Somebody Get an Anvil!
08/24/2006 20:44 Filed in: Culture Watch
A Guest Rant by Andrew Wells
There are plenty of news stories these days that indicate we have entered the “bizarro world,” but sometimes you still hear something shocking. It was announced earlier this week that a British television company will be editing Tom and Jerry cartoons so that there will not be images of the characters smoking. Usually it is an image of Tom the cat with a blindfold on, taking a last puff before an especially unpleasant demise. They will also be editing The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo cartoons for the same purpose.
I understand that there is a need to explain our culture and our heritage to children, and to make sure they understand it in the proper context. That includes cartoons. Cartoon Network did a special a couple of years ago that looked at Japanese racism in World War II cartoons, including racist slang and mentioning interment camps.
But come on…smoking? Tom and Jerry hit each other with frying pans, shovels, etc., set each other on fire, blow each other up, shoot at each other. They practice just about every form of cartoon violence possible. And this company is going to edit out smoking? Shouldn’t they be worried that children will be imitating some of Tom and Jerry’s other inappropriate behavior?
Furthermore, kids see smoking just about everywhere. Hollywood had a contract (written or unwritten) with the tobacco industry for years to show characters using cigarettes. Court documents have revealed that Joe Camel was especially created to get the youth market, and that tobacco advertising has been aimed toward children for years. Cutting it out of a cartoon, good intentions or not, is like putting a band-aid on a trauma wound.
But that’s not what really makes me mad. No, what is insane about this is that the company received a complaint from only ONE person. Not a group, not a bunch of people, just one person. A company caved in to one complaint.
These decisions have to be made on a case-by-case basis, I know. If nine people have their cars set on fire through faulty wiring, then it makes sense that the company inform the public and issue a recall so that more people won’t get hurt or even killed. But this makes no sense. Nothing is at stake here. How can you say Tom and Jerry is the only single cause for your kids to start smoking? But litigation, whether you win or lose, is expensive and bad publicity, and I guess the company didn’t want to risk it. So as the result of one person not taking responsibility for what their children are seeing--because that is what should be happening here--all of us lose a little bit of our childhood.
I wish Chuck Jones and Tex Avery were still alive. They directed some of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons, and I bet they would have something wickedly funny to say about this. As it is, I hope their ghosts find all the people involved in this and drop anvils on their heads. But not before giving them a blindfold and one last puff of a cigarette (and I just know that some of you are going to criticize me for that comment).
Andrew Wells can be reached at arwell012002@yahoo.com.
I understand that there is a need to explain our culture and our heritage to children, and to make sure they understand it in the proper context. That includes cartoons. Cartoon Network did a special a couple of years ago that looked at Japanese racism in World War II cartoons, including racist slang and mentioning interment camps.
But come on…smoking? Tom and Jerry hit each other with frying pans, shovels, etc., set each other on fire, blow each other up, shoot at each other. They practice just about every form of cartoon violence possible. And this company is going to edit out smoking? Shouldn’t they be worried that children will be imitating some of Tom and Jerry’s other inappropriate behavior?
Furthermore, kids see smoking just about everywhere. Hollywood had a contract (written or unwritten) with the tobacco industry for years to show characters using cigarettes. Court documents have revealed that Joe Camel was especially created to get the youth market, and that tobacco advertising has been aimed toward children for years. Cutting it out of a cartoon, good intentions or not, is like putting a band-aid on a trauma wound.
But that’s not what really makes me mad. No, what is insane about this is that the company received a complaint from only ONE person. Not a group, not a bunch of people, just one person. A company caved in to one complaint.
I wish Chuck Jones and Tex Avery were still alive. They directed some of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons, and I bet they would have something wickedly funny to say about this. As it is, I hope their ghosts find all the people involved in this and drop anvils on their heads. But not before giving them a blindfold and one last puff of a cigarette (and I just know that some of you are going to criticize me for that comment).
Andrew Wells can be reached at arwell012002@yahoo.com.