Are some forms of media "Kid's Only"?

[Joe_5859]

Perhaps this is just my perception, but it seems that there are some things that many people classify as “just for kids” in the world of media and entertainment. But I am starting to wonder why and whether such a designation is called for.

Certainly, there are plenty of things that are geared towards children. There are children’s books, children’s games, children’s music, etc. We might understandably do a double take at the thought of an adult CandyLand tournament, or at the sight of a grown man driving down the street blasting “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on his car stereo.

But I feel like there are certain mediums that people tend to classify as “just for kids” regardless of the content. For example: video games, cartoons, and comic books. I think certain musical genres get labeled as “adolescent” as well.

I think this can actually lead to problems when we do this. Some parents seem not to distinguish and will assume that any video game, cartoon, or comic book is appropriate for their child simply by virtue of the medium. That may have been true thirty years ago, but it’s definitely not true anymore.

I’m curious to hear what others think. Have you encountered this before, too? Am I way off base? Do you think it should be mandatory to surrender all your video games and comic books when you register to vote? Let’s discuss.

 

[Valiente88]

I can see it to a degree with music, take Avril Lavines songs; her later songs songs (Hello Kitty, Girlfriend) are clearly marketed towards 11-15 year old girls. I’m sure a grown man can listen to “Hello Kitty” as he’s driving down the street, but listeners are very likely going to presume him to be immature, somewhat socially oblivious and (as unfair as the assumption might be) a very, very effeminate homosexual.

Unfortunately not only our words and deeds shape the opinions others hold of us but our personal taste too. A man with an eye for a well tailored suit will be ascribed qualities of taste, elegance, sophistication and success; whereas a man who sits at the PC all day playing World of Warcaft is going to be assumed to be somewhat childish with far too much free time on his hands.

There’s nothing wrong with having a few eccentric hobbies or tastes, one just has to bear in mind people will view them as eccentric if they are made public knowledge, and it will color their view of you.

 

[Joe_5859]

I can see it to a degree with music, take Avril Lavines songs; her later songs songs (Hello Kitty, Girlfriend) are clearly marketed towards 11-15 year old girls. I’m sure a grown man can listen to “Hello Kitty” as he’s driving down the street, but listeners are very likely going to presume him to be immature, somewhat socially oblivious and (as unfair as the assumption might be) a very, very effeminate homosexual.

Unfortunately not only our words and deeds shape the opinions others hold of us but our personal taste too. A man with an eye for a well tailored suit will be ascribed qualities of taste, elegance, sophistication and success; whereas a man who sits at the PC all day playing World of Warcaft is going to be assumed to be somewhat childish with far too much free time on his hands.

There’s nothing wrong with having a few eccentric hobbies or tastes, one just has to bear in mind people will view them as eccentric if they are made public knowledge, and it will color their view of you.

Thanks. It is interesting you bring up the clothes. I can somewhat see the same to be true with manner of dress.

What about a guy who wears a nice shirt and tie and drives down the street blaring heavy metal music while on his way home to play Mario Kart? Not that I know anyone like that…

 

[Valiente88]

Thanks. It is interesting you bring up the clothes. I can somewhat see the same to be true with manner of dress.

What about a guy who wears a nice shirt and tie and drives down the street blaring heavy metal music while on his way home to play Mario Kart? Not that I know anyone like that…

He sounds like a interesting person to get to know

 

[z_0101]

With four kids in the house… “just for kids” seems to be the only thing playing

IMHO: It’s simply a marketing gimmick as these age groups tend to have more disposable income. So, if you make it “special for them” they want to purchase the product.

 

[mikekle]

When I was dating this one woman a couple years ago, she had a 2 yr old little girl, named Berea, I loved this girl like she was mine, (she was not though), I really grew close to her within 6-8 months, I had never really spent much time with kids before this, so it was exciting for me, anyway, we used to take her to the newest kids movies all the time, I then learned Disney, Pixar and the rest of that industry cranks out these movies about one every 2 months!!! The last one we saw was Tangled, sort of a take on Rapunnzel, with the long hair, living in a castle.

I noticed when watching this movie, there was alot of content, statements, scenes, etc, directed at adults, I know it was intentional, as no way kids would get some of the remarks, I didnt really like this, and then when I started watching more of these popular animated movies, like Cars, Fantastics, Bees life, etc. ALL of them are like this, they all have these little remarks, statements, directed towards adults, and ONLY adults would understand them…I asked her mom, (my girlfriend) about this, but she said she never paid attention to the movies when they watched them, so she didnt have an opinion.

