Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Somebody got hit in the boingloings.



The other day, I posted a status about how Nick and I rewatched one of our favorite episodes from one of our favorite shows, Adventure Time.

A friend, Sally (name changed), commented on it. I'll let you read my ensuing disproportionately impassioned response below.

Note: the NPR link works, so feel free to click through and listen!

  • Sally I'm sorry but [Adventure Time] is really whacked. I watched it after one of my young clients told me how much he liked it and I don't think kids should watch it. It really freaked me out.
    2 hours ago via mobile · Like

  • Leta  No, it's awesome. It's bizarre and random but at heart it's about a kid learning to do his best, and the values of friendship and doing what's right and listening. It's seriously so wonderful and if I had kids I would DEFINITELY watch this with them.  As opposed to shows like Regular Show which aren't funny or all that imaginative and don't have characters that are in any way redeeming or edifying.
    28 minutes ago · Like

  • Leta  Also, good points brought up in this NPR article: http://www.npr.org/...

    www.npr.org
    Adventure Time isn't your typical cartoon, but it's capturing an audience of kids and adults who believe it's getting at something special.
    24 minutes ago · Like · Remove Preview

  • Nick  It reminds me a lot of shows like Rocko's Modern Life and Courage the Cowardly Dog. Entertaining (and just plain weird) on the surface, but there's a lot more going on underneath if you take a second look.

    Granted, where Rocko and Courage were underpinned with nigh-Lovecraftian worldviews, Adventure Time is basically a postapocalyptic Leave It to Beaver.
    12 minutes ago · Edited · Unlike · 1

  • Leta  ALSO, kids watch and love and aren't disturbed by things that adults find horrifying (i.e. The Brave Little Toaster, the Neverending Story, the Nightmare Before Christmas, the Secret of NIMH, pretty much any movie made by Don Bluth, etc etc etc). Through the Looking Glass. The Wizard of Oz books. All full of stuff so weird that they're at times viscerally disturbing for adults. Still much loved and not-scarring for children.

    Just look at the pictures kids draw, or the stories they tell. Half the time, if those things were painted or said by adults, we'd think that person was clinically insane.

    If given a choice between feeding kids processed grown-up-approved stale safe fluff, or letting them chew on bonkers original imaginative stories ... I'd choose bonkers any day.
    11 minutes ago · Like

  • Leta  Apparently I only have capslock feelings about Adventure Time. Probably this should have turned into a blog post instead of a series of emphatic facebook posts ....

     a heh heh, oops
    9 minutes ago · Like

So now it's actually a blog post.

I was going to write more on the subject, but I think I already covered the points I wanted to make.