Song Pick of the Week

Good Saturday everyone,

Hope all is well this weekend. It is saturday, which means that tonight's the night for the song pick of the week. Tonight's song is Laredo, off of the album Infinite Arms by Band of Horses. For tomorrow, I hope to have another post on television, this time focusing on the potential dangers of our society becoming too involved in what we watch, and how this affects how we view politics, education, and even our concept of the truth. This will hopefully spark some comments from you all; as always I'm open to hear what you have to say. Until then, good night!

Were Cartoons Ever Really Moral?

For those of you who responded back to me with ideas on how to improve our discussions on Pop Culture, I greatly appreciate your input. I decided to address one respondent's suggestion on the morality of television. While this is another topic that will have to be spread over several posts (I know, I have a lot of those), I decided to start this topic off with discussing violence in cartoons. Underneath I have posted two clips from the cartoons Tom & Jerry and Family Guy. I want you to watch them and keep your immediate reactions in mind as you continue.





Although the Tom & Jerry clip does have some humor, it is pretty clear that the clip from Family Guy just isn't funny (I wouldn't be surprised if some of you couldn't finish it). Yet if we look closer, we can see that both clips are equally violent. From what I see, the difference comes from what follows these violent acts. In Tom & Jerry, we hear sound effects and light-hearted music. In Family Guy, we see blood and hear Brian screaming in pain. According to Wikipedia, there was only one instance in Tom & Jerry where blood was shown, and while most people (such as parents, educators) would view this as a positive, I must disagree with their point of view. On the contrary, I believe that a lack of blood or acknowledgment of real pain only re-enforces our society's misunderstanding related to the consequences of violence.
When looking at Family Guy, we see that Brian is actually in pain, reminding us that when someone gets hit with glass, he/she is going to bleed and that it's going to hurt. In Tom & Jerry, we see Tom get hurled into a clock, slam into the floor, and have the clock's coo-coo bird pop out of his mouth. While humorous, this scenario is highly unrealistic, separating the violent acts from the consequences that realistically would result.
This brings me to the title question of this post: were cartoons ever really moral? In my opinion, I would say that Family Guy is more moral because it's graphic displays of violence remind us of the reality of our actions. People who watch Family Guy on a regular basis know that displays of blood are not uncommon. By constantly reminding us of the reality of violence, I would argue that Family Guy shows us the differences between right and wrong. We would never want to end up like Brian, therefore discouraging us from acting like Stewie. Tom & Jerry, in lacking a display of realistic consequences, blurs these boundaries, therefore hurting our society's definition of right and wrong.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that we should let our ten year olds watch Family Guy or other adult cartoons. What I am saying is that I feel we are too quick to dismiss displays of violence as unnecessary (I know that there comes a time when there might be too much violence, which could serve as another post topic). If anything, in a time where we immerse ourselves more and more in electronic entertainment, these reminders could be more beneficial than ever.

(As always, I hope that you post your opinions and comments. Remember, the overall goal of Smart-Pop is to have discussions on these topics)

An American Community

Before I get into today's post (don't worry, it's not about Pokemon), I wanted to provide a few descriptions of people whom you may or may not have come across in your lives. Look over them, and keep them in mind as you continue through this post:

• A high school star athlete who lost a scholarship due to alcohol abuse
• Someone who can only express their feelings and relate to others through television and movies
• A divorced mother who must now raise her family on her own
  
• A wealthy man who has been married multiple times

I want to discuss a new show on NBC that just finished it's first season: Community. For those of you who have not seen it, I highly recommend you check it out (I have provided links to its Wikipedia page, streaming episodes on Hulu, and to its trailer on YouTube). In the current NBC comedy style, the show has no laugh tracks, and features and ensemble cast with numerous minor characters. To provide a very brief summary, the show centers around Jeff, a former lawyer who, after being suspended over the illegitimacy of his degree, is forced to attend Greendale Community College. There, he enrolls in a Spanish class and joins a study group in hopes to get closer to his classmate Brita. The study group includes Abed, an aspiring film director who is socially awkward, Shirley Bennett, a divorced single mother, and Pierce, a baby boomer who's not afraid to speak his mind.

Do these descriptions sound familiar? Of course, these are not the only members of the study group (I just provided a few for the sake of time), and they each have their own unique background. While watching this diverse group of characters interact with each other is undoubtedly funny, I feel that Community can be taken to another level by proposing that is provides us a unique perspective into the future of American society.
If one looks closely enough at the Spanish study group, they could understand my reasoning for viewing them as a model of America. Yet as I looked closer at each characters, I noticed that each of them could be viewed as either having qualities or backgrounds that are looked down upon in this country. I would find it hard to believe that you didn't think badly of any of the descriptions I provided at the beginning of this post. I admit that if I looked at them without any prior knowledge, I would have felt the same way, which brings me to the question: why do we look down upon these people?
To put it simply, I feel that the lives and experiences of the characters on Community pose a threat to traditional American values. When one thinks of the ideal American family, an image of a mother, father, two or three children living in the suburbs is not uncommon. Similar to the spread out posts of Pokemon, I will over several posts discuss the characters of Community, and how they undermine traditional American values. I emphasize the word traditional because I feel that at the same time Community offers us a perspective into the future of our nation. Despite their backgrounds, each of these characters, from the selfish Jeff to the outrageous Pierce, have their good qualities, and it is these qualities we must learn from if we are to move forward as a nation. This is where I will end for today, and in case you're wondering, the first character I will discuss will be Pierce, played by Chevy Chase (and please check out these links, I guarantee you won't regret it!).

Community page on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_%28TV_series%29

Community trailer:



Hulu link:
http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Community&st=1