User talk:Massive Dynamic

'Do you not'' want kids to eat food that actually has some sort of nutritional value? Are you IN FAVOR OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY? Absolutely not. I simply don't believe the government should tell us what to put in our mouths. (That is not a sexual joke.) It's the same reason I am against the E/I legislation spearheaded by Peggy Charren, which has been perverted by unscrupulous programmers and reduced children's TV to bland mushy mind-pap. I don't want Michelle Obama telling me what snacks I may consume while watching the few shows I am still allowed to enjoy on her husband's little two-horse cable empire. Don't get me wrong--I am a great believer in good eating. My mother is a recovering heart-patient, and I have placed us on a sensible, healthy meal plan--low sodium, fresh vegetables, lean meat. You will find that lower-income homes tend to consume the poorest diets, owing to the cheapness and ready availability of junk. These laws, while well-meaning, may also break already overtaxed school budgets and lead to higher tuition or cutting of underfunded academic programs (though, oddly, not the money wasted on sumptuous perks packages or earmarks for legal fees stemming from University men's indiscretions with local boyfriend-free girls).

'''[C]hildren's programming was always stupid and full of fluff. Why are you watching kiddie shows at your age, anyway?''' Do your research. Cartoons weren't always made for children. In fact, many of the early theatricals were made by adults, for adults--particularly thirties-era Fleischer, forties-era Warner Bros., and even Disney. They contained psychedelic imagery, violence, alcohol/tobacco use, wildly politically-incorrect plots and artwork, even nudity. During WWII they were a valuable tool in training our soldiers. It wasn't until about the early to mid-seventies that a prosocial trend began growing in the business. Cartoons left the movie houses and were broadcast on TV, often terribly edited. The eighties gave us some standouts, which though often accused of being shameless 22-minute toy commercials, featured risque animation and some surprisingly frank and adult plots. BraveStarr's "The Price" especially stands out as a haunting take on the consequences of drug abuse. Of course, there were some clunkers like Ghostbusters and a bunch of forgettable ones, but by and large it was a new Silver Age.

In 1990 Peggy Charren demanded three hours weekly of educational programming be broadcast to meet the needs of children, which basically ruined Saturday morning. Once a respectable event to look forward to each season, the fall schedules degenerated into mediocrity at the hands of greedy, unscrupulous broadcasters who put forth as little effort to fill and maintain these slots as humanly possible--ironically, the selfsame people the parental watchdog groups decried 15 years before. --The Iconoclast 03:24, 18 January 2011 (PST)

Addendum
Arthur's an aarvark, right? The only cartoon aardvark I've ever watched was the classic blue one from DePatie-Freleng. I don't watch PBS. It isn't one of the channels ObamaCable permits. I am only allowed The CW and Retro regularly, and the "sometime" channels like ABC, qubo, a Fox affilate, a news feed, and CBS (no volume, just picture) that are usually scrambled or bluescreened most of the day. I'm saving for a satellite dish, although I usually just watch shows I like on YouTube and Hulu...particularly classics and eighties 'toons. Teen dramas (most are soft-core porn cleaned up for primetime and showing rich brats being--well--rich brats) and reality shows bore me, and I'm not a sports fan.

No, I've never used drugs...but I have seen a family member through addiction, and it poisons the whole family. My brother was even worse than Chris-Chan when he got into one of his drug-induced "turd rages" and destroyed the house, or stole to support his habit. My parents were enablers, just like Chris', and attempts at rehab were perfunctory at best. He's in jail now. Perhaps Chris should be. They knew he was troubled at, what, 22, 23? Isn't that what they said about that guy who shot Gaby Giffords? Is there some way for this forum's mods to reach authorities and petition them to do something about him before he shows up at a mall with a gun and blowing away folks?

Kim Possible is a well-written and entertaining programs, which used to run in the days when ABC actually bought new shows for their Saturday block. It was created by two men, ostensibly remembering the Kims in their own life that they left behind in high school. I've also gotten into Phineas and Ferb recently. It's a hoot. Being older, it's easier to catch the subtle adult humor buried in shows by bored (possibly even stoned) writers/artists. She-Ra was just one feminist mind-frig--a scantily-clad warrior woman periodically attacked by mosnsters who looked like penises and sperm. Seriously. I'm a Freudian; I dig these things. --The Iconoclast 23:22, 18 January 2011 (PST)