Cartoons

[Polak]

This is the topic that actually originally brought me here as I wanted to see what people think about cartoons but the thread was quite old so I have started a thread of my own. Basically it concerns cartoons. In the past I used to enjoy ‘The Simpsons’ but then I started to notice that they like to poke fun at Christianity a lot. It made me uneasy. People would then defend it saying it mocks certain religious people not the religion but mocking the Church or religious people is just as bad in my opinion. I also noticed the way it mocks Catholicism is even worse. I did find the cartoon to be very funny in general and for a while I did try to ignore the jokes about religion. Eventually though it made me angry and I stopped watching it as I did not want to watch something created by people who’s views on Christianity are clearly a lot different to mine. I do like cartoons, not childish ones though, so I wanted to find a different cartoon for adults I could watch and find funny. Unfortunately there does not seem to be one adult cartoon from what I could find that does not mock Christianity. Not only that but the amount of sexual references in them is also frightening. This is not just cartoons but also in sitcoms. It seems if it is intended for adults it has to have sexual jokes and references in it. So now I am stuck watching ‘Fairy Odd Parents’ that does not offend me in anyway but is slightly on the childish side. I do find it funny and it does have references in it that are more for adults but do not offend children and that fact that is is also for children means it has no sexual references or religious jokes. It is thes best there is for now for someone that prefers animated programs. I know ‘King of the Hill’ used to be on, I do not know if it still is. I saw bits of it once but I did not find it funny, although I was younger then. Is this a cartoon that also has sexual references and also likes to mock God or not? If not I might give it a shot and see if I like it this time. So anyway what are your feelings on the issue? I am keen to hear from you on this.

 

[Dorothy]

I am a grandparent who lives alone and hasn’t watched TV in about six years. My children and grandchildren know that when they come over we have dinner, play games, have conversation, or work on a hobby together. (It’s the grandchildren that work on the hobbies with me.)

I now have a collection of tasteful DVD’s that I can show to my grandchildren which I discover they like very much!

They saw “Clare and Francis” in 1/2 hour segments over a period of a few days. Also, a movie about St. John Bosco.

I also taught them how to say the Scriptural Rosary!

I am glad I am not bringing up small children these days. Even if there is something now and then good on the TV, the commercials can be very offensive.

 

[Rolypoly]

I think King of the Hill is pretty good and rarely offensive (I grew up in the 90s). Hank Hill is a likeable character. He is has morals (in particular a strong work-ethic as he takes pride in his work as a propane salesman) and he is a good protector and provider of his family. He is so straight-laced while his friends and family are so eccentric. A big theme of the show is focused on Bobby (Hank’s son) and his on-again, off-again next-door neighbor girlfriend Kahn Jr. and how both of them don’t measure up to their parents’ (particularly their fathers’) expectations and how their fathers sort of want to live vicariously through them, but cannot get them to succeed as they define success. Both Hank and Kahn Jr.’s father, Kahn Sr., are haunted by their own fathers for whom they never quite measured up. It has clever jokes and lots of family and “neighborly-ness” and is a slower pace than the Simpsons with less outlandish jokes and scenarios, and typically ends with some kind of heartwarming resolution to the problem and some moral to the story at the end. If this sounds interesting to you I would recommend getting a DVD of a season to see if you like it. Probably one of the middle seasons like 2, 3 or 4 would be best. As with seemingly almost all sitcoms, the middle seasons are the best.

But I prefer the Simpsons (at least the older episodes) for its faster pace and funnier jokes. In middle school and high school (this is in the height of the greatness of The Simpsons) I could practically recite entire episodes of this show. I remember “The Simpson’s Spinoff Showcase,” which was really lame and seemed to be the beginning of the end of the “golden age” for The Simpsons. After about season 8 or 9 the attacks on religion/family values seemed to go way up. I think the shows are still funny but I can’t watch anymore without getting mad as there seem to be at least a half-dozen vicious comments aimed at religion and/or family values per episode. The newer episodes are much more offensive, much more off-the-wall, and much less intelligent and thought-provoking.

 

[Polak]

I had a glance at some clips on youtube. I just do not find it very funny. I mean it could be the jokes are smarter and you get them less often, but although it is not offensive I am looking for something funnier to be fair but thanks for the summary of it.

 

[Joe_5859]

I loved “The Simpsons” for the first 9 or 10 seasons. Family members still buy me Simpsons memorabilia as gifts even though I haven’t watched it at all since season 13 or so. The anti-Christian stuff just became too much and the humor became too low-brow. That and I moved to a place where I couldn’t get Fox on TV.

“King of the Hill” never did anything for me. I guess I just didn’t get it. That, and I could only think of “Beavis and Butthead” everytime I saw it.