In Western society, cartoons are found everywhere. The appear on television, in magazines, in newspapers, and in their own novels. It is not a surprise then to think that these cartoons have a great influence in our cultures: both positive and negative. However, looking at all these different types of cartoons would take ages to decipher to find their pros and cons. To narrow the focus, I have chosen to focus on adult and children’s cartoons in film/television. Specifically, Family Guy for the adult genre and Brave and The Justice League for children. Adult and children’s cartoons represent gender and marginalized groups similarly. However, children’s cartoons appear to try and expand on traditional thoughts and ideals to promote tolerance
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Its focus is on using gender to sexualize women, make fun of or joke about those who do not fall within gender binaries, and, ultimately, promote traditional gender ideals that are not necessarily as widely accepted as it was in previous years. Some attribute this to the programs target audience of young males (and on that note, young, straight, white males). Because of this target audience, offensive, stereotyped jokes about gender often slip into the scripts. Family Guy is often critiqued for this as it is often seen as “pro-social, satirical cartoon” compared to others. For example, one issue that has arisen is “recurring rape plotlines throughout the series, ones that invert discourses of female victimization” (Sienkiewicz and Marx 114) for the purpose of a good joke. Such plotlines have been said to be satirical in order to get the audience to truly think about problems in society, like rape. However, these purposes are not made apparent through the course of the episode or series. Ultimately, Family Guy has the possibility of being a progressive cartoon but fails to make its real purposes known explicitly. Part of this can be attributed to the target audience. If these motives were made clear, viewership may decrease because the traditionalist ideals of gender are being …show more content…
There is Cleveland, who is a black man, and Joe, who is a man in a wheelchair. These characters are representative of two marginalized groups: a racial minority and a person with disability. These characters have an important purpose: providing representation and diversity for the show. In this sense, the characters are very positive. But, often these characters become the butt of jokes. The jokes are often derived from stereotypes and other inaccuracies about these communities. This is where the show fails, again, at being pro-social. Unjust representation leads to the continuation of stigma in society. It is possible that these jokes are still present because of the target audience being young, straight, white males. These jokes work better for this audience and the implications of their true meaning are overlooked. Again, Family Guy’s failure to make the true meaning of the jokes is a problem for the show to overcome.
Children’s cartoons also represent marginalized groups. Looking at many cartoons on PBS, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and etc. groups like racial minorities and people with disability are depicted in a much better light. The goal in these cartoons are to promote tolerance and diversity that many young children are not exposed to. However, some marginalized groups that are not often recognized in society are still poorly recognized by the cartoons and are not deemed “worthy” to be given the
Its focus is on using gender to sexualize women, make fun of or joke about those who do not fall within gender binaries, and, ultimately, promote traditional gender ideals that are not necessarily as widely accepted as it was in previous years. Some attribute this to the programs target audience of young males (and on that note, young, straight, white males). Because of this target audience, offensive, stereotyped jokes about gender often slip into the scripts. Family Guy is often critiqued for this as it is often seen as “pro-social, satirical cartoon” compared to others. For example, one issue that has arisen is “recurring rape plotlines throughout the series, ones that invert discourses of female victimization” (Sienkiewicz and Marx 114) for the purpose of a good joke. Such plotlines have been said to be satirical in order to get the audience to truly think about problems in society, like rape. However, these purposes are not made apparent through the course of the episode or series. Ultimately, Family Guy has the possibility of being a progressive cartoon but fails to make its real purposes known explicitly. Part of this can be attributed to the target audience. If these motives were made clear, viewership may decrease because the traditionalist ideals of gender are being …show more content…
There is Cleveland, who is a black man, and Joe, who is a man in a wheelchair. These characters are representative of two marginalized groups: a racial minority and a person with disability. These characters have an important purpose: providing representation and diversity for the show. In this sense, the characters are very positive. But, often these characters become the butt of jokes. The jokes are often derived from stereotypes and other inaccuracies about these communities. This is where the show fails, again, at being pro-social. Unjust representation leads to the continuation of stigma in society. It is possible that these jokes are still present because of the target audience being young, straight, white males. These jokes work better for this audience and the implications of their true meaning are overlooked. Again, Family Guy’s failure to make the true meaning of the jokes is a problem for the show to overcome.
Children’s cartoons also represent marginalized groups. Looking at many cartoons on PBS, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and etc. groups like racial minorities and people with disability are depicted in a much better light. The goal in these cartoons are to promote tolerance and diversity that many young children are not exposed to. However, some marginalized groups that are not often recognized in society are still poorly recognized by the cartoons and are not deemed “worthy” to be given the