and aware. Interesting debate though.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 27 at 2014 5:58 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 17:58:54 -0400

I grew up in the era of toy-based cartoons...and they were freaking AWESOME!
Transformers, Wheeled Warriors, Voltron, StarCom, Inhumanoids, Exo-Squad, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., X-Men.
All violent as hell. Cartoons today? Are there still cartoons today? Or is it all just Spongebob?
I also grew up on violent video games, and I have shot up precisely zero schools and zero workplaces. This was one of my opening lines in a speech I gave for speech class on "How Violent Video Games Are NOT Harmful To Children."

More than anything, no, I don't believe cartoons or the lack of cartoons, or video games are the cause of violence in our society today. I think more than anything, the issue with today's generation of children is parents not disciplining or being afraid to discipline their children.

Response by SFC Stephen P. made Apr 27 at 2014 6:37 PM

SFC Stephen P. — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 18:37:13 -0400

What do you mean by today's society and what do you mean by violence?

Criminal violence has been on a downward trend since the peak in the 90s. Many attribute this to the ban on leaded fuels.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Apr 27 at 2014 7:41 PM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 19:41:37 -0400

What cartoons were they watching during the civil war, the revolutionary war, the war of 1812, the crusades, the inquisition, and Helenic wars?

Response by TSgt Scott Hurley made Apr 27 at 2014 9:53 PM

TSgt Scott Hurley — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 21:53:22 -0400

Now this is a good one.... All the cartoons we, the Gen X crowd and the baby boomers here, the majority of them were made back in the 40's and 50's. Yes they were violent. Who hasn't seen Daffy's beak full of bullet holes. Even Tom and Jerry were pretty violent. That all changed in the 60's, but it was classified as cartoon violence. You could not see blood. No one was shot dead. And that lasted until the late 80's. Then it became the kinder gentler cartoons.. Or E/I... Bleh.... But during the heyday, we did not do anything violent due to what we saw on TV with cartoons. But today.... Come on. It seems that we have desensitized our kids to the point of, they do not know what is real and what isn't. WE knew. I can blame some of this on the parents, but the majority of it I blame on politicians thinking they know what we should and should not watch or let our kids watch.

Response by 1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 28 at 2014 12:12 AM

1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:12:51 -0400

Absolutely. And Heavy Metal makes you worship the Devil.

Response by SFC Christopher Perry made Apr 28 at 2014 8:51 AM

SFC Christopher Perry — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:51:36 -0400

Negative, a complete lack of parenting is causing the violence in today's society.

Response by MAJ Steve Sheridan made Apr 28 at 2014 1:14 PM

MAJ Steve Sheridan — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:14:58 -0400

Our cartoons growing up were cartoons. Cartoons today can be lifelike.

I think it is the break down of the family that is creating violence. Lack of true parenting.

Response by SSG Nathan Bryant made Apr 28 at 2014 5:47 PM

SSG Nathan Bryant — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:47:32 -0400

LMAO! I would not say that today's cartoons are as "influential" on behavior as are video games, some music, movies, and peer pressure . . . but, cartoons are not at all what they used to be.

Road Runner and Coyote and also Tom & Jerry had PLENTY of violence, but it was not realistic. Today there are video games and cartoons with half naked women with bouncing breasts (literally) and also people stealing cars, fighting, and even shooting each other on the street. I disagree with those types of games. As for music . . . I won't even go there . . .

Response by PO2 Rocky Kleeger made Apr 28 at 2014 8:44 PM

PO2 Rocky Kleeger — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 20:44:03 -0400

For any and all that post, and have posted...

I don't agree that its the cartoons, movies, music, etc. Although, some of today's music tends to piss me off.

I believe that the parents of today are to blame. Parents don't discipline their kids anymore. They put them on drugs to "calm them down".

There's my two crowns...I'll get off my soap box now. Charlie Daniels, I ain't

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 28 at 2014 11:50 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 23:50:45 -0400

We live in a society of no personal responsibility. The argument of violent shows making people more violent doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Japanese cartoons are a hundred times more violent than ours but violent crimes barely exist there.

Response by TSgt Chuck Boots made Jun 17 at 2014 12:43 PM

TSgt Chuck Boots — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 12:43:43 -0400

Not at all. If that was the case my whole generation would have been squashed by anvils, blown up by TNT, killed by old man Moody or dead from trying to fly off cliffs. Too many people want to blame cartoons for their lack of parenting skills or just a child that is not able to cope with today's society.

Response by SPC Charles Brown made May 27 at 2015 7:20 PM

SPC Charles Brown — Wed, 27 May 2015 19:20:45 -0400

Violence of today is not caused by the cartoons we watched as kids. In my opinion the violence we see today is caused by well intentioned people with a misguided sense of right and wrong. These lets make the world a better place by...insert reason here...are of questionable character or criminally stupid and should be dealt with fairly. I leave the idea of fairly open to the interpretation of the reader of this post.

No offense was intended in posting this response.

Response by SFC Christopher Perry made May 27 at 2015 7:31 PM

SFC Christopher Perry — Wed, 27 May 2015 19:31:01 -0400

Negative, general stupidity is creating violence in our society today.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made May 27 at 2015 7:43 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Wed, 27 May 2015 19:43:44 -0400

When was the last time you laughed at a cartoon? How about a comic strip? Where's the humor? Sure there was "violence" in Road Runner cartoons and many more. But it was slap stick humor. Like the Three Stooges. Laurel and Hardy.

I'll allow that life wasn't just about laughs when I was growing up. There was real violence too. We received healthy doses of it in westerns. But those were morality plays where we learned about the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. Many of us who went to Vietnam were weaned on those concepts and were on our way to protect the innocent and send the villains packing (which we did until the politicians caved to the antiwar crowd).

So, I'm not upset about violence. I'm far more concerned with the context. Slapstick for humor or kicking the bad guys. It's all acceptable to me. Sadly, much of what I see now is gratuitous, without purpose. No laughs. No morality. That's troubling...

Response by SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D made Dec 11 at 2020 8:30 PM

SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:30:04 -0500

Video games are masters at creating violent situations and most games are kill or destroy and this is creating a new mindset in the youth of our Country.

Response by Amn Dale Preisach made Aug 29 at 2022 8:02 PM

Amn Dale Preisach — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 20:02:14 -0400

It's not the cartoons, not the weapons... it was/ is the criminalization of any item . Then , guess what?... the Culture at the same-time glorified Criminality. Much like the movies of the 1920's & 1930's glorified the Criminal and their lifestyle.
Then, instead of Art imitating Life, Life imitated Art. Name a video game that is popular with today's group. How much violence is in it.. and do you get points for using violence and illegal acts...
In the '50's, TV made the norm for what " Normal " was.
June Cleaver, Hazel, Superman, Singing & Talent shows where the Host was dressed for high Tea as well as the contestants. Now, TV portrays criminals mostly as Something to be/ emulate / idolize..
Responsibility has gone away .
It was not so long ago, rifles and shotguns were on gun racks in Trucks. Used mostly for hunting and practice. Kids knew the ability of what an average person can do with a gun - good and bad.
Yet took responsibility and maturity in the weapon's handling and use. Only the bad guys - as portrayed in movies/ TV shows used it for negative purposes and the Good guy won all fights using his weapon only when needed/ in defense/ to rescue , and Hunt. All the kids back then wanted to emulate the Good guy.
Now, it's drastically reversed.