"Adult" Cartoons: What They Mean for Kids

This is a blog written for my Media Literacy class. The writing prompt I was given was: "Address cable television shows, and in particular adult cartoons like South Park, Family Guy and The Simpsons, in context with the other video we watched in class – Pioneers of Television – Local Kids TV."

When I was growing up, my parents were very strict about the television shows that I was allowed to watch. I could not watch The Simpsons (my dad's favorite show) because my mother thought it was inappropriate for children. When I was in middle school, I was the only girl in my entire class who didn't get to watch Dawson's Creek. It wasn't for lack of time or trying; I vied for it, but my mom thought that its depictions of teenage sexuality were not suitable for a thirteen-year-old.

I railed against this television censorship as a child, but as an adult I understand what my parents were trying to accomplish. It wasn't exactly television tyranny; my mother simply did not want to expose me to adult issues and explicit language before I was ready. She was worried about the effect those kinds of shows have on childrens' minds.

Other parents have expressed the same concern for decades -- almost since television's inception. An organization called Parents Television Council (PTC) was formed in the mid-1990s to educate parents about the television programs their kids are watching. For less media-savvy parents, it has doubtless been a lifesaver. Some parents let their kids watch television unsupervised, and thus they do not know what their kids are seeing.

Thanks to the PTC, TV shows now have ratings. Not only do these ratings tell the minimum suggested age for a viewer (seven for TV-PG and 14 for TV-14, for example), they tell what the show contains, like adult language, suggestive [read: sexual] dialogue, and/or nudity. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, for example, always has a TV-MA rating. This show is suggested for mature audiences only, and the rating (which appears before every show and during commercial breaks, for viewers who are just tuning in) includes the specific aspects of the episode that some may find offensive. (One of the most recent episodes did include male nudity, but viewers were warned.) Always Sunny's target audience does not include children, and it is not likely that they will seek it out.

Adult cartoons, however, blur these lines a little more. Unlike live-action shows for adults, cartoons seem created for children (even if the content itself is not). If one were to see a still image from South Park, a popular cartoon on Cartoon Network, it would be easy to think that it's a show for kids. One minute of dialogue from the show would likely convince you otherwise, if only because of the explicit language. F-bombs are dropped left and right. Family Guy is similar. Though it does not contain explicit language, the dialogue is not exactly kid-friendly. Yet it contains several elements that many kids appreciate in a TV show: a catchy theme song, a talking dog, an annoying older sister, and a smart-aleck baby. Neither of these shows have "kid-friendly" ratings, and both have been lambasted by the PTC for their wildly inappropriate content.

Like many things that are "off-limits," kids seek these shows out because they are popular among older kids, teenagers, and adults. This may be a recipe for disaster.

In PBS's Pioneers of Television: Local Kids TV show, it is pointed out that not all popular kids' television shows have to have a moral. They can be strictly made for entertainment and still very much appreciated by kids and parents alike. The problem comes when kids are exposed to language and issues that they are too young to understand. Perhaps it's better to let kids be kids for a while, and enjoy "adult" cartoons later.