I cant figure out why the producers would include such content? Kids would never even understand much of it…?? Im assuming alot of other adults are probably like my GF, they probably dont even pay attention to these movies, so they dont know about these things! lol

Anyone know why these movies have these things in them? I know ‘kids’ movies back in the late 70s and 80s didnt have this, and NONE of the animated stuff did, adults dont really like this kind of stuff, thats not a big secret though! I think someone needs to tell the modern kids movie makers this though!! LOL who knows, they are probably trying to get the adults to go watch other ‘more adult’ movies!

 

[Kal2012]

My 6 year old likes to think that there are movies for kids and that adults can’t like those movies. Sometimes the kid movies are better than the adult movies.

 

[DaisymaeD]

I have young kids, so I have a legitimate “excuse” for watching cartoons. However, I genuinely enjoy cartoons as a medium–the technology behind it, the artwork, the history of animation, etc.

However, my coworkers would tease me sometimes that I’d watch cartoons in the break room rather than the soaps and reality shows they like. Nothing mean-spirited, it didn’t hurt my reputation or anything. But throw in a few more eccentricities, and I suppose it could be damaging. But I simply prefer “Last Airbender” or “Gravity Falls” to the Housewives of Wherever…

I’ve also got a theory about literature. Books aimed for younger audiences have to be better written to be interesting, because the author can’t simply resort to throwing in sex, violence and cursing when they run out of ideas. I discovered “Anne of Green Gables” as a young twenty something and adored it. Bought the whole set, read it many times, then shared it with my daughters. I do read books aimed for adults, but I get really mad when they have a really weak plot and silly characterizations scotch-taped together with steamy sex scenes. I feel really cheated.

On a related note, I wish the word “adult” didnt automatically mean sex and violence. We need another category–one for grownups, that covered topics that might be boring for children, but not harmful if they did watch.

 

[mikekle]

I have young kids, so I have a legitimate “excuse” for watching cartoons.

Well, it doesnt have to be this way, I know plenty of parents that have young kids, but they have no interest in the movies their kids like, and when they do take them to the movies to see one of these popular kids movies, most of the time, the adults will ‘zone out’ or find something else to occupy their mind, (cell phone, earphones, etc), My ex-GF was like this, we took her 2 yr old to alot of these kids movies, but she never paid attention to them or followed the story.

I am 40 yrs old now, but when I was a kid, I cant EVER remember adults, parents or otherwise actually paying attention to or being interested in kids movies back then, it just didnt happen, no different than today imo.

 

[DaisymaeD]

So, mikekle, it seems like you’re pretty close to my age, so you will probably remember that TV animation was pretty dreadful in the 70s, all teenagers with rock bands that solve mysteries. Then in the eighties, it was pretty much all half-hour long toy commercials. And the Disney movies were pretty poor writing quality (Oliver and Company, anyone?).

But starting with The Little Mermaid, more attention was paid to the quality of storytelling, and it paid off in huge profits for Disney–and a broader fan base. Then, TV followed suit, and some really fine childrens’ cartoons started to be broadcast–like “Doug”, “Hey Arnold”, “Arthur”, etc. Of course, not all modern cartoons are hits or of very good quality, but I think there’s a higher percentage today, and also, the writers know that parents are watching, so they throw in plenty of jokes and references for them.

 

[Joe_5859]

When I was dating this one woman a couple years ago, she had a 2 yr old little girl, named Berea, I loved this girl like she was mine, (she was not though), I really grew close to her within 6-8 months, I had never really spent much time with kids before this, so it was exciting for me, anyway, we used to take her to the newest kids movies all the time, I then learned Disney, Pixar and the rest of that industry cranks out these movies about one every 2 months!!! The last one we saw was Tangled, sort of a take on Rapunnzel, with the long hair, living in a castle.

I noticed when watching this movie, there was alot of content, statements, scenes, etc, directed at adults, I know it was intentional, as no way kids would get some of the remarks, I didnt really like this, and then when I started watching more of these popular animated movies, like Cars, Fantastics, Bees life, etc. ALL of them are like this, they all have these little remarks, statements, directed towards adults, and ONLY adults would understand them…I asked her mom, (my girlfriend) about this, but she said she never paid attention to the movies when they watched them, so she didnt have an opinion.

I cant figure out why the producers would include such content? Kids would never even understand much of it…?? Im assuming alot of other adults are probably like my GF, they probably dont even pay attention to these movies, so they dont know about these things! lol

Anyone know why these movies have these things in them? I know ‘kids’ movies back in the late 70s and 80s didnt have this, and NONE of the animated stuff did, adults dont really like this kind of stuff, thats not a big secret though! I think someone needs to tell the modern kids movie makers this though!! LOL who knows, they are probably trying to get the adults to go watch other ‘more adult’ movies!

Honestly, I notice those “adult” jokes a lot less often in the Disney/Pixar films than in those of other animation studios. They throw those in there because they know adults are watching, too, so they want to make it an entertaining experience for both audiences.

This does bug me, but it bugs me less than it used to. If it goes over their heads, the kids aren’t going to know the difference anyway. If it’s overly crass or risqué, though, I try to avoid it. My wife and I generally screen even the animated movies before letting our kids watch them. It seems like it used to be all animated movies were rated G. Now there are a good number that are rated PG. And there’s usually a reason for that.

I suppose this all illustrates the point of the OP that some of these mediums are changing, but people’s assumptions are not always changing along with it.

 

[Joe_5859]

I have young kids, so I have a legitimate “excuse” for watching cartoons. However, I genuinely enjoy cartoons as a medium–the technology behind it, the artwork, the history of animation, etc.

However, my coworkers would tease me sometimes that I’d watch cartoons in the break room rather than the soaps and reality shows they like. Nothing mean-spirited, it didn’t hurt my reputation or anything. But throw in a few more eccentricities, and I suppose it could be damaging. But I simply prefer “Last Airbender” or “Gravity Falls” to the Housewives of Wherever…

I’ve also got a theory about literature. Books aimed for younger audiences have to be better written to be interesting, because the author can’t simply resort to throwing in sex, violence and cursing when they run out of ideas. I discovered “Anne of Green Gables” as a young twenty something and adored it. Bought the whole set, read it many times, then shared it with my daughters. I do read books aimed for adults, but I get really mad when they have a really weak plot and silly characterizations scotch-taped together with steamy sex scenes. I feel really cheated.

That’s a really interesting point. I think you’re definitely onto something. Though, I do think kid’s stuff can take artistic shortcuts, too. But instead of sex and violence, it is jokes about bodily functions.

On a related note, I wish the word “adult” didnt automatically mean sex and violence. We need another category–one for grownups, that covered topics that might be boring for children, but not harmful if they did watch.

I have been saying this for years! It is truly regrettable that when driving down the highway, any billboard with the word “Adult” on it signifies something that is decidedly not something that any adult should want to associate with. We need to think of a catchy alternative name, though.

 

[mikekle]

So, mikekle, it seems like you’re pretty close to my age, so you will probably remember that TV animation was pretty dreadful in the 70s, all teenagers with rock bands that solve mysteries. Then in the eighties, it was pretty much all half-hour long toy commercials. And the Disney movies were pretty poor writing quality (Oliver and Company, anyone?).

But starting with The Little Mermaid, more attention was paid to the quality of storytelling, and it paid off in huge profits for Disney–and a broader fan base. Then, TV followed suit, and some really fine childrens’ cartoons started to be broadcast–like “Doug”, “Hey Arnold”, “Arthur”, etc. Of course, not all modern cartoons are hits or of very good quality, but I think there’s a higher percentage today, and also, the writers know that parents are watching, so they throw in plenty of jokes and references for them.

Yeah, I remember all that, mostly from the 80s in my case though, I dont remember watching any cartoons in the 70s.

I know now the quality was bad back then with animation, but I didnt care, and I doubt any kids did, all they care about is lots of color, movement, etc. they arent really paying attention to the plot or the quality of the animation.

IMO, the people that produce these things are really mistaken, kids dont care about quality of the picture, if the plot is good, etc. LOL, Plus, just like back in the 80s, my parents didnt really pay attention to any of the stuff I watched, parents today are the same way, they may glance at it from time to time, but all the adults I know that have watched this kind of thing, dont really watch it, their minds are elsewhere. Of course, they will only admit this when talking to other adults! Hollywood doesnt get this though, because they are soooo used to making entertainment for adults